Keypoints:
- Forest asset value rose to $23tn
- Gabon, Congo praised for sustainability
- Report urges forest-based development
THE Congo Basin — home to the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest — has seen the value of its forests almost double over two decades, according to a new World Bank report. The findings underline the region’s crucial role in stabilising the global climate, supporting biodiversity, and bolstering long-term economic resilience.
Forest wealth doubles in 20 years
The Congo Basin Forest Ecosystem Accounts report estimates that the total forest asset value surged from $11.4 trillion in 2000 to $23.2 trillion in 2020. Over the same period, the value of ecosystem services such as carbon storage, water regulation, and biodiversity protection increased from $590bn to $1.15tn.
‘For the first time, Congo Basin countries have developed detailed forest ecosystem accounts showing the true value of their natural wealth,’ said Ousmane Diagana, World Bank Vice President for Western and Central Africa. ‘These forests, managed sustainably, can serve as powerful engines for development, creating jobs and supporting climate-smart growth.’
Uneven progress across the region
The report shows that forest management and data capacity vary significantly across the six Congo Basin nations. Gabon and the Republic of Congo were commended for embedding forest sustainability in national plans, maintaining low deforestation rates and strong biodiversity indicators.
Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea are described as being in transition, as they strengthen forest governance and pilot policies integrating ecosystem values into planning. However, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic face tougher challenges from population growth, informal logging, mining, and agricultural expansion, all of which threaten forest resilience.
Integrating forests into national economies
The World Bank report urges countries to integrate forest resources into macroeconomic strategies that promote economic diversification and attract climate finance. It highlights new opportunities in community-led ecotourism, forest monitoring, value-added processing of non-timber forest products, and results-based climate financing — all vital for sustainable growth.
Valerie Hickey, the World Bank’s Global Director for Climate Change, said: ‘We can only manage what we can measure – this is why the forest ecosystem accounts for the Congo Basin are so critical. They will help countries unlock the power of their forests to drive development and jobs, while showing the immense value their conservation brings to the world.’
A trillion-dollar paradox
Despite generating over $1 trillion in global ecosystem services — more than 90 percent from climate regulation — local governments earned just $8bn in domestic benefits in 2020, mainly from timber, bushmeat, wild foods, and ecotourism.
The report concludes that closing this gap between global ecosystem value and local revenue will be essential to make conservation financially viable. The Congo Basin’s forests, it says, remain one of the planet’s most valuable natural assets — and one of its most undercompensated.
