THE DISAPPEARING “LUNGS OF AFRICA” DEFORESTATION IN THE CONGO BASIN

By Olivia Nater, Communications Manager

As the planet continues to warm, humans are destroying the largest tropical carbon sink in the world due to poverty, conflict, and population growth. The forests of the Congo Basin, in westcentral Africa, provide invaluable environmental services, including harboring thousands of species, increasing rainfall in drier regions that desperately need it, and absorbing climate changing carbon emissions. In addition, millions of people depend on the Congo Basin forests for their food and income. As populations grow and encroach upon this remarkable forest landscape in order to expand agriculture, remove timber, mine precious minerals, and hunt wildlife, one of our best tools to fight catastrophic climate change is going up in smoke.

Internally displaced people carry charcoal from the forest at the foot of Nyiragongo volcano in Virunga National Park to the market in Kibati, DRC, on January 13, 2023. After the resurgence of the M23 rebellion north of Goma City, tens of thousands of people have crowded into makeshift camps in the Nyiragongo. They are struggling to find enough food for their families, so they turned to charcoal production. In less than two months, more than 200 hectares of trees were cut down. The forest of the Nyiragongo volcano will soon be nothing but stumps. Guerchom Ndebo/AFP via Getty Images