Forest resources and context of Democratic Republic of the Congo

Only about 10% of the DRC's forests are currently allocated for logging.

DRC’s forests cover closed high rainforests, open forests and woody savannah. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is part of Africa’s Congo Basin, together with Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. DRC is the most biologically diverse country in Africa and one of the most important centres of biodiversity in the world, encompassing over half of Africa’s tropical forest.  Overall, the DR Congo is known to have more than 15,000 plant and animal species, including 450 mammals, 1,150 birds, 300 reptiles and 200 amphibians, and more than 3,200 endemics such as the okapi, Congolese peacock, and bonobo (WWF-DRC). Mountains and high plains are at the eastern border with Uganda and Rwanda, including the Virunga National Parc, home of the famous mountain gorilla.

Although the deforestation rate is relatively low compared with that of many other tropical countries (-0.83% over the last 10 years), it represents an area of over 1 000,000 ha per year in the case of this vast country. It is among the highest deforestation figures in the Congo Basin and is rising. Main drivers of deforestation in DRC are slash and burn agriculture, uncontrolled bushfires, charcoal production for local and regional markets, cattle ranching, and, last but not least: illegal (artisanal) logging.