EOTP Congo Basin

location

across six central African countries

size

500 million acres

makes up ___ of the worlds remaining rainforest

18%

how many live there

75 million people

number of ethnic groups

150

climate (2)

20 - 27 degrees

2000mm/year

interdependence: climate - vegetation

temp, humidity and rainfall = plants

interdependence: moabi tree - elephant

elephants eat moabi

moabi seeds spread by elephant

interdependence: congolese people - trees

use trees for medicine

rely on bush meat

interdependence: strangler figs - trees & animals

strangler figs provide food source for bonobos

strangler fig seeds deposited

AND

strangler fig grows around trees

forms a habitat for animals

medicine

moabi makes 50 medicinal drugs

natural resources (2)

80% of coltan supply → phones

lots of diamond, metals and oil

tourism

rare wildlife attracts tourists

stores __ gigatonnes of carbon

20

how many plant species

10,000 (30% unique to the region)

how many mammal species

400

how many bird species

1000

how does it help to regulate climate

exchanges water and energy with atmosphere

why is it deforested

logging, mining, agriculture

what percent of logging is illegal

90%

rate of deforestation

0.2%

how many endangered species

190

resource curse explanation

blood diamonds explanation

palm oil

3 million hectares in CBR

mining leads to…

deforestation and environmental degradation

rural agriculture

rural populations rely heavily on subsistence farming

how much bushmeat harvested per year

2 million tonnes → e.g. antelope

poaching

500 gorillas poached per year → guards killed protecting gorillas