By Jean Baptiste Ndabananiye
According to Economics Observatory, the Congo Basin provides 30% of Africa’s fresh water. The Congo Basin constitutes an unusually diverse ecosystem. There occur over 10,000 species of tropical plants, with 30% which cannot be located anywhere else on the globe. Approximately 400 various mammals and 1,000 species of birds call this basin their home. Below the surface of the river live more than 700 species of fish, according to Harrison et al, 2016. The number of insects is extremely greater—this expanse boasts 370,000 species of beetle alone and 550 different types of butterfly.
Beyond its breathtaking biodiversity, the Congo Basin stands as a living shield for our planet’s climate, locking more carbon than the Amazon and Asia’s tropical forests combined. It forms both a water tower and a climate regulator, feeding rivers that sustain livelihoods from its heartland to distant coasts. For Rwanda—and indeed for the entire world—its preservation represents more than an environmental cause; it is an investment in our collective survival— a bulwark against the cascading crises that follow when humanity dismantles nature’s own life-support systems.
This article falls within the context of Life In Humanity’s reporting project— “Echoes of the Earth: From the Congo Basin to the Amazon”— scrutinizing the vital role of these forests in safeguarding global ecosystems, assuring the stability of climate in the world, sustaining local communities, and underscoring the crucial need for urgent action to protect these forests. This is the final article about the Congo Basin— meaning that, afterwards, we will transition to the Amazon Basin. In this regard, the following list provides articles already published about the Congo basin:
- “Rwanda’s stake in the Congo Basin’s future —a global perspective” accessible here.
- “The heart of Africa’s climate: understanding the Congo Basin”you can reach here.
- “The Congo Basin under siege: mounting threats to the world’s second-largest rainforest” accessible here.
- The Congo Basin under siege: unmasking the hidden drivers fueling its crisis, part I accessible here.
- The Congo Basin under siege: unmasking the hidden drivers fueling its crisis, part II which you can access here.
- Turning the tide of the Congo Basin’s threats: strategies to preserve the heart of the whole planet, accessible here.
- Guardians of the Congo Basin: bold projects safeguarding Africa’s lungs and the planet’s future, available here.
Guardian of the Planet’s Green Heart— why the Congo Basin is irreplaceable
The World Bank Group(WBG)’s 24 October 2024 article headlined “Journey into the Congo Basin – The Lungs of Africa and Beating Heart of the World” states that known as the “lungs of Africa”, the Congo Basin is “the largest carbon sink in the world, absorbing more carbon than the Amazon”.
“Preserving the Congo Basin forests is vital not just for the future of Africa, but for that of the world. Global efforts to tackle the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss will depend on preserving this rich and lush ecosystem. Gabon annually absorbs carbon emissions equivalent to a third of France’s annual total. The Republic of Congo alone absorbs 1.5% of the world’s entire annual carbon emissions.”
Bezos Earth Fund is a body created by a commitment of $10 billion— from one of the wealthiest figures in the world, Jeff Bezos in 2020— to be disbursed as grants to address climate and nature within the current decade. This fund released a story headlined “Why is Protecting the Congo Basin Rainforest So Important?” on 3 February 2023. The fund echoes the WBG, though it names the basin ‘the heart of Africa and lungs of the world’, whereas the WBG calls it the lungs of Africa and the world’s heart. Though the Bezos Earth Fund and the WBG describe the Congo Basin with different metaphors, what truly matters is that both underscore its irreplaceable role in sustaining the planet’s health.
The Fund states “The Congo Basin Rainforest functions as the heart of Africa and lungs of the world – it is vital to supporting people, nature, and the planet. The Congo Basin also sequesters more carbon than the tropical forests of the Amazon and Asia combined. With so much at stake, the world cannot afford the degradation, deforestation, and biodiversity loss of the Congo Basin.
We are committed to working with government officials, grantees, and local partners to protect, restore, and sustainably manage Africa’s incredible biodiversity and natural resources. Together, we will accelerate progress toward protecting 30% of the Congo Basin region by 2030.”
African Wildlife Foundation, with its 10 November 2022 story entitled “Conserving the Congo Basin rainforest to benefit the globe”, also stressed “ At the UNFCCC’s 27th Conference of Parties (COP27), negotiators from around the world are convening to address global action on climate change. Climate threats to Africa are already standing out in a year of extreme weather disasters, including the worst drought in 40 years in the Horn of Africa and severe flooding in West and Central Africa. Dubbed the “African COP,” COP27 is set to amplify homegrown solutions from the continent, with party negotiators, activists, the private sector, youth, and local communities showing up more aligned than ever before.
But if global climate change efforts are to succeed, conserving Africa’s Congo Basin rainforest—in ways linked to community well-being—must be front and center. The world needs a healthy and intact Congo Basin rainforest to meet global targets to limit temperature rise. The forests are home to over 400 species of mammals, making up a unique and richly biodiverse ecosystem that serves as a stronghold of resilience against global biodiversity loss. However, without proper investment in its conservation and stewardship that delivers for people locally, this key ecosystem will degrade.”
The common denominator among those who acknowledge the basin’s global significance is its unparalleled ability to sequestrate vast amounts of carbon dioxide, turning it into one of the Earth’s most powerful natural climate regulators. African Wildlife Foundation reiterated it. “One of Africa’s most critical ecosystems, the 500-million-acre Congo Basin rainforest is the largest carbon sink in the world, absorbing more carbon than the Amazon.”
From the WBG to the Bezos Earth Fund and the African Wildlife Foundation, multiple authoritative voices converge on a single, indisputable truth: the Congo Basin is indispensable to the planet’s survival. Whether described as the “lungs of Africa,” the “lungs of the world,” or its “beating heart,” the metaphors may differ, but the message remains the same—its immense carbon sequestration capacity, unmatched biodiversity, and role in climate regulation place it at the very core of global environmental stability. The sheer consistency of these assessments underscores that safeguarding the Congo Basin is not simply a regional priority, but an urgent and shared responsibility for the entire world.
The Aral Sea: a stark warning of nature’s point of no return
The Congo Basin’s staggering biodiversity and unmatched role as the planet’s climate regulator are a reminder that nature’s treasures, once lost, cannot simply be replaced. History has already given us chilling proof of what happens, when humanity undervalues such life-support systems—the Aral Sea, once a thriving inland ocean, now lies in ruin. Just as the Aral’s collapse stands as a warning etched in salt and sand, failing to safeguard the Congo Basin could condemn us to witness a tragedy of not equal but extremely greater magnitude.
The following is an extract from Destroying your environment: cutting the very branch on which you are sitting on REJ (Rwanda Environmental Journalists)’s website. Destroying the Congo Basin is akin to humanity cutting off the very tree branches on which it sits, undermining its own survival. The excerpt constitutes a staggering example to prove the extent to which environmental self-sabotage means cutting the branch on which you are sitting is the near-disappearance of the Aral Sea.
A sea turned to dust—when short-term gain drowned the future of generations. Once the world’s fourth-largest lake, it has shrunk to a fraction of its size—not because of drought, but because humans diverted the rivers that fed it for unsustainable cotton farming. The Aral Sea, shared by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, has diminished by over 90% since the 1960s. This catastrophe was caused not by climate change alone—but by human decisions to divert the rivers feeding the lake (Amu Darya and Syr Darya) for large-scale cotton irrigation during the Soviet era.
The result? Collapsed fisheries, toxic dust storms, health crises, and a destroyed regional economy. Entire fishing industries have collapsed, destroying livelihoods. The exposed seabed has created toxic dust storms, causing widespread health problems like respiratory diseases and cancers. The local climate has become hotter and drier, making farming more difficult and worsening desertification. What once formed a thriving ecological and economic region now constitutes a ghost landscape of rusting ships in sand.
It is a haunting testament to how short-term exploitation of nature leads to long-term devastation—a textbook case of cutting the very branch that sustained millions. It represents a dramatic, real-life illustration of destroying a life-supporting ecosystem for short-term economic gain—and suffering long-term collapse. Few examples better illustrate the metaphor—of sawing off the branch you’re sitting on— than this one.
Britannica, in its 28 June 2025 story “Aral Sea” reports “Beginning about 1960, the Aral Sea’s water level was systematically and drastically reduced, because of the diversion of water from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers for purposes of agricultural irrigation.
As the Soviet government converted large acreages of pastures or untilled lands in what are now Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and elsewhere in Central Asia into irrigated farmlands by using the waters of the Amu Darya, Syr Darya, and their tributaries, the amount of water from those rivers that reached the Aral Sea dropped accordingly. By the 1980s, during the summer months, the two great rivers virtually dried up before they reached the lake. The Aral Sea began to quickly shrink because of the evaporation of its now unreplenished waters.”
Geopolitical Monitor— in its 9 September 2024 story “The Shrinking Aral Sea: A Cascading Environmental Disaster”— explains “The Aral Sea, once the fourth-largest lake in the world, has lost over 90% of its area over the last few decades. As a result, the local economy has been heavily damaged, lands have become useless for agriculture, and the unique flora and fauna of the Aral region are now facing extinction.
The region is home to one of the biggest environmental crises in the world, yet few global audiences are even aware of it. The Aral Sea was once a huge lake with an area of over 68,000 square kilometers (over 26,000 square miles). However, during the Soviet era, due to mismanagement of water resources, water from these rivers no longer reached the Aral Sea. As a result, the body of water started to shrink, and today the current area of the Aral Sea is just around 3,500 square kilometers (1,300 square miles), split into four smaller lakes.”
The lake was nearly three times the size of Rwanda. Rwanda’s total area equals 26,338 km². Nearly three Rwandas of water have vanished from the face of the Earth—an unimaginable scale of loss that captures the true devastation of the Aral Sea disaster. In other words, humanity drained a body of water nearly three times the size of Rwanda—not by drought, but by choice—sacrificing one of the world’s great lakes on the altar of reckless ambition.
Imagine draining not just one Rwanda, but nearly three Rwandas of life-giving water—this is the scale of the Aral Sea’s disappearance: a manmade catastrophe that turned a vast, vibrant inland sea into a barren graveyard of salt, sand, and rusting ships.
Call to action
The world must stop being lured by short-term gains that come at the expense of the Congo Basin’s long-term survival. These destructive pursuits are not confined to the nationals of the six countries—Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon— the basin straddles; they also involve powerful multinational businesses from across the globe. It is time to shift the focus from reckless exploitation to responsible stewardship—one that optimally values the role of local communities as custodians of this irreplaceable ecosystem. Safeguarding the Congo Basin is not a choice for tomorrow; it constitutes an urgent responsibility for today.