Consequences of Deforestation in the Congo Basin
International Impact of Deforestation
The Congo Basin is the largest rainforest in Africa and the second largest in the world, behind the Amazon. Despite having a smaller surface area, it absorbs more carbon dioxide than the Amazon, making it the Earth’s largest carbon sink. It lies across six nations: Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), Equatorial Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo, with 60% of the basin in the DRC.
Large-scale deforestation in the Congo Basin is a complex problem. The environmental consequences of its destruction significantly impact the carbon-reducing capabilities of our planet. Absorbing 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year, which equates to approximately 4% of global annual emissions, the basin is one of the few places in the world that absorbs more carbon than it emits. As a result, protecting the Basin has been on the agenda of global conservation efforts, including the recent COP27.
Unfortunately, the basin’s resource richness has driven vast land mismanagement and exploitation since the colonial period. In 2019, the DRC became the country with the second highest levels of deforestation - only behind Brazil. In 2021 alone, deforestation in the Congo Basin increased by almost 5%, affecting over 630,000 hectares of land. Estimates show that between 2013 and 2014, levels of deforestation in the DRC meant that emissions equivalent to what would be released by 50 coal power plants in one year were not captured.
Additionally, the sheer size of the basin plays a crucial role in regulating rainfall patterns across Africa, which, when disturbed, could have a devastating effect on the availability of potable water and food supplies. This is especially relevant in countries like Ethiopia and Somalia, where drought has already put significant strain on resources - continued droughts could have catastrophic consequences, likely leading to famine. Furthermore, the reduced frequency of rainfall is a direct cause of soil degradation, as soil is then unable to absorb water at the necessary pace when rain does occur, consequently enhancing the risk of flooding.
Deforestation in the Congo Basin additionally generates a significant risk of spreading deadly infections. This happens because the number of species that could be carrying infectious viruses are moving closer to human settlements as their natural forest habitat recedes. Ebola endemics have followed this exact mechanism, with the very first cases recorded in the 1970s being caused by large-scale deforestation. The 2018-2020 Ebola endemic in the DRC showcases the constant risk, which is particularly elevated by the country’s high biodiversity. The spread of the diseases was partially contained by the naturally healthy ecosystem but still managed to claim 2,000 lives in a relatively short period of time.
Stake Weakness, Corruption, and a Lack of Political Will
The mechanisms facilitating this alarming pace of deforestation in the Congo Basin can be directly associated with the weakness of the Congolese state. As 60% of the basin is located within the territory of the DRC, the DRC is also the country where the majority of deforestation activities are taking place.
The DRC is in the 10th percentile of the human capital index, making it one of the least developed countries in the world. With few opportunities for people to support themselves - in an impoverished region marked by instability and conflict - deforestation has become a staple of the local economy. Almost two-thirds of the DRC’s population lives on less than $1.90 a day. Large populations turn to activities like hunting and poaching, and work in the logging industry. Further, increased migration by forcibly displaced populations from South Sudan and the Central African Republic has put even more pressure on the land, pushing people to settle on previously untouched natural habitats. China, the US, and Europe - where commodities extracted from the basin, like wood, palm oil, and rubber are often falsely advertised as eco-friendly - mainly fuel the growing global demand. As seen on the map below, small-scale agriculture is the principal driver of deforestation in the Basin.
Image Source: Science Advances
The DRC government is ineffective in exercising complete control over its territories, let alone its forests, creating a security vacuum in which militant groups exploit available resources. Although the government has been receiving significant funds from international actors to restore degraded lands and has granted specific areas with protected status, it cannot fully implement protective conversation mechanisms due to the substantial presence and influence of dispersed armed groups.
The weakness of the Congolese state leaves limited capacity to enforce legal mechanisms across the basin’s territory. As mining and logging companies are able to influence the government and surpass checks and balances, their activities often go unmonitored. With enough power generated, they can exploit resources without limits and without control. Reports from the Environmental Investigation Agency show that consortiums of timber companies have bribed ministers to receive concessions.
Corrupt political structures facilitate the extraction of resources in the basin through the breach of labour laws, evasion of taxation schemes, and violation of protected zones with little to no resistance to their activities. Networks of criminals operating in the DRC are often involved in drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption, fraud, and tax evasion. Local activists or communities that have attempted to interfere have faced backlash, including brutality from the police. Without punitive mechanisms in place, large-scale deforestation thrives as companies avoid control and oversight.
For years, the Forest Code of 2002 was the binding legal framework protecting the rights of local communities in the DRC to concessions; however, the code lacked specific legal tools to ensure accountability and the management of concessions. This resulted in shaky legality around property rights, which was easily abused for commercial purposes. The government regularly issues logging concessions to companies that bypass existing laws, disregarding conservation policies. In 2022, the DRC opened tenders for 30 permits to extract oil and gas, covering areas with particular carbon sequestering capabilities.
Gabon - the Conservation Champion
The Congo Basin covers six countries, but only Gabon and the Republic of Congo have experienced a decrease in deforestation rates. Although the Congo Basin covers only 5-10% of Gabon’s total area, it has received international attention for its exemplary conservation efforts.
In 2021, while deforestation levels rose in the DRC, in Gabon they decreased by 28%. This can be mainly attributed to rigorous standards for the management of forests, which are widely and strictly enforced. Extractive business operations in the Gabonese part of the Congo Basin require specific approvals, and the Gabonese government obliges all businesses present in the basin to offset their emissions. Enforcement is facilitated by a robust network of organisations that collaborate with the government in monitoring carbon credits. 88% of Gabon’s surface is still covered in forest, and the country has generated certified carbon credits stemming from 200 million tons of carbon absorption.
Continuity is one specific element that sets Gabon apart from other nations that span the Congo Basin. Until the 2023 coup, the Bongo family had governed Gabon for 55 years. Although their tenure was autocratic and oversaw widespread poverty, the government has displayed solid political will in promoting environmental conservation over several decades. In collaboration with numerous data collection agencies, governmental bodies have utilised large-scale data collection, including satellite and drone imaging. Satellite imagery helps to identify illegal logging, which on-the-ground workers and researchers relay on to the authorities.
Gabon has also opened special economic zones to balance profitability and sustainability, where companies receive tax breaks and other advantages. This policy offers favourable economic conditions to businesses while ensuring that all logging activities are certified and monitored. Sophisticated QR code tracking systems exemplify robust due diligence mechanisms with clear assessment metrics.
Gabon has been working very closely with the UN to strengthen its environmental capacity, and it is apparent that this collaboration has been fruitful. Gabon’s success has created a cycle through which visible achievements yield even more investment into protection and conservation. The challenge has been to ensure that communities benefit from the protection efforts, while simultaneously generating new opportunities for industries that communities can become involved in. Gabon’s example has shown that by creating clear protection laws and promoting sustainable producers, it is possible to promote both economic profits and environmental conservation, which has the potential to be replicated in other environments.
However, it has to be pointed out that the situation in Gabon is not directly translatable to other countries in the region. Evidence shows that mineral and oil exports are often linked with a reduction in deforestation as the wealth generated by those industries facilitates the import of food in larger quantities, reducing the size of the national agricultural sector, which is evident in the case of Gabon. It remains unclear how the new political landscape after the collapse of the Bongo family’s grip on power will affect environmental policies.
Lucrative earnings from deforestation in the Congo Basin drive companies to pursue environmentally unsustainable practices. There have been multiple successful sustainability campaigns which have informed consumers of malpractice in product supply chains resulting in the promotion of fair trade products. Putting pressure on companies involved in deforestation in the area - by increasing awareness of unsustainable practices - could have the potential to revert some of the documented consequences of deforestation in the Congo Basin.
The destruction of the Basin reduces the Earth’s ability to naturally absorb CO2, promotes the spread of diseases, and disrupts rainfall patterns affecting fresh water supplies and food access in other parts of Africa. Although funds from international donors are being invested into the Basin, high levels of corruption, especially prevalent in the DRC, have reduced their impact on its preservation. As a result, there is potential for NGOs, development agencies, and transparency focused organisations to expand activities by tracking how these funds are used on the ground and measuring how they directly contribute to the specific objectives they were designed for.