The Congo: Earth's Other Giant 'Lung'

By Bruce G. Marcot, Ecology Picture of the Week:

We are flying low over some of the last remaining undeveloped rainforests in the very heart of the Congo River Basin in the western portion of Democratic Republic of the Congo in equatorial Africa. These are dense rainforests that occur in extensive and nearly impenetrable swamps.  

The rainforests of the Congo River Basin have been called the "second lung of the Earth" (the first lung being the rainforests of the Amazon River Basin in South America). The two "lungs" may be crucial to helping maintain the Earth's oxygen supply, and likely serve as stores of atmospheric carbon, an important function that may help stave off global warming.  

These forests hold many unique and rare species and human communities. Here are found the world's populations of chimpanzee, bonobo (pygmy chimp), okapi, lowland gorilla, dwarf crocodile, and a large number of other threatened and endemic plants and animals. Here, people speak French, Lingala, Batwa, and many other languages.  

Several multinational programs are underway to help with local community forest planning and overall conservation of these forests. These programs include the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP), the Yaoundé Declaration, and USAID's Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE).  

Next week we will explore some of the ongoing threats to the world's "second lung."

  --Bruce G. Marcot

Image and text © Bruce G. Marcot, Ph.D. Research Wildlife Ecologist,
who produces the Ecology Picture of the Week website.