Critical ecosystems: Congo Basin peatlands
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Loading... - Felix Mahama
- 19 Apr 2023
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Leaders from across Africa and Asia will gather this week in Gabon for an international summit on the state of the world's tropical forests, which experts say are disappearing at an alarming rate.
Many of the discussions will focus on the Congo Basin, which stores more planet-warming carbon than the Amazon but is disappearing.
The Congo Basin is home to the world’s largest tropical peatlands, along with Brazil and Indonesia. The peat swamp forest of the Congo Basin stores around 29 billion tons of carbon – approximately equivalent to three years’ worth of global greenhouse gas emissions – while the Basin as a whole absorbs nearly 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year . The Basin stretches across six countries- Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
“The Congo Basin is one of the world’s last regions that absorbs more carbon than it emits,” says Doreen Robinson, the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Head of Biodiversity and Land. “We have to find ways to meet critical energy needs for development without sacrificing peatlands and the essential services they provide for people and the economy.” Read More…
