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EXPLAINED: Congo basin - The Real Truth

Okapi: new book celebrates a once famous animal and recovers Indigenous experts’ place in its history

As a child growing up in the Ndumo Game Reserve on the South Africa-Mozambique border, Simon Pooley read an animal encyclopaedia given to his family by a visiting scientist. He became fascinated by the okapi, a striking animal from the Congo Basin rainforest. Decades later as a conservation scientist and…

The Conversation

Congo Basin warming may be nudging tropical rain eastward, and scientists say the shift reaches from Africa to the western Pacific

Rising temperatures over Africa's Congo Basin are actively altering global weather patterns. This warming pushes tropical rainfall eastward, creating a climate ripple effect. Atmospheric waves transport heat, forcing air to rise and suppress precipitation elsewhere. These shifts influence large weather systems like the Madden-Julian Oscillation. Improved forecasting may benefit communities…

The Times of India

'Blackwater' lakes and rivers in the Congo Basin are now emitting ancient carbon into the atmosphere

Carbon that has been buried in the Congo Basin's peatlands for millennia is seeping into lakes and rivers. Why this is happening remains unclear, but researchers warn that tropical peatlands could be nearing a tipping point.

LiveScience

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Through the lens: the beauty of the Congo Basin and its fragile future

The Congo Basin rainforest is the world’s largest carbon sink, absorbing more carbon dioxide than the Amazon. Often described as Africa’s “green lung”, it helps regulate the global climate, with peatlands that lock away huge amounts of carbon. But the region is under pressure from deforestation, industrial logging and plans…

Radio France Internationale

Ebony and ivory: why elephants and forests rise and fall together in the Congo Basin

The forest elephants of the Congo Basin are critically endangered and face extinction.

The Conversation

DRC’s plan for the world’s largest tropical forest reserve would be good for the planet: can it succeed?

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo passed a law in January 2025 to lead efforts to establish the largest tropical forest reserve in the world. It will be set up as a 2,600km long green corridor the size of France – 540,000km² – situated in the Congo Basin.

The Conversation

Cameroon’s Baka people say they are part of the forest: that’s why they look after it

The Congo Basin’s hunter-gatherer people have the secret to living well with the forest.

The Conversation

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Earth’s 'second lung' is under threat. Losing the Congo Basin forests would set the fight against climate change back 20 years

Earth’s second great rainforest has been largely neglected.

Fortune

Conflict in eastern Congo forces thousands of schools to close

Thomas Tumusifu Buregeya wishes he were studying for his final school exams. Instead, he scrapes a living doing odd jobs in a displaced people's camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after a wave of rebel violence upended his life yet again.

Reuters

Earth’s ‘green lung’ rainforests take centre stage at talks in Gabon

The sixth annual One Planet Summit begins on Wednesday, with the fate of forests at the top of the agenda. Politicians, scientists and NGOs will meet in Libreville, Gabon, to discuss the future of rainforests in the Congo basin, Southeast Asia and the Amazon basin – and whether countries in…

France 24

Bongo, Macron host Gabon summit to protect and promote tropical forests

A two-day event tasked with promoting the critical environmental role played by the world's rainforests has gotten underway in the Gabonese capital Libreville. The One Forest Summit is shining a light on the Congo Basin forests in particular – which are under-researched and underfunded despite being a major frontier against…

Radio France Internationale

Mining and armed conflict threaten eastern DRC’s biodiversity in a complex web

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) conflict-affected eastern provinces are home to numerous protected areas. These areas host unique biodiversity and a range of threatened species, such as the okapi, forest elephant and mountain gorilla. They are also part of the Congo Basin rainforest, which is a crucial line of…

The Conversation

Biodiversity hotspot Gabon offers safe haven to endangered species

After a two-year delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the COP15 summit will open on December 7 in Canada to address the biodiversity crisis. We take a closer look at the African nation of Gabon, which the UN considers a leader in protecting the environment. Gabon is home to many…

France 24

Gabon sets example of how to preserve the Congo Basin rainforest

As Gabon hosts the Africa Climate Week, its environmental industry is setting the pace for the region and continent.

Al Jazeera

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The Independent UK

Oil block auction in DRC punctures Africa's climate goals

Sections of a renowned peatland tropical forest in the Congo Basin that plays a crucial role in Africa’s climate system go up for oil and gas auction in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Thursday

Salon

Lack of smallpox vax led to monkeypox

Smallpox vaccinations seem to help prevent monkeypox. Yet they've rarely been given since smallpox was eradicated

The Conversation

Literature from the Congo Basin offers ways to address the climate crisis

The African continent is responsible for only 2–3% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions from energy and industrial sources. But it’s alarmingly suffering from the effects of the climate crisis, as reports from the UN and others show. On the positive side, Africa has a huge potential for climate mitigation,…

The Conversation

Discovering the forest wonders of Africa -- and the threats they face

Africa’s forests are some of the natural wonders of the world. As someone who has spent decades studying the ecology and management of tropical forests, I’m constantly amazed by the unique forest ecosystems on the continent.

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