FOREST DECLARATION ASSESSMENT

The 2022 Regional Assessment by the Forest Declaration Assessment evaluates progress toward ending deforestation and land degradation by 2030 in the Congo Basin. While the region has historically low deforestation rates and serves as the tropics' largest net carbon sink, 2021 saw a jump in forest loss. The report highlights a gap between high-level political commitments and concrete implementation, noting that only Gabon and the Republic of the Congo are currently on track to meet the required annual reduction in forest cover loss.

• The Congo Basin is a critical global carbon sink, removing 0.61 net gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalents (GtCO2e) per year between 2001 and 2019, which is nearly six times the net removals of the Amazon Basin forests despite covering only 60 percent of the area.
• Deforestation in the Congo Basin increased by 4.9 percent (approximately 30,000 hectares) in 2021 compared to the 2018-2020 baseline, totaling 636,000 hectares of forest loss for that year.
• To reach the 2030 goal of ending deforestation, a 10% annual reduction in forest cover loss is required from 2020 to 2030. Currently, only Gabon and the Republic of the Congo are aligned with this trajectory, while Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are not on track.
• Forest degradation and fragmentation are significant risks; the share of intact forests in the region dropped from 78 percent to 67 percent between 2000 and 2016, affecting roughly 23 million hectares. Fragmentation often precedes permanent conversion, with 11 percent of regional deforestation (650,000 ha) between 2015 and 2020 occurring in previously fragmented forests.
• The primary direct driver of deforestation and degradation from 2015-20 was subsistence agriculture by small-scale farmers, typically affecting secondary and fragmented forests. However, industrial activities like mining, logging, and commercial agriculture pose the greatest risk to core intact forests by opening remote areas to further development.
• Governance and legal gaps hinder forest protection. While community forest laws exist in Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, and the DRC, implementation is hampered by a lack of tenure security for Indigenous peoples and local communities, weak law enforcement, and contradictions between forestry objectives and other sectoral laws.
• Financial commitments for the region are insufficient. A joint declaration by 12 donors pledged USD 1.5 billion for 2021-2025, and CAFI signed letters of intent for USD 465 million with the DRC, Republic of the Congo, and Gabon. However, these are small compared to the estimated USD 460 billion needed globally for forest goals, and the land sector needs of Cameroon and DRC alone are estimated at USD 29.8 billion for 2020-30.

APA

Forest Declaration Assessment (2022). FOREST DECLARATION ASSESSMENT. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022RegionalExecSummary_EN.pdf

Chicago

Forest Declaration Assessment. FOREST DECLARATION ASSESSMENT. 2022. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022RegionalExecSummary_EN.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Forest Declaration Assessment |title=FOREST DECLARATION ASSESSMENT |date=November 2022 |url=https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022RegionalExecSummary_EN.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{forestdeclarationassessment2022forest, author = {{Forest Declaration Assessment}}, title = {{FOREST DECLARATION ASSESSMENT}}, institution = {Forest Declaration Assessment}, year = {2022}, month = nov, url = {https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022RegionalExecSummary_EN.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }