North Congolian Lowland Forests bioregion

The bioregion’s land area is provided in units of 1,000 hectares. The protection goal is the combined Global Safety Net (GSN1) areas for the component ecoregions. The protection level indicates the percentage of the GSN goal that is currently protected on a scale of 0-10. N/A means data is not available at this time.

  • 95,083
    Total Land Area (1000 ha)
  • 2
    Number of Ecoregions
  • 83%
    Protection Target
  • 2
    Protection Level

The North Congolian Lowland bioregion in the Equatorial Afrotropics includes the densely forested lowland areas above the Congo River, bounded to the east by the Albertine Rift. It is divided into western and eastern halves and comprises two major ecoregions -- Northwest Congolian Lowland Forests [1], and Northeast Congolian lowland forests [2] -- totaling 95 million hectares. 

The bioregion contains vast expanses of intact rainforest and forms a part of one of the world’s last remaining tropical forest wildernesses, storing an estimated 22 billion tonnes of carbon. These forests are amongst the richest in Africa for primates, harboring the largest population of lowland gorillas, and possibly chimpanzees, in the world. 

The North Congolian Lowland Forests bioregion is part of the Equatorial Afrotropics subrealm and is made up of two ecoregions: Northwest Congolian Lowland Forests [1], Northeast Congolian lowland forests [2].

Explore the ecoregions and the climate solution projects located in this bioregion below. 

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The Global Safety Net (GSN) is the first global-scale analysis of land areas requiring protection to solve the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change, upholding and strengthening Indigenous land rights.

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