10,000-year-old peatlands are a gigantic carbon reservoir for the planet
The green heart of Central Africa is one of the largest carbon sinks in the world. But this natural heritage, vital for the future of the planet, is under threat from deforestation.
Carbon sinks under threat
In the heart of the African continent, the forest covers 180 to 230 million hectares and is home to peat bogs that are over 10,000 years old. They represent a gigantic carbon reservoir, equivalent to three years’ worth of greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale. In the DRC, studies carried out by scientists on the exchange of greenhouse gases between the forest and the atmosphere demonstrate the vital contribution of tropical forest peatlands to mitigating climate change.
Less than 10% of the population has access to electricity
In 2020, an article published in The Sciences announced that African forests now have a greater sequestration capacity than the Amazon, but their natural sink function is being weakened by deforestation, which remains one of the main threats to forest preservation. By 2020, 491,000 hectares of primary forest had disappeared from the country. But deforestation is not the only evil. The abusive production of the infamous “Makala”, charcoal, is still a local custom. In a country where less than 10% of the population has access to electricity, the use of firewood, mainly for cooking, is a matter of survival. Agriculture, infrastructure development and population density are also accelerating the deforestation process. By 2050, the number of inhabitants will have doubled to almost 370 million.
Baté la zamba, ‘protect the forest’ in Lingala
But in the Democratic Republic of Congo, citizens and institutions are mobilising to try to halt deforestation. In some schools in Kisangani, ecological awareness is taught from an early age. In the school nursery, youngsters replant species of trees and plants used in everyday life.
If the imminent danger is not from outside but from within, then a paradigm shift may be possible in the DRC to protect the country’s forests.
Sources Unesco, Le Monde