Yaoundé (PAMACC News): A new scientific Report  published on 11 January, 2017 shows that the Congo Basin Forest is not only the biggest and diverse on the planet after Amazon, but possesses the world’s largest peat soils that contain huge amounts of fossil fuels estimated to have accumulated since more than 10,600 years ago.

The report published by scientists from UK and Congo led by Prof Simon Lewis and Dr Greta Dargie, from the University of Leeds and University College London shows that peat deposit cover the biggest ever vegetation area in the world.

“We find extensive peat deposits beneath the swamp forest vegetation. Radiocarbon dates indicate that peat began accumulating from about 10,600 years ago, coincident with the onset of more humid conditions in central Africa at the beginning of the Holocene. The peatlands occupy large inter-fluvial basins, and seem to be largely rain-fed and ombrotrophic-like (of low nutrient status) systems” the report said.

The researchers said they mapped the Cuvette Centrale peatlands using a combination of on-the-ground field surveys and satellite data. Core samples helped researchers plot peatland depths.

The field measurement by the scientists of the depression in the central Congo Basin where the peat soil is found shows that it is the world’s most extensive regions of swamp forest, covering over 145,500 sq km and could contain over 30 billion tones of carbon stock , making the region one of the most carbon-rich ecosystems in the world, a record or data that was previously not known.

“We estimate that the peatlands store approximately 30.6 petagrams of carbon belowground, a quantity that is similar to the above-ground carbon stocks of the tropical forests of the entire Congo Basin,” the report stated.

Scientists say peatlands act as carbon sinks, removing carbon from the atmosphere through plant growth. Thus the rich Congo Basin  peat soils and its waterlogged environment provides a huge opportunity to lock up carbon and fight against climate change .

However experts say this opportunity will only produce the desired results if the rich forest and its Peatsoil are left undisturbed.

“If the Congo basin peatland complex was to be destroyed, this would release billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere,” the scientists said in their report
Partners of the Congo Basin Forest in Kigali, Rwanda, for the 16th meeting of the organization in November 2016  to discuss the problems facing  Africa’s rich ecosystem and seed pathways to help solve them pointed on the need for collective efforts and reinforced research efforts to help better protect the resources.

“Millions of people in the Congo Basin Forest and its immediate vicinity rely on the forest for subsistence and this is very important to reinforce measures to protect the resources contained therein” said African Wildlife Foundation President, Kaddu Sebunya, in an interview in the meeting.
Over 340 million dollars is spent in conservation efforts in the Congo Basin Forest today because of its importance to not only the natural ecosystems and the fight against climate but also in its role in socio-cultural wellbeing of the forest communities, experts say.

Dr Emma Stokes, Director of the Central Africa Program of the Wildlife Conservation Society said: "This research highlights the immense significance of these swamp forests for the stability of our climate. However, these forests, in the geographical heart of Africa, are also a vital refuge for many thousands of great apes, elephants and other large forest mammals that are threatened by developments in the surrounding landscape.

"The RoC government is considering the expansion of Lac Tele Community Reserve, a move that could safeguard an additional 50,000 square kilometres of swamp forest – much of it overlying peat -- from future disturbance. We strongly support this move and commend the RoC government for this initiative. We urge both countries to continue efforts to protect these habitats from industrial transformation."