Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the world’s largest rainforest nations with some 152 million hectares of forest – almost 70% of the country’s land area. This is equal to 7.6% of the world’s total tropical forest area. The DRC lost the second-largest area of tropical primary forest of any country (after Brazil) in 2018. The main driver of this deforestation is small-scale, non-mechanized forest clearing for agriculture. At the current rate of tree cover loss, the DRC’s primary forests could be completely razed by 2100.