The next Amazon? Congo Basin faces rising deforestation threat

• Forest loss in the Congo Basin increased by 5% in 2021
• Funders are neglecting intact forests, say green groups
• Timber, rare metals and oil and gas threaten conservation

While other tropical forests have been severely degraded by industrial activities like mining and agriculture, the report said most of the Congo Basin's deforestation has been due to small-scale subsistence farming — but this could be set to change.

The Basin faces major threats from fossil fuel exploration, illegal logging and, due to its abundance of rare metals such as cobalt, even from mining for materials that are crucial for the renewable energy transition.

New analysis released this week by Rainforest Foundation UK and Earth Insight revealed more than one-third of the Congo Basin now overlaps with existing or planned oil and gas exploration and production areas.