The Congo Basin holds the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest after the Amazon. Its forests are home to an estimated 10,000 plant species, around 1,000 bird species, and some 400 mammal species, including forest elephants, gorillas, and okapi.
The basin’s peatlands, centered on the Cuvette Centrale, form the world’s largest tropical peatland complex and store vast amounts of carbon, making the region critical for the global climate.
The forests face pressure from industrial agriculture, illegal logging, and mining, alongside the needs of the millions of people who live in and around them. In response, African governments created the Congo Basin Blue Fund, launched at the COP22 climate conference in Marrakech in 2016, to finance climate action and sustainable development. The Brazzaville Foundation helped develop the fund.
Related rainforest coverage: Amazon rainforest management in Suriname, rainforest conservation PhD in Guyana, and tropical forestry management in Gabon.

