Since the COP has existed, the reflex has always been the same: whenever the topic of forest conservation is raised, all eyes turn to the Amazon forest. This is even more true this year, with the UN climate summit being held in Belém, on the edge of Brazil’s canopy.
However, in twenty-five years, South America’s tropical forests have lost 20% of their surface area and are diminishing their role as the lungs of the earth, as demonstrated yesterday in demonstrations by environmental activists and indigenous communities.
To find the world’s largest tropical carbon sink, you have to look across the Atlantic. It is located in central Africa and more precisely in the Congo basin. It is here that the second largest rainforest on the planet is spread across six countries – the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Gabon, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo and Equatorial Guinea. “The latter plays a major role in regulating the global climate by storing 600 million tons of CO2 every year, almost double France’s emissions. »,stressed Lee White, a British biologist and former Gabonese Environment Minister, who is now special envoy to Belém.
