World Wildlife Fund

The rich resource base of the Congo Basin provides immense opportunities for economic growth. Current use, however, is often uncoordinated, uncontrolled and unsustainable. The next ten years will be crucial and WWF is taking an active role in helping the governments and communities of the Congo Basin achieve sustainable economic development.

The illegal trade in ivory seriously threatens the very survival of the African elephant.
© WWF-Canon/Roger LeGuen

Wildlife trade
The primary threat to biodiversity in the Congo Basin is the commercial bushmeat trade, which is often linked to the arrival of logging roads and workers in remote areas.

Bushmeat consumption will likely double in the next 25 years, placing most large-bodied mammals, including great apes, at risk of local or global extinction. Demand for ivory is driving the poaching of elephants and hippos are being killed for their canine teeth as well as for meat. Tropical birds and fish are taken for the exotic pet trade.

Uncontrolled logging is making swift inroads into the Congo Basin's dense tropical rainforests.
© WWF/Lee Poston

Forests
A large and growing percentage of central Africa's forests are under concession to logging companies. Many of these companies are not committed to sustainable forest management. If current trends continue, 70 percent of the region's forests could be lost by 2040.

The quest for oil has jeopardized coastal areas.
© WWF-Canon/Michel Gunther

International finance
Foreign markets and investments drive large-scale industrial operations, with huge impacts on the forests and social dynamics in the region. Uncontrolled mining activities are rapidly spreading, and plans to build a large-scale iron mine in Gabon's Belinga hills threaten to disturb a pristine refuge for apes, elephants and other wildlife. Major dam infrastructure is planned on the Congo River, which could seriously damage fragile ecosystems downstream. On-shore oil exploitation is also a threat to the coastal habitat of several key species.

Access to natural resources such as timber, diamonds, gold, coltan and ivory has fueled armed conflicts. Violence in the region has taken millions of lives, and forced refugees to live off the land with severe impact on forests and wildlife.

Climate change
The Congo Basin's lush forests absorb and store carbon dioxide, which helps slow the rate of global climate change. 75 to 95 percent of the rainfall is generated within the region, whereas in other tropical watersheds, such as the Amazon, 50 percent of the water comes from outside. This isolation may make the central African rainforests less able to withstand climate change. What's more, many highly localized endemic species such as gorillas can only thrive in tightly defined ranges, and are particularly vulnerable to even minor changes in climate.

Agriculture
Commercial and traditional slash-and-burn agriculture can result in complete deforestation, though so far damage in the Congo Basin is localized. As the region's population continues to grow, clearing for agriculture will become an increasingly serious cause of deforestation.

Fishing
Commercial and traditional fishing have grown rapidly, resulting in over-exploitation of the coastal fisheries. In the Gamba Region in Gabon, illegal trawlers have reduced the fish available in the lagoons for local communities, forcing them to rely on wildlife as a substitute. Inland rivers and lakes have also been depleted by over-fishing, destructive techniques and human population pressure.