Book Section
Congo River basin
Harrison, I.J., Brummett, R. and Stiassny, M.L.J.
Record Number:
5283
Year:
2016
Pages:
1-18
Editor:
Finlayson, C.M., Everard, M., Irvine, K., McInnes, R., Middleton, B., van Dam, A. and Davidson, N.C.
Publisher:
Springer Science and Business Media
Book Title:
The wetland book
Abstract:
The Congo River is the second only to the Amazon in terms of size and freshwater
species diversity. The basin covers 4 million km2. The basin has over 1200 fish
species, 400 mammal species, 1,000 bird species and over 10,000 vascular plant
species. It provides about 30 % of Africa’s freshwater resources, and about 77
million people living in the Congo basin rely on them. The basin has remained
relatively undeveloped compared to other basins in Africa, but increased political
stability is allowing development, with loss of riparian habitat through deforestation,
and reduction of water quality through pollution and sedimentation being some of the main threats to the freshwater ecosystems. Effective environmental
planning is essential to ensure that resources are managed wisely and the ecosystems
that provide them are adequately protected. Additional surveying and
monitoring of biodiversity throughout the basin is required. It will also be
important to designate additional protected areas with a focus on freshwaters.
Keywords
Congo • Cuvette centrale • Ubangi • Kasia • Blackwater • Rapids • Forest •
Fisheries • Habitat loss
Times Cited:
3