A treasure under threat
Like five other countries, the Republic of Congo lies at the heart of an ecological treasure trove: the Congo Basin Forest. Covering 3.7 million km2, it is the second largest tropical forest in the world. It alone represents a quarter of the world's tropical forests! Yet this treasure trove is highly coveted, particularly by foreign loggers. European and, more recently, Asian companies are felling trees to supply the global trade in precious wood. But local people are also involved in this deforestation, notably to cut firewood in a region where access to electricity is far from assured. Finally, the practice of slash-and-burn agriculture, i.e. setting fire to land to clear it and fertilize it with ash, is also destructive.
However, this sad fact needs to be put into context: the Congo Basin forest remains relatively well preserved compared to its counterparts on other continents. The rate of deforestation is therefore relative, but has increased sharply in recent years.
Waste management
Recycling and waste collection are far from being organized and systematized. Municipalities, which are responsible for waste management, are largely under-resourced, all the more so as invoicing for waste collection encourages residents to manage waste on their own. As a result, less than 5% of waste is collected. For the rest, the reusable parts are resold, while the non-reusable parts pile up in illegal dumps. The problem is compounded by the fact that the amount of waste is increasing as people gain access to packaged Western consumer goods. As a result, the accumulation of waste in both natural and urban areas is becoming a real scourge for the country, while at the same time causing major water pollution through rainwater run-off, and unsanitary conditions for the inhabitants. While a few initiatives by citizens and associations are flourishing here and there, a real government solution is still lacking.
A slow awakening
In one of the world's five poorest nations, where 62% of the population lives in extreme poverty on less than $2.15 a day, ecology is not a priority. Resources that are good to exploit, whether trees or oil, are. Similarly, little money is allocated to finding solutions, for example to the waste crisis, and even less to raising public awareness. As a result, it's not uncommon to see people throwing garbage out of their windows, not only because of a lack of ecological awareness, but also because of a lack of solutions for storing it.
However, it has to be said that ecological progress is far from being at a standstill. The country not only has a Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development, but also an arsenal of legislation. Since 1991, the country has also had a law for the protection of the environment, which implies, for example, that all economic development projects must include an environmental impact study, or a ban on dumping waste in nature..
Black gold: between blessing and curse
The Congolese economy is heavily dependent on its large oil deposits. Congo-Brazzaville is Africa's sixth largest oil producer. However, the exploitation of these deposits causes considerable damage to ecosystems. In 2019, a major deposit was discovered in the Cuvette delta region, in the center of the country, adjacent to the Congo River. However, this deposit of almost 10,000 m2 is located in an area of peat bogs of major ecological importance. This peat bog, the size of England, acts as a major carbon sink, retaining carbon dioxide in the same way as a forest, thereby slowing global warming. It is estimated that the peat bogs of the Congo Basin hold back some 30 billion tonnes of CO2, equivalent to 3 years' worth of emissions from human activity worldwide! The destruction of this area, considered to be the world's second largest carbon sink, could therefore release a huge quantity of CO2 into the atmosphere, and is a major concern for environmental NGOs.
National parks of paramount importance
The Republic of Congo boasts five national parks and numerous reserves, all of which are of vital importance for the protection of a flora and fauna under pressure. The government is demonstrating its determination to protect its ecosystems by continuing to create new protected areas. For example, the latest, the Ogooué-Leketi National Park, was created in November 2018. Covering 350,000 ha of savannah and forest, it nestles against the Gabonese border, beyond which another national park creates a cross-border complex of half a million hectares. It is home to a wide variety of species, some very rare, such as the critically endangered lowland gorilla.
Odzala-Kokoua National Park, on the other hand, is the country's oldest and largest park. Founded in 1935 by the French administration, it was one of the first in Africa. It protects the Odzala-Kokoua forest massif, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site for its ecological richness. The park is home to a high density of large mammals, such as gorillas and elephants.
Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, in the north of the country, is also a Unesco World Heritage site, under the name of the Sangha Trinational. This name covers three national parks in the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon and the Central African Republic, which together form a vast cross-border ecological site. The Sangha Trinational is considered the richest stretch of forest in the Congo Basin.
In the south-west of the country, the Conkouati-Douli National Park is made up of rainforests, lagoons, swamps and mangroves. This rich ecosystem, both a terrestrial and marine protected area, is a precious breeding ground for species. It is essential to the conservation of great apes, as it is home to chimpanzees and a large number of lowland gorillas. There are also forest elephants, leatherback turtles, among 5 other species of marine turtle, humpback dolphins and crocodiles.
Finally, Ntokou-Pikunda National Park, to the north, is also fairly recent, having opened in 2012. More discreet than the other parks, it offers little in the way of tourism, but is nevertheless of crucial importance for biodiversity, and is home to several thousand critically endangered gorillas.
