Central African Republic
Population
4700000 people
Country size
62300000 hectares
Forest cover
22000000 hectares- Lying on the northern edge of the Congo Basin, the Central African Republic (CAR) contains vastly different ecosystems, with dry savannah landscapes in the centre and north, and lush tropical forests in the south. These forests contain some of the most abundant wildlife in Africa including forest elephants, bongos, lowland gorillas and chimpanzees.
- The forests in the south-west are inhabited by the indigenous Bayaka, who to a large extent depend on hunting and gathering for their subsistence, alongside other forest-dependent Bantu communities. There is endemic discrimination against indigenous peoples, sometimes resulting in forced labour.
- The state has allocated the vast majority of the south-western forest to timber operations and protected areas. To date these areas have been managed with the limited involvement of local and indigenous communities, reducing their ability to access traditional lands and resources on which they depend.
- There are roughly 22 million hectares of forest in CAR, of which five million is rainforest.
- Working here since 2009.
Projects in this country
Sustainable Conservation
Conservation policy and practice has historically failed to take into account forest and indigenous peoples' rights and needs. In so doing, it has also failed to protect forests and biodiversity. ...
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Mapping For Rights
Mapping For Rights is an award-winning, interactive community map project for the Congo Basin, which started in November 2011 and is ongoing. By highlighting the presence of otherwise 'invisible' i...
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Community Forests in CAR
Our work in Central African Republic (CAR) aims to establish successful models of community-based forest management, focusing in particular on the rights of marginalised groups such as indigenous peop...
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