Save Africa’s forest elephants if you want the Congo rainforest to continue capturing carbon

Subject: Environment

Section: Biodiversity/forests

Study findings:

The African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) plays a key role in creating forests which store more atmospheric carbon and maintain the biodiversity of forests in Africa.
If it becomes extinct, the Congo rainforest of central and west Africa would lose between six and nine per cent of its ability to capture atmospheric carbon, amplifying planetary warming.

How do forest elephants enhance carbon capture?

Each forest has low carbon density and high carbon density trees. The former has light wood while the latter has heavy wood.
Low-carbon density trees grow quickly, rising above other plants and trees to get to the sunlight. Meanwhile, high carbon density trees grow slowly, needing 2/5 less sunlight and able to grow in shade.
The African forest elephant strips away the low carbon density trees. This means that it removes the competitors of high carbon-density trees. This also enables the sunlight to reach more high-carbon-density trees.
The elephants also spread the seeds of the high carbon-density trees across the forest through their droppings.

Congo elephants:

Forest elephants of the Congo are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as “Critically Endangered”.

Congo rainforests:

Span through six countries: Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
Of these six countries, DRC contains the largest area of rainforest.
The Congo rainforest is known for its high levels of biodiversity, including more than 600 tree species and 10,000 animal species.

Some of its most famous residents include forest elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees, okapi, leopards, hippos, and lions.
Some of these species have a significant role in shaping the character of their forest home.

Threats to the Congo rainforests: