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CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Central African Republic Forest Figures
Forest CoverTotal forest area: 22,755,000 ha % of land area: 36.5%
Primary forest cover: n/a % of land area: n/a % total forest area: n/a
Deforestation Rates, 2000-2005Annual change in forest cover: -29,600 ha Annual deforestation rate: -0.1% Change in defor. rate since '90s: n/a Total forest loss since 1990: -448,000 ha Total forest loss since 1990:-1.9%
Primary or "Old-growth" forests Annual loss of primary forests: n/a Annual deforestation rate: n/a Change in deforestation rate since '90s: n/a Primary forest loss since 1990: n/a Primary forest loss since 1990:n/a
Forest ClassificationPublic: n/a Private: n/a Other: n/a Use Production: 21.2% Protection: n/a Conservation: 78.8% Social services: n/a Multiple purpose: n/a None or unknown: n/a
Forest Area BreakdownTotal area: 22,755,000 ha Primary: n/a Modified natural: 22,750,000 ha Semi-natural: n/a Production plantation: 5,000 ha Production plantation: n/a
PlantationsPlantations, 2005: 5,000 ha % of total forest cover: n.s.% Annual change rate (00-05): 200,000 ha
Carbon storageAbove-ground biomass: 4,519 M t Below-ground biomass: 1,085 M t
Area annually affected byFire: n/a Insects: n/a Diseases: n/a
Number of tree species in IUCN red listNumber of native tree species: n/a Critically endangered: 0 Endangered: 1 Vulnerable: 8
The former French colony of Ubangi-Shari, now known as the Central African Republic, once had the third largest area of rainforest cover in Africa. Today, while tropical forest covers 36 percent of the country, most of this has been degraded by logging. Very little of Central African Republic forest cover can be considered primary forest.
Subsistence agriculture, diamond mining, and forestry form the bulk of the economy of the Central African Republic. Burdened with poor infrastructure and high transportation costs, a largely unskilled work force, and poor economic policies, the Central African Republic is not a particularly attractive source for timber among African producers. Nevertheless, most of the country's forests have been logged for valuable tree species including sapelli, ayous and sipo. Most wood from the Central African Republic is exported to Europe.
Logging roads have opened up much of the Central African Republic to subsistence agriculture and poachers. Bushmeat hunting—some of the most severe in Africa—has taken a heavy toll on the country's once abundant and diverse wildlife. The black rhino is no longer present in the country due to poaching. Fuelwood collection has also put pressure on the Central African Republic's forests.
Deforestation and poor agricultural practices are resulting in desertification in the northern parts of the country.
The Central African Republic had one of the lowest total deforestation rates among tropical countries between 1990 and 2005 when just 1.9 percent of its forests were lost. However, the country's forest degradation rate was considerably higher due to logging.
Today about 16.6 percent of the Central African Republic is under some form of protection, though institutional support for protected areas has historically been weak, and hunters and loggers have continued to operate in national parks. The Central African Republic is home to about 3,600 species of plants, 663 birds, 131 mammals, 187 reptiles, and 29 amphibians.
Britain, Norway commit $210 million towards Congo rainforest conservation
(06/24/2008) The governments of Britain and Norway last week announced a $211 million (108 million) initiative to conserve rainforests in the Congo Basin. The plan calls for the use of an advanced satellite camera to monitor deforestation in the region and funding for community-based conservation projects.
NASA images show expansion of logging in Congo rainforest
(07/15/2007) New high resolution images of logging roads in the Congo region of Africa are helping researchers understand the expansion of industrial logging in Central Africa.
Logging roads rapidly expanding in Congo rainforest
(06/07/2007) Logging roads are rapidly expanding in the Congo rainforest, report researchers who have constructed the first satellite-based maps of road construction in Central Africa. The authors say the work will help conservation agencies, governments, and scientists better understand how the expansion of logging is impacting the forest, its inhabitants, and global climate.
Congo forest elephants declining from logging roads, illegal ivory
(04/02/2007) Fast-expanding logging roads in the Congo basin are becoming 'highways of death' for the fierce but elusive forest elephant, according to a new study published in the journal Public Library of Science. Logging roads both provide access to remote forest areas for ivory poachers and serve as conduits of advancing human settlement.
Important Congo basin parks get funding
(03/28/2007) A network of national parks and protected areas spanning three nations in Central Africa's Congo Basin, has received long-term funding through the establishment of a trust fund, thus ensuring further protection of the region's wildlife, according to the Wildlife conservation Society.
Central African Republic could make millions under carbon-trading deal
(11/06/2006) The Central African Republic could earn tens of millions of dollars under a carbon-trading initiative proposed by a coalition of developing countries. The proposal will likely be discussed this week at U.N. climate negotiations in Nairobi, Kenya.
Avoided deforestation could send $38 billion to third world under global warming pact
(11/01/2006) Avoided deforestation will be a hot point of discussion at next week's climate meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. Already a coalition of 15 rainforest nations have proposed a plan whereby industrialized nations would pay them to protect their forests to offset greenhouse gas emissionsm. Meanwhile, last month Brazil -- which has the world's largest extent of tropical rainforests and the world's highest rate of forest loss -- said it promote a similar initiative at the talks. At stake: potentially billions of dollars for developing countries. When trees are cut greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere -- roughly 20 percent of annual emissions of such heat-trapping gases result from deforestation and forest degradation. Avoided deforestation is the concept where countries are paid to prevent deforestation that would otherwise occur. Policymakers and environmentalists alike find the idea attractive because it could help fight climate change at a low cost while improving living standards for some of the world's poorest people and preserving biodiversity and other ecosystem services. A number of prominent conservation biologists and development agencies including the World Bank and the U.N. have already endorsed the idea.
Rainforests worth $1.1 trillion for carbon alone in Coalition nations
(11/29/2005) If a coalition of developing countries has its way, there could soon be new forests sprouting up in tropical regions. The group of ten countries, led by Papua New Guinea, has proposed that wealthy countries pay them to preserve their rainforests. The Coalition for Rainforest Nations argues that all countries should pay for the benefits -- from carbon sequestration to watershed protection -- that tropical rainforests provide.
The Congo rain forest, an overview of a threatened ecosystem
(06/05/2005) Known as the heart of darkness by Joseph Conrad, the Congo region has long conjured up thoughts of pygmies, mythical beasts, dreadful plagues, and cannibals. It is a land made famous by the adventures of Stanley and Livingstone and known as a place of brutality and violence for its past -- the days of the Arab slave and ivory trade, its long history of tribal warfare -- and its present -- the ethnic violence and massacres of today.
