Deforestation Trends in the Congo Basin

The Congo Basin forests have been mainly 'passively' protected by chronic political instability and conflict, poor infrastructure, and poor governance. Congo Basin countries thus still fit the profile of high forest cover/ low deforestation (HFLD) countries. However, there are signs that Congo Basin forests are under increasing pressure from a variety of sources, including mineral extraction, road development, agribusiness, and biofuels, in addition to subsistence agricultural expansion and charcoal collection. Congo Basin countries are now at a crossroad ? they are not yet locked into a development path that will necessarily come at high cost to forests. They need to find new ways of development that can simultaneously respond to the dual challenge of developing local economies and reducing poverty while limiting the negative impact of growth on the region?s natural capital, and forests in particular. They can define a new path toward ?forest-friendly? growth. The question is how to match economic change with smart measures and policy choices so that Congo Basin countries sustain and benefit from their extraordinary natural assets over the long term ? in other words how to ?leapfrog? the traditional dip in forest cover usually observed in the forest transition curve.