Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s terrain is primarily a low plateau, which rises to mountains the east. It has a relatively small coastline along the southern Atlantic Ocean and is home to the mouths of the Congo and Ubangi Rivers. A central river basin contains dense tropical forest. Most of the country is used for human activities, in its majority by rangeland. Democratic Republic of the Congo has high biodiversity rarity of terrestrial land vertebrates at a global scale. When analysed as single taxons, the rarity of amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles is also high. The rarity of marine fish and mammals is also high. Challenges to biodiversity include wildlife poaching; water pollution; deforestation; soil erosion; and mining.