Deforestation trends in the congo basin reconciling economic growth and forest protection

The Congo Basin represents 70 percent of the African continent's forest cover and constitutes a large portion of Africa's biodiversity. The objective of the two-year exercise was to analyze and get a better grasp of the deforestation dynamics in the Basin. The primary goal of the exercise...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Megevand, Carole
Format: eBook Book Publication
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C THE WORLD BANK 2013
World Bank
World Bank Publications
The World Bank
Washington, DC: World Bank
The @World Bank
Edition:1
Series:Directions in Development - Environment and Sustainable Development
Subjects:
Africa, Central
Agriculture
Central Africa
Climate Change
Congo Basin
Deforestation
Deforestation > Economic aspects > Africa, Central
Economic aspects
Economic development
Economic development > Africa, Central
Economic growth
Energy
Entwaldung
Entwicklung
Environmental degradation
Environmental economics
Environmental protection
Forest
Forest Degradation
Forest degradation > Africa, Central
Forest protection
Forest protection > Africa, Central
Forest resources
Kongo (Fluss)
Mining
Modeling
REDD+/REDD
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (Program)
Sustainable Development
Transport
Waldschaden
Waldschutz
Zentralafrika
Sub-Saharan Africa
DEFORESTATION
ENERGY
TRANSPORT
FOREST DEGRADATION
AGRICULTURE
REDD+/REDD
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
CONGO BASIN
MODELING
CLIMATE CHANGE
MINING
FOREST
ISBN:9780821397428, 0821397427
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The Congo Basin represents 70 percent of the African continent's forest cover and constitutes a large portion of Africa's biodiversity. The objective of the two-year exercise was to analyze and get a better grasp of the deforestation dynamics in the Basin. The primary goal of the exercise was to give stakeholders (and particularly policy makers) a thorough understanding of how economic activities (agriculture, transport, mining, energy, and logging) could impact the region's forest cover through an in-depth analysis of the connections between economic developments and forest loss. Historically, the Congo Basin forest has been under comparatively little pressure, but there are signs that this situation is likely to change as pressure on the forest and other ecosystems increases. Until very recently, low population density, unrest and war, and low levels of development hampered conversion of forests into other land uses; however, satellite-based monitoring data now show that the annual rates of gross deforestation in the Basin have doubled since 1990. There is indeed some evidence that the Basin forests may be at a turning point of heading to higher deforestation and forest degradation rates. The forest ecosystems have not yet suffered the damage observed in other tropical regions (Amazonia, Southeast Asia) and are quite well preserved. The low deforestation rates mainly result from a combination of such factors as poor infrastructure, low population densities, and political instability that have led to the so-called passive protection. However, signs that the Congo Basin forests could be under increasing pressure from a variety of forces-both internal and external range from mineral extraction, road development, agribusiness, and biofuels to agriculture expansion for subsistence and population growth. All of these factors could drastically amplify the pressure on natural forests in the coming decades and trigger the transition from the 'high forest/low deforestation' profile into a more intense pace of deforestation.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references
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ObjectType-Book-1
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ISBN:9780821397428
0821397427
DOI:10.1596/978-0-8213-9742-8