Congolian forests

The Congolian forests are a broad belt of lowland tropical moist broadleaf forest which extends across the basin of the Congo River and its tributaries in Central Africa. The Congolian forests cover southeastern Cameroon, eastern Gabon, the northern and central Republic of the Congo, and the northern and central Democratic Republic of the Congo, and portions of southern and southwestern Central African Republic. To the north and south, the forests transition to drier forest-savanna mosaic, a mosaic of drier forests, savannas, and grasslands. To the west, the Congolian forests transition to the coastal Lower Guinean forests, which extend from western Gabon and Cameroon into southern Nigeria and Benin; these forests zones share many similarities, and are sometimes known as the Lower Guinean-Congolian forests. To the east, the lowland Congolian forests transition to the highland Albertine Rift montane forests, which cover the highlands lining the Western or Albertine branch of the Great Rift Valley. The Congolian Forests are a global 200 ecoregion.

The Congo Rainforest is the world’s second largest tropical forest, covering 700,000 square miles (1,800,000 km²) in six countries, and containing a quarter of the world’s remaining tropical forest.^[1]

Ecoregions

The World Wide Fund for Nature divides the Congolian forests into a number of distinct ecoregions:

• Northwestern Congolian lowland forests (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Republic of Congo)
• Western Congolian swamp forests (Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
• Eastern Congolian swamp forests (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
• Central Congolian lowland forests (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
• Northeastern Congolian lowland forests (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic)

See also

• Lower Guinean forests

References

1. ^ "Congo Basin Forest Partnership". USAID. http://www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/initiatives/cbfp.html.