Rising fire activity across Africa’s tropical forests is raising concerns that the Congo Basin could face a fate similar to the Amazon and Indonesia, where fires and deforestation have driven up carbon emissions. Newly compiled data from Greenpeace’s Global Mapping Hub suggests that significantly more areas of Africa’s tropical forests experienced rising fire activity than declining activity between 2001 and 2025. The findings are based on modelling of satellite-detected fire hotspots, which tracks changes in fire activity across tropical forest regions.
The warning comes amid concerns over a potentially record-breaking El Niño, which could heighten the risk of extreme weather events into 2027. Meanwhile, cuts to foreign aid by the United States and other countries have raised concerns about funding for scientific research, climate monitoring and firefighting programmes. Dr Jean Bakouma, country manager for the World Resources Institute (WRI) in the Republic of Congo, said forest loss remained persistent in parts of the Congo Basin, with fire becoming an increasingly important factor.
He warned that increased fire activity could also damage forest ecosystems and reduce the natural resources on which communities across the Congo Basin depend. The findings highlight growing concerns over the future of one of the world’s most important tropical forest regions. If fire activity continues to intensify, the resulting damage could undermine the forests’ role in absorbing carbon dioxide and increase pressure on communities that rely on them.
Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention. Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis.
By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more. You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper
Extract — continue reading at the source.
