11 Amazing African Rainforest Facts And How We Can Help Conserve It

Africa has the second-largest rainforest in the world.

The first place is taken only by the Amazon rainforest, which is three times larger than that of Africa. This forest covers mainly the central region of the African continent.

The rainforest can be found in the African countries of Cameroon, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Nigeria. Products or materials which occur naturally in forests make up for more than 6% of Africa’s gross domestic product, according to National Geographic.

This percent is the largest compared to all the other continents.

One of the most interesting characteristics of rainforests is that not even a single leaf goes to waste, as every leaf, insect, or animal body becomes a key link to balance the food chain and everything is recycled by nature itself. Some of the commonly found animals in this rainforest are chimpanzees, hippos, monkeys, leopards, elephants, and several others.

African Forests And Wildlife

African forests are the primary source of forest products that are exported worldwide, some of them being high-quality woods like mahogany and Okoume.

Africa has about 18% of the world's tropical forests as it covers 7.7 million sq mi (20 million sq km) of West and Central Africa.

These forests are also responsible largely for cleaning the air not just of carbon dioxide, but also toxic gases like carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide.

Huge forest cover is responsible for attracting rainfall regularly. These rainforests are the habitat of various species of animals, birds, and insects.

The tropical rainforest water sources like lakes, creeks, rivers, are home to various species of freshwater fish. Some of the most famous animals which are inhabitants of the huge African rainforest are African forest elephants, chimpanzees, gorillas, leopards, okapi. Tropical rainforests have an average temperature of about 70-85 F (22-30 C).

Several of these species are being listed as Endangered due to many reasons. Many tribes have their livelihoods depending on these rainforests for food, income, and habitat as well. There are some groups of people called African Pygmies who are forest dwellers and their entire livelihood depends on the forest they reside in.

Central African Rainforest

The lowland, tropical forest which covers the region of Central Africa, spans around six different nations, some of them being Cameroon, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo.

The Central African rainforest is also known as the Congo rainforest as a substantial part of the rainforest lies in Congo. This rainforest is the largest contiguous forest, which is home to more than 600 species of trees and more than 10,000 species of animals.

More than 90 million people who live in the regions inside the rainforest and areas surrounding the African rainforest depend on this rainforest for their livelihood.

East And South African Rainforest

The eastern region of Africa contains montane tropical forests with moist ecoregions. This area of rainforest comprises areas that are located at a height of above 6,600 ft (2,012 m) in the mountains of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and southern Sudan.

This rainforest also contains certain areas of the Congo rainforest as well. This rainforest is home to a variety of plants and animals, especially mountain gorillas.

The only rainforest of South Africa is located on the outskirts of a place called Nelspruit, which is situated on edge of the Crocodile River. This rainforest is not an indigenous or naturally occurring rainforest, rather it is a part of a huge botanical garden.

This garden or botanical rainforest was developed in order to promote the growth of rainforests, which are being deforested at a rapid rate.

Dangers Of Deforestation In Africa

It is said that African rainforests are being deforested at a rate of 0.3% each year, a rate which is likely to grow in the future.

Many of Africa’s animals and plant species live in rainforests. The reduction of rainforests would result in the loss of this plant and animal life, as they lose their natural habitat.

The population of African forest elephants is said to be on the decline for many years due to illegal hunting, poaching, loss of habitat due to deforestation, and an extremely slow rate of reproduction.

African forest elephants are extremely important to maintain the ecological balance and promote biodiversity in these rainforests and their declining population can result in adverse effects on the forest’s ecosystem.

It has been found that most of the deforestation is a result of human activities like infrastructure and construction developments, agriculture land, cattle grazing, and logging forest produce. These effects in an excessive amount lead to climate change, soil erosion, the release of greenhouse gases in the environment.

Combating Deforestation In Africa

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, naturally occurring or indigenous forests in Africa, which have been growing for a long period of time, are being torn down at a rate of approximately 11.6 million ac (4.7 million ha) per year between 2010-2020!

Stringently preserving the existing African rainforest and planting trees and growing new forests can aid in reducing the carbon dioxide from the air, compensating for the felling of such a huge amount of trees.

Improving and aiding agricultural development which leads to increased productivity can help in achieving sustainable development in the field of agriculture, leading to a reduced rate of deforestation in the countries.

This forest is typically richer in legumes and a wider range of species, and it reaches its peak growth around the Bight of Biafra, stretching from eastern Nigeria to Gabon, with some significant patches slanting west from Ghana to Liberia and east of the Zaïre-Congo Basin. Here you'll find swamp forests, inundated woods in flood plains, and riparian forests.

Swamp woods can be found all over the Zaïre Basin and the Congo Basin, depending on the conditions.

The wildlife of the tropical African rainforest is diverse with many rainforest plants, including many smaller mammal species that are rarely observed by humans.

Because of the rainforest's contraction and expansion in response to global climatic swings, the species that make up African rainforests are of various evolutionary eras. In Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Ivory Coast, nearly all primary forest cover has been lost; in Ghana, the situation is considerably worse, with nearly all rain forest being cut down.

There are many natural resources and rural communities in the African rainforest.

Forest legislation in ATO member nations aims to encourage the balanced use of the forest domain in Africa, as well as wildlife and fisheries, in order to boost the forest sector's contribution to the country's economic, social, cultural, and scientific growth.

Colonial governments implemented the first forestry restrictions in east Africa, but they were not severe enough to prevent forest exploitation.

It wasn't until the '70s that the ineffectiveness of forest controls became apparent.

Rainfall is distributed less evenly throughout the year than in other forests across the world. Africa's rainforest, like many others that have recently emerged around the world, holds a unique significance for the continent's indigenous peoples.

Besides plants, there are many wildlife birds and animals such as elephants, chimpanzees, gorillas, lions, leopards, and many more. African elephants are very famous and are known to be huge.

Life in African countries has much biodiversity. There are many mammals in Africa and Central Africa as it is a shelter for several of the wild animals on Earth.