Forests of Central Africa

At three times the size of France, Central African forests are the largest tropical forest mass after the Amazon and cover a large portion of the Congo Basin, the second largest river in the world. Unlike the forests of Western Africa and Asia, these are still well preserved as in many massive, yet little unaffected clumps, natural processes continue unperturbed while elephants, gorillas and chimpanzees live in peace. Such forests serve as more than just an interest for biologists: they are crucially vital to countries in this area as well as populations who live off them. Though the very first efforts to safeguard these forests and their fauna started nearly one hundred years ago, the pressure on sustaining their survival is still strong. This is especially concerning, taking into account that major conservation projects have been under way for at least twenty years and that the notion of sustainable exploration is finally starting to raise interest among forestry developers and commissioners.