Veronika Wild

  - Map created by Microsoft Co Pilot The Congo Basin is the second largest area of tropical rainforest after the Amazon. It spans six countries -the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, though 60% of it falls within the (DRC).   It is also the world’s largest carbon sink. Its annual rainfall is around 1500 – 2500 mm a year and its even temperature makes home sweet home to over 10,000 different species including bonobos and gorillas. One third of them aren't found anywhere else.   It also supports some 60 -70 million people most of whom are extremely poor.  -Image  Pierre Fidenci , CC BY-SA 2.5 , via Wikimedia Commons Deforestation in the green heart of Africa was relatively low until 2010, but has picked up pace for logging, mining and agriculture. Over two million hectares were cleared between 2015 and 2020. In 2021 it was 636 hectares and in 2024 it was 105,...

  -Image created by Microsoft Copilot Mesoamerica’s five forests stretch over 8 countries from Mexico to Panama. They cover over 100 million hectares – an area the size of Switzerland. As well as being an ecological bridge between North and South America, they are the  world’s third largest biodiversity hotspot, especially for birds and amphibians.  Home to jaguars, tapirs and scarlet macaws, its high diversity is due to varied microclimates and topography. The forests also provide food, water and livelihoods for approximately five million people. Between 2000 and 2020 these forests lost 1.4 million hectares or 23% of their area.  Historic forest loss  was largely due to expansion of plantations but 90% of more recent losses are due to illegal cattle ranching and infrastructure development. Roads through the region fragment habitat and facilitate illegal logging and poaching, both of which are made easier by poor oversight, conflicting laws and poor en...