Impacts
The impacts that the Congo's rainforests have on us, and us on them, are huge, and range from things such as deforestation and the destruction of hundreds of plant and animal species that call the Congo rainforest home.
Rainforest's Impacts on Us
One of the main ways that rainforests affect us humans is through deforestation. To illustrate this, normally trees absorb harmful carbon dioxide from the air and put out oxygen, but when the trees are cut down, not only does the absorption stop, but all of the carbon dioxide that the trees have stored in their lifetimes is redistributed back into the atmosphere, where it contributes to global warming.
"The DRC rainforest contains 8% of global carbon stores. It is estimated that forest clearance in the DRC will release up to 34.4 billion tonnes of CO2 by 2050, roughly equivalent to the UK's CO2 emissions over the last sixty years." (from Greenpeace's website)
Our Impacts on the Rainforest
By far the biggest way we affect Congo's rainforests is through mining for minerals such as gold and diamonds, both of which have caused huge armed conflicts in the past. Sometimes mining can even take place right in the centre of a rainforest, leading to the rainforest literally being torn up to make room for the mining to take place, water sources being contaminated, and soil erosion. Forest mining can even impact on wild animal poaching, because of the easy access point for poachers to operate from.
Another way that we affect the Congo's rainforets is through extreme overcrowding of the areas in and around the rainforest (the rate of growth is currently around 2-3% per year). This in turn causes more strain on the rainforest's natural resources (since it has to cater for more people), and the urbanisation of areas of rainforests that are especially prone to erosion, such as slopes and deep valleys or swamps.
