FOREST DECLARATION ASSESSMENT

This executive summary from the 2022 Forest Declaration Assessment evaluates progress toward ending deforestation in the Congo Basin. It highlights a concerning increase in forest loss in 2021, the critical role of the region as a global carbon sink, and the systemic governance and financial gaps that hinder the achievement of 2030 targets.

• The Congo Basin serves as a critical global carbon sink, absorbing 0.61 Gt eqCO2 per year between 2001 and 2019, which is nearly six times the net absorption of the Amazon Basin forests despite being 40 percent smaller in area.
• Deforestation in the Congo Basin increased by nearly 30,000 hectares (4.9 percent) in 2021 compared to the 2018-2020 reference period, totaling 636,000 hectares. To meet the 2030 global goal of ending deforestation, the region requires a 10 percent annual reduction in forest cover loss between 2020 and 2030; currently, only Gabon and the Republic of the Congo are aligned with this trajectory.
• Forest integrity in the region is declining, with intact forest share dropping from 78 percent to 67 percent between 2000 and 2016, representing approximately 23 million hectares of degraded area. Fragmentation often precedes permanent conversion; between 2015 and 2020, about 11 percent of regional deforestation (roughly 650,000 hectares) occurred in forests that were first fragmented.
• The primary drivers of deforestation and degradation are small-scale agriculture combined with the construction of roads and settlements. While subsistence farming is the most widespread driver, industrial mining, commercial agriculture, and industrial logging pose the most severe risks to intact central forests, often opening previously inaccessible areas to further human activity.
• Governance failures, including widespread illegality, corruption, and political favoritism in the allocation of natural resource concessions, undermine forest protection. Additionally, a lack of land tenure security for local communities and indigenous peoples exacerbates forest encroachment.
• International financial commitments are insufficient to meet the region's needs. While a joint declaration by 12 donors provides 1.5 billion USD for the six countries between 2021 and 2025, and CAFI has letters of intent for 465 million USD for Gabon, DRC, and Republic of the Congo, these are small compared to the 29.8 billion USD needed for land sectors in Cameroon and DRC alone for 2020-2030.

APA

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

Chicago

Forest Declaration Assessment. FOREST DECLARATION ASSESSMENT. 2022. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2022RegionalExecSummary_FR.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_FR.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_FR.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }