Gabon is a refuge for global biodiversity and a resolutely committed ally when it comes to preserving the environment and our natural resources.
GovernanceNovember 17, 2021
Libreville
The first meeting of the BIODEV2030 Steering Committee (COPIL) in Gabon was an opportunity to present the project’s objectives and its implementation methodology to representatives of the private sector, participants from civil society organisations and national focal points of the Ministry of Water and Forestry, the Ministry of the Economy as well as other sectoral Ministries.
Gabon’s territory, situated in the Congo Basin, has a forest cover of 23.53 million hectares, or 88.97% of its total territory. Of these millions of hectares, 11% consist of a forest-savanna mosaic and swampy areas, with a high level of endemism and biological diversity.
The country’s ecosystems host a large specific biodiversity: 10,000 plant species (15% of which are endemic), 139 mammalian faunas and 749 avifauna species.
Since the 1960s, the emergence of forestry activities, the oil sector and logging have had such a territorial influence that 70% of the surface of the dense forests of Gabon is now covered by industrial concessions. At the same time, coastal urbanisation has greatly impacted Gabon’s mangrove forests, which have structural importance in carbon sequestration, species nurseries and the equilibrium of rivers and cutoff meanders.
+ 80%
Collapse of the forest elephant (loxodonta cyclotis) population, dropping from 62,000 individuals in 1994 to 7,000 in 2014.
Source: STAR study, conducted by IUCN
Supported by Gabonese public policies, the development of intensive industrial agriculture, particularly for palm oil and rubber trees, has a major impact on ecosystems of global importance for biodiversity (forests, rivers and cutoff meanders).
The economic activities that contribute to the Gabonese economy are those that have a major impact on biodiversity. Economic diversification is thus a crucial point in preserving and combating biodiversity loss in Gabon.
These results are the scientific basis for the stakeholder meetings where the two areas of focus are selected.
