Central Africa: The Congo Basin Rainforest

The Congo Basin in Central Africa holds the world's second-largest tropical rainforest after the Amazon. The Congo River, which crosses the equator twice, has the second-largest flow of any river and is the deepest river measured, exceeding 220 metres in places. Its rainforest stores huge amounts of carbon, including in vast peatlands discovered beneath the Cuvette Centrale swamp and mapped in a 2017 study.

The basin is home to diverse peoples, including Indigenous forest communities, and to wildlife such as forest elephants, gorillas and bonobos. Rapids near the coast block navigation from the sea, but long stretches inland form a river highway linking towns. The basin's geography creates both opportunity and difficulty: the Inga Falls offer enormous hydropower potential, yet roads are few, and pressures from farming, logging, mining and conflict threaten forests and people.