The world’s second largest rainforest straddles the equator here. Its area represents 18 percent of what remains of the world’s rainforest and covers a vast expanse nearly three times the size of Texas and as large as Western Europe.
The rainforests of Congo Basin are the most extensive in Africa. It is located mainly in Congo but also in parts of Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and Congo-Brazzaville.
The republic Congo biodiversity is among the richest in the world and only four countries have more plant and animal species.
It contains about 8000 plant species. Almost 80 percent of these are unique to this region. Congo rainforest also contains 10,000 animal species.
These areas are also home to a variety of forest dwellers. Among them are also the semi-nomadic pygmies, such as the Mbuti and other hunter-gatherers who have traditionally lived in an interdependent relationship with farming communities on the periphery of the forest areas.
The water form all of the rain this amazing forest receives runs off into the world’s second-largest (by volume) rive, the Congo.
Congo rainforest
