A fair deal for the sustainable development of the Congo Basin countries and the protection of the rainforest

Abstract

The Congo Basin forests, including the world’s second largest rainforest after the Amazon, cover more than 300 million hectares across 11 countries in Central Africa. They represent the world’s largest land-based carbon sink, and provide a unique and vital biodiversity haven. Development, commercial and demographic pressures have increased considerably in the Congo Basin, particularly since 2010, leading to rising deforestation and degradation in its forests. While recent analysis has suggested that the rate of deforestation has decreased significantly over the past five years, and that it is now less than half, in percentage terms, of that experienced in the Amazon Basin, nearly 10% of the Congo Basin’s forest area was lost between 1990 and 2025. There are also signs that the impacts of climate change are beginning to adversely affect the absorption of carbon dioxide by the Congo Basin forests. Given these threats, this is a critical moment for the forests’ future. This report highlights the gap between the value of the natural capital of the Congo Basin rainforest and the forestry revenues of the countries that cover it. The authors show how destructive and degrading forestry practices in the countries of the Congo Basin currently produce only a fraction of the value of the available natural capital and call for a genuine ‘fair deal’ that would enable the protection of the Congo Basin and the sustainable development of the countries that cover it.