In the green heart of the African continent, the Congo River Basin forests are a haven for indigenous peoples, elephants, gorillas and a bewildering array of other amazing wildlife.
One common thread links the fates of these actors: the continued existence of the world's second largest tropical rainforest expanse.
Huge and wild… but for how long?
We cannot take the existence of the Congo River Basin forests for granted. Today, unregulated and often illegal extractive activities are pushing ever further into the Congo Basin. The results? Between 1990 and 2000, approximately 91,000 km2 of forests were lost in Central Africa.1 That represents an area about 3 times the size of Belgium.
Working out solutions
There are solutions to these problems. Together with its partners, WWF has developed its Green Heart of Africa Initiative, reaching out at all levels – from villages to presidential offices – to protect and sustainably manage one of the most outstanding forest and freshwater ecosystems in the world,
while satisfying Central Africa’s pressing development needs.
