STATE OF THE RAINFOREST 2014
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The Congo Basin rainforest in Central Africa is the second largest
rainforest in the world and most of the 90 million people living in
the region depend upon it for their livelihood. Deforestation in the
Congo Basin has historically been relatively low, compared to other
major rainforest regions, partly because decades of conflict have kept
the forests off limits for major industrial exploitation.
According to most sources, deforestation has been relatively stable the
last few years in the region as a whole. There has been some recent
positive development with regard to forest policy. A moratorium
and a review on logging concessions in Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC), strongly advocated by civil society, has slowed down
the expansion of industrial logging. There are also signs of increased
attention to the role of local communities in forest management. In
August 2014, a long awaited decree granting forest concessions to
local communities was signed in DRC. This is considered a mile-
stone towards a legal and formal recognition of the rights of forest
communities to customary land.
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Recently, a law on basic principles
of the rights of Indigenous Pygmies Peoples was submitted to the
National Assembly in DRC. The law was drafted by a group of 50
parliamentarians with support from civil society organizations.
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The challenge for the Congo Basin rainforest countries is to build
on these positive achievements, and establish forest policies that can
hinder the increase in deforestation predicted for the coming years.
Varied ecology
The Congo Basin comprises a variety of ecosystems. The northern
forests have a hot, dry season, whereas the forests of the western
parts of the region have a cooler, dry season. Rainfall and temperature
patterns vary greatly. The Congo Basin rainforests generate between
75% and 95% of their own rainfall: if the forest cover is significantly
reduced, the local climate will be dramatically affected. The region’s
Central Africa’s rainforests
Managing rich forest resources to benefit poor communities
challenge
Lake
Victoria
C
ENTRAL
A
FRICAN
R
EPUBLIC
D
EMOCRATIC
R
EPUBLIC
OF
THE
C
ONGO
E
QUATORIAL
G
UINEA
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EPUBLIC
OF
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ONGO
A
NGOLA
C
AMEROON
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ABON
Other forest cover
Intact forest landscape*
*defined as an unbroken expanse of natural ecosystems within the zone of
current forest extent, showing no signs of significant human activity and large
enough that all native biodiversity could be maintained
Source: based on Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, 2013
Tropical forest in Central Africa
