Congo Basin Research Paper

Central Congo Basin Moist Forests
“The Congo Basin makes up one of the most important wilderness areas left on Earth. At 500 million acres, it is larger than the state of Alaska and stands as the world’s second largest tropical forest” (Congo Basin). The Amazon is the only moist tropical forest that is bigger than the Congo Basin moist forest. The Congo Basin moist forest is four times the size of France and contains about one fourth of the closed canopy forest left on Earth (Managing Congo Basin Forests: A Regional Approach for a Regional Resource).

Location: The central Congo basin is located in the south central part of Africa. The Congo covers the countries Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic
of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon (Congo Basin). The Congo Basin is 507,500 square kilometers or 196,000 square miles.
Topography: Savannas and densely forested mountains make up the Congo’s landscape in the east, and plains make up the Atlantic coast of the Congo (Congo Basin and West Africa – Forest Carbon Index).
The forests in the Congo start at the edge of the Albertine Rift in the eastern part of Democratic Republic of Congo and stretch all the way to the Atlantic coast of the Gulf of Guinea. The Congo River “drains the basin as it cuts across the region” (The Forests of the Green Heart of Africa). Swamps and lakes on the eastern side of the Congo River Basin are crucial for the regulation of flow in the river. The always snow-capped Ruwenzoris stand at 3,000 meters high. The Monts de Alen and Monts de Cristal are smaller mountain ranges that are located near the Gulf of Guinea (The Forests of the Green Heart of Africa). The elevation of the Basin varies from 0 to about 4000 meters above sea level (Exploring
Africa).

Climate: The climate in the Congo Basin differs depending on altitude and latitude. The northern forests of the Basin tend to be very hot and have severe dry seasons. The intensity of the hot and arid dry seasons increase as the one gets further from the equator. However, the eastern forests have a much less intense dry season and the areas near the coast can have climate conditions like those of a tropical monsoon. The temperature and rainfall patterns also depend on the altitude and latitude. “Some of the heaviest rains in the world are experienced at the foot of Mount Cameroon, around 10,000 mm annually” (The Forests of the Green Heart of Africa). The Congo River Basin receives a varied amount of rainfall per year. In the central region in the areas of the mountain range that rim the Albertine Rift receive about 2,000 to 3,000 millimeters of rainfall annually. However, the remaining forest receives only 1,500 millimeters to 1,800 millimeters of rainfall per year. Steady cloud cover in the lowland coastal forests maintains the average annual temperatures between 26 and 28 degrees Celsius (78.8 to 82.4 degrees Fahrenheit.) The mountains on the other hand are much cooler. The temperatures can differ between 19 and 24 degrees Celsius (66.2 to 75.2 degrees Fahrenheit.) “A critical feature of the Congo Basin forests is that they generate between 75% and 95% of their own rainfall – the remainder originates from outside the basin” (The Forests of the Green Heart of Africa).

Soils: “Soils are yellowish Xanthic Ferralsols (strongly weathered). Usually they have a sandy clay texture and are suitable for rubber, oil palm, and coffee. Sandy areas have magnesium deficiencies” (Development of a Soil and Terrain Map/Database).

Dominant Vegetation: Tropical rainforest is the Congo River Basin’s dominant vegetation. The area where the Ubangi and Congo meet is constantly a wet a marshy forest. The “gallery forests” that have recurring floods near river floodplains. The forests in the Basin that are usually dry are located on the eastern slopes of the river basin (Exploring Africa). The differing amounts of rainfall and varying temperatures that occur across the Congo River Basin cause different soil types which in turn cause different types of forests to be present. The rainforests are a place that many people call home, and they also help regulate the climate and flow of water locally, shield and supplement soils, and last but not least they control diseases and pests and protect the quality of the water (The Forests of the Green Heart of Africa).

Flora: Rainforests are not the only vegetation types in the Congo, although they are the most dominant.
The Congo River Basin also consists of swamp forests, seasonally flooded forests, forest-grassland mosaics, and lowland rain forests (Central Congo Basin Moist Forests – A Global Ecoregion). The Congo River Basin forests are home to many plant species that are not found anywhere else on the earth. 11,000 forest plant species inhabit the Democratic Republic of Congo, alone. Out of these 11,000 plants, 1,100 of them are not found anywhere else (Plants of the Congo River Basin Forests). Some plants include: Caesalpiniaceae trees, Okume trees (also known as Bureraceae), the African mahogany, the Tropical Flowering Dogwood, and the Strangler fig (Plants of the Congo River Basin Forests). Common trees that are found are the Camwood tree and the Ground Orchid (Central Congo Basin Moist Forests – A Global Ecoregion). These plants and thousands more provide habitats for many different types of
animals.

Fauna: The Congo Basin Moist Forests is home to thousands of different species of animals. The Congo River Basin contains “a major share of the African continent’s biodiversity: more than 60% of butterflies and passereaux birds, and more than 80% of African primates” (FORFARI. Qtd. in Wildlife of the Congo). The Congo River Basin contains one-half of the remaining elephant species on the continent (Wildlife of the Congo). The endemic species such as the pygmy chimpanzee (also known as the Pan Paniscus) calls the Congo River Basin forests home (Wildlife of the Congo). A few mammals that inhabit the forests are the Common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), Mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringeiz), African golden cat (Felis aurata), Beecroft’s tree hyrax (Dendrohyrax dorsalis), Giant pangolin (Manis gigantea), and the White rhino (Ceratotherium simum) (Central Congo Basin Moist Forests – A Global Ecoregion). Bird species that inhabit the forests are the Congo weaver (Euplectes anomala), Congo sunbird (Nectarinia congensis), Bates’s paradies fly-catcher (Terpsiphone batesi), Green-backed camaroptera (Camaroptera brachyura), and the Brown nightjar (Caprimulgus binotatus). These animals are habitat specialists and require certain conditions in able to survive. The Congo River Basin forests provide these conditions with their dry and wet periods. Some endangered species that inhabit this area are forest elephants, bonobos, and lowland and mountain gorillas (Congo Basin).

Threats: Every ecoregion has threats. The Congo Basin has many natural resources such as: diamonds, petroleum, and timber. However, the methods people are using and the rates at which they are being removed threatens this important wilderness area. Many wildlife species are being threatened because of the hunting that occurs for the selling of commercial bushmeat. Another threat is deforestation; “the forests of the Congo Basin store a significant carbon stock and thus serve as an important buffer against global climate change” (Managing Congo Basin Forests: A Regional Approach for a Regional Resource). The Congo Basin forests sustain the world with a lot of its timber supply; however, such high demand of timber is leading to the expansion of industrial logging. There are many factors that worsen these threats: population growth, disease, lack of knowledge on how to manage forests, lack of funding, and climate change (Congo Basin Forests).
Use/Ownership: The uses of the Congo Basin forests are primarily agriculture, bushmeat hunting, and mineral and oil extraction (Congo Basin Forests).

Works Cited
Beernaert, F.R. “Development of a Soil and Terrain Map/Database.” Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). 1999: 155. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. “Central Congo Basin Moist Forests – A Global Ecoregion.” World Wildlife. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. “Congo Basin.” World Wildlife. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. “Congo Basin Forests.” World Wildlife. Web. 27 Nov. 2012 “Congo Basin and West Africa – Forest Carbon Index.” Forest Carbon Index. Web. 27 Nov. 2012 “Exploring Africa.” Matrix. African Studies Center. Web. 27. Nov. 2012. “The Forests of the Green Heart of Africa.” World Wildlife. Web. 27 Nov. 2012 Washington. “Managing Congo Basin Forests: A Regional Approach for a Regional
Resource.” Forests and Forestry. The World Bank. 2011. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTARD/EXTFORESTS/0,,contentMDK:22994505~menuPK:985797~pagePK:64020865~piPK:149114~theSitePK:985785,00.html
“Plants of the Congo River Basin Forests.” World Wildlife. Web. 27. Nov. 2012. “Wildlife of the Congo.” World Wildlife. Web. 27. Nov. 2012.