{"id":141176,"date":"2025-11-18T12:33:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T12:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/141176\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T12:33:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T12:33:10","slug":"the-rainforest-the-world-forgot-the-congo-basin-is-the-second-largest-on-earth-so-why-is-it-being-neglected-global-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/141176\/","title":{"rendered":"The rainforest the world forgot: the Congo basin is the second largest on Earth, so why is it being neglected? | Global development"},"content":{"rendered":"

In October 2023, leaders, scientists and policymakers from three of the world\u2019s great rainforest regions<\/a> \u2013 the Amazon, the Congo, and the Borneo-Mekong basins \u2013 assembled in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. They were there to discuss one urgent question: how to save the planet\u2019s last great tropical forests from accelerating destruction.<\/p>\n

For those present, the question was existential. But to their dismay, almost no one noticed. \u201cThere was very little acknowledgment that this was happening, outside of the Congo basin region,\u201d says Prof Simon Lewis, a lecturer at the University of Leeds and University College London, and co-chair of the Congo Basin Science Initiative<\/a> (CBSI).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt didn\u2019t really fly as a conference or a set of policy proposals to better invest in that region of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The people of the Congo basin have tightened their belts so that the world can breathe \u2013 and we receive no compensationArlette Soudan-Nonault<\/p>\n

Despite being the second-largest rainforest on Earth \u2013 and one of the most vital carbon sinks \u2013 the Congo basin remains the rainforest the world forgot, often overlooked when it comes to global climate policy and funding.<\/p>\n

Spanning six countries across central Africa<\/a> and home to roughly 130 million people, the basin is often called the \u201clungs of Africa\u201d. Its vast canopy shelters thousands of rare species.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has about 10,000 plant species and 30% of these can only be found in the region,\u201d says Dr Yadvinder Malhi, a leading ecologist at Oxford University. Unlike the Amazon, the Congo\u2019s forests remain largely intact \u2013 home to endangered animals such as forest elephants, okapis, mountain gorillas and bonobos.<\/p>\n

Its significance extends far beyond its borders. The basin\u2019s rainfall feeds main river systems across the continent, sustaining life as far away as the Sahel.<\/p>\n

A forest elephant in the Lekoli River, Republic of the Congo. Rainfall in the Congo basin feeds river systems across Africa. Photograph: Education Images\/Universal Images\/Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cAfrica is largely an arid continent,\u201d says Malhi. \u201cThis fountain of water in the heart of the continent circulates and [also] ends up feeding into the Nile. That sustains the lives of millions of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crucially, while encroachments of logging and mining are increasing, much of the forest remains untouched. As a result, the Congo basin is believed to be the last big rainforest to remain a strong carbon sink<\/a> \u2013 with enough trees left to absorb more carbon than it emits.<\/p>\n

Logging is rising but much rainforest remains untouched. Photograph: Alamy<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what we believe,\u201d says Lewis. \u201cBut we are lacking recent data to see if that is still the case. We know carbon-absorption rates have declined in the Amazon in the last decade or so, but we\u2019re not sure what\u2019s happening in the Congo now.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a report<\/a> released on Monday, as the Cop30 climate conference<\/a> began in Bel\u00e9m, the Science Panel for the Congo Basin found that the Congo basin absorbs 600m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, but this number is falling due to accelerating deforestation. Prof Bonaventure Sonk\u00e9, co-chair of the panel, said the researchers hoped it would bring international attention and support for \u201cthe Earth\u2019s most important but least-studied tropical rain forest\u201d.<\/p>\n

While scientists agree on the Congo basin\u2019s critical importance, it continues to be funded at a far lower rate than its counterparts. A report published earlier this year by the Centre for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF<\/a>) revealed the scale of the financial imbalance. Between 2008 and 2022, the world\u2019s three main rainforest regions received a combined total of $20bn (\u00a315bn) in international funding. Of that, $9.3bn (47%) went to the Amazon basin, $7.4bn (37%) to south-east Asia, and only $3.2bn (16%) to the Congo basin.<\/p>\n

Germany was the leading donor for central Africa during this period, providing 24% of total funding, followed by the Global Environment Fund (12%), the World Bank (9.4%), and the US (8.8%). Most of the money (30%) went towards biodiversity protection, with another 27% supporting environmental policy. Yet funding for scientific research accounted for just 0.1%.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe basin countries don\u2019t prioritise research,\u201d says Dr Richard Sufo Kankeu, a lecturer at the University of Le Mans and one of the report\u2019s authors.<\/p>\n

Loango national park in Gabon, which forms part of the Congo basin, the world\u2019s second-largest rainforest. Photograph: Lee Dalton\/Alamy<\/p>\n

The result is a wide gap in scientific understanding. A 2023 study<\/a> examining relative levels of climate and biodiversity research on different rainforests found about 2,000 published academic papers for the Congo basin, compared with 10,611 for the Amazon.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got this critical ecosystem, but there just aren\u2019t enough local scientists working to understand it,\u201d says Lee White, an honorary professor at the University of Stirling and former environment minister in Gabon.<\/p>\n

White and Lewis have recommended that Congo basin countries aim to train at least 1,000 PhD-level scientists over the next decade to strengthen regional expertise. But better funding is also needed now.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to wait 10 years,\u201d says Raphael Tshimanga, a professor of hydrology and water at the University of Kinshasa, and a member of CBSI. \u201cIt needs to start happening now. How does this happen? By mobilising human resources and attracting funding. We don\u2019t just want nice speeches at summits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of the reason for the lack of resources lies in an enduring perception of the region as Joseph Conrad\u2019s \u201c\u2018heart of darkness\u2019<\/a>\u201d, says White. \u201cCentral Africa has this reputation as a place of corruption and instability.\u201d<\/p>\n

The canopy in Republic of the Congo\u2019s Odzala-Kokoua park. Photograph: Danita Delimont\/Alamy<\/p>\n

Corruption is a significant concern in the region, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo<\/a> (DRC) \u2013 however, it can also be wielded as an easy excuse for lack of investment.<\/p>\n

The Republic of Congo\u2019s environment minister, Arlette Soudan-Nonault, describes that view as \u201cthe tree that hides the forest\u201d, adding: \u201cIt\u2019s very easy and lazy to say that Africans are corrupt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond reputation, there are obstacles such as security, infrastructure and capacity. The DRC, which contains about 60% of the basin\u2019s rainforest, has endured intermittent conflict for more than three decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just an issue of instability,\u201d Soudan-Nonault says. \u201cWe need to look at ways of creating sustainable economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Congo basin is often seen as humanity\u2019s last line of defence against human-made climate breakdown, deforestation in the region has begun to rise. \u201cIt is the last frontier of climate change,\u201d the minister says. \u201cSupporting the Congo basin is not charity. It\u2019s about recognising its role in protecting the Earth through its carbon sink.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people of the Congo basin have tightened their belts so that the world can breathe \u2013 and we receive no compensation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find more age of extinction coverage here<\/a>, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston<\/a> and Patrick Greenfield<\/a> in the Guardian app for more nature coverage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In October 2023, leaders, scientists and policymakers from three of the world\u2019s great rainforest regions \u2013 the Amazon,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[273,111,139,69,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-141176","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}