Gabon’s capital, Libreville, has lost more than 3% of its mangroves in three years. Conservationists and scientists warn this leaves the city increasingly vulnerable to floods and landslides.
In 2021, Gabon’s space research agency, AGEOS, concluded that the country’s capital, Libreville, had lost nearly 70 hectares (170 acres) of mangroves in three years. That’s an area about a fifth the size of New York City’s Central Park, which “is not much,” says Alfred Ngomanda, commissioner of the National Centre for Scientific and Technological […]
Tropical forest preservation and funding was central to discussions at the One Forest Summit, an international conference in Gabon’s capital Libreville.
Study Shows the Significant Effect of Climate Change on Central African Forests
A
global research work coordinated by scientists from the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) and CIRAD has disclosed the composition of the tropical forests in Central Africa and their susceptibility to the rising pressure from human activity and climate change predicted in the forthcoming years.
Gradient of the vulnerability of Central African forests to climate change and increased human pressure by 2085. The purple areas are the most vulnerable to climate change and human pressure; the green areas are the least vulnerable to both; the blue areas are very vulnerable to climate change and not very vulnerable to human pressure and vice versa for the orange areas. Image Credit: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement.
04-21-2021
By
Earth.com staff writer
Forests in Central Africa are not equally vulnerable to climate change, according to a new study from The Research Institute for Development.
Home to the world’s second-largest area of dense tropical rainforest, Central Africa is a biodiversity hotspot. The future of Central African forests is threatened by climate change and human development.
In order to best protect Africa’s valuable forest ecosystems, experts must gain a better understanding of how sensitive they will be to upcoming changes.
“The forest area of Central Africa is far from being a homogeneous green carpet. It is home to a wide variety of forests with different characteristics, including their own particular carbon storage capacity,” explained study first author Maxime Réjou-Méchain.