The Central Congolian lowland forests are an

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

within the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. This is a remote, inaccessible area of low-lying dense wet forest, undergrowth and swamp in the

Cuvette Centrale The Cuvette Centrale ( French: "Central Basin") is a region of forests and wetlands in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Some definitions consider the region to extend into the Republic of the Congo as well. The Cuvette Centrale lies in the cen ...

region of the

Congo Basin The Congo Basin (french: Bassin du Congo) is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It con ...

south of the arc of the

River Congo The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

Fauna

The region has been insufficiently researched by zoologists but is known to be home to

antelopes The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammal ...

forest elephants The African forest elephant (''Loxodonta cyclotis'') is one of the two living African elephant species. It is native to humid forests in West Africa and the Congo Basin. It is the smallest of the three living elephant species, reaching a shoulde ...

, and several primates, including the rare

bonobo The bonobo (; ''Pan paniscus''), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee, is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus '' Pan,'' the other being the comm ...

(''Pan paniscus''),

De Brazza's monkey De Brazza's monkey (''Cercopithecus neglectus'') is an Old World monkey endemic to the riverine and swamp forests of central Africa. The largest species in the guenon family, it is one of the most widespread arboreal African primates. Aside from ...

, crested mangabey and the

lowland gorilla The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in montane, primary and secondary forest and lowland swampland in central Africa ...

. There is only one known strictly endemic mammal, the

Dryas monkey The Dryas monkey (''Chlorocebus dryas''), also known as Salonga monkey, ''ekele'', or ''inoko'', is a little-known species of Old World monkey found only in the Congo Basin, restricted to the left bank of the Congo River. It is now established t ...

(''Cercopithecus dryas''). Other near-endemic mammals include the golden-bellied mangabey (''Cercocebus chrysogaster''),

(''Pan paniscus'', EN),

okapi The okapi (; ''Okapia johnstoni''), also known as the forest giraffe, Congolese giraffe, or zebra giraffe, is an artiodactyl mammal that is endemic to the northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa. It is the only species ...

(''Okapia johnstoni''),

Allen's swamp monkey The Allen's swamp monkey (''Allenopithecus nigroviridis'') is a species of Old World monkey and the only member of the genus ''Allenopithecus''. Phylogenetically, it is a sister clade to the guenons, but differs in dentition and habits. Allen's ...

(''Allenopithecus nigroviridis''), Angolan kusimanse (''Crossarchus ansorgei''),

Thollon's red colobus Thollon's red colobus (''Piliocolobus tholloni''), also known as the Tshuapa red colobus, is a species of red colobus monkey from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and lower Republic of the Congo. It is found south of Congo River and west of ...

(''Procolobus tholloni'') and Wolf's mona monkey (''Cercopithecus wolfi''). There are two birds that are near-endemic in the region the

Congo peafowl The Congo peafowl (''Afropavo congensis''), also known as the African peafowl or ''mbulu'' by the Bakôngo, is a species of peafowl native to the Congo Basin. It is one of three peafowl species and the only member of the subfamily Pavoninae nat ...

(''Afropavo congensis'', VU) and the yellow-legged weaver (''Malimbus flavipes'').

Threats and conservation

The forest remains largely unspoilt as human population is limited to small communities who hunt and fish along the many rivers that cross this remote, swampy region. However many animals are vulnerable to poaching, and their movements are restricted by the network of waterways. Meanwhile

Salonga National Park Salonga National Park is a national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo located in the Congo River basin. It is Africa's largest tropical rainforest reserve covering about 36,000 km2 or . It extends into the provinces of Mai Ndombe, ...

is a huge protected area within the region, one of the largest national parks in the world, and the second largest tropical forest national park in the world.

Urban areas and settlements

The Cuvette Centrale is remote and sparsely populated, there are some riverside markets and villages such as

Ikela Ikela is a market town in Tshuapa, Democratic Republic of Congo, lying on the Tshuapa River east of Boende. Founded by Belgium in the early twentieth century as a trading post, it became an important local centre. It is the headquarters of the ...

but access to this area is difficult (by dugout canoe) and/or expensive (there are airstrips near Salonga Park).

External links

*
detailed study of Salonga National Park
* http://www.zoosociety.org/Conservation/Bonobo/BCBI/Salonga.php * http://www.eoearth.org/article/Salonga_National_Park,_Democratic_Republic_of_Congo

References

Afrotropical ecoregions Congolian forests Ecoregions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo * * {{-