Why the Congo Basin is at a critical climate crossroads

Once overlooked in global climate science, this ecological region is now being thrust into the spotlight by conservationists who warn that this beating heart of Africa is in grave trouble

- By Ed Stoddard

The rainforest in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

(Photo: Daniel Beltr /Greenpeace)

The rainforests of the Congo Basin are Africa's beating heart and if they vanish in the face of relentless slash-and-burn farming, the continent will no longer be "viable" because of the lack of critical moisture they deliver to the Blue Nile and other watersheds.

Although this ecological gem is probably now absorbing five times as much CO2 as the Amazon, the Congo Basin's plight has long been in the scientific shadows cast by the attention devoted to its South American kin.

But conservationists are trying to pull it out of the shadows and into the light of scientific research. British conservationist Lee White, the former environment minister of Gabon who lost that job after the 2023 coup, and 176 other scientists will launch their 800-page report on the Congo Basin on 12 November at the next UN climate conference, COP30, in Brazil.

"If we lose the Congo Basin rainforest, the African continent is not viable. The consequences would be unimaginable for Africa," White, the special envoy to the Science Panel for the Congo Basin, told Daily Maverick in a WhatsApp interview.

White said the main threat to the Congo Basin was slash-and-burn farming and not, as many might suppose, commercial logging. A recent scientific paper in the peer-reviewed academic journal Forests draws the same conclusion.