User:LeenOnMe/New sandbox

Environmental impact
The war has caused substantial environmental damage. The forests of Congo are a major biodiversity hot spot, housing the Congo Basin which is widely known as the the second greatest tropical rain forest in the world and the largest forest in Africa.

Animals and Bushmeat trade
On account of the war the Republic of Congo saw their elephant population half in size, their hippo population go from 22,00 to 900 and their great ape population decrease by 77%-93% between 1998 to 2015.

With up to 3.4 million people being displaced in Congo as a result of the civil war, many moved into Congo’s forests, where they hunted bonobos, gorillas, elephants and more as bushmeat for survival. And cleared forest land that were significant habitats for these many animals. Many of these individuals were either from the city where the hunting of certain animals was not a taboo or locals who had their tradition slowly broken down because of their need to survive. One such example had been the Bongando people in which a 2009 study by Kyoto University had observed a disintegration of their cultural interdiction of eating bonobos as influenced by the civil war. Which will have serious long term effects in the future. Government instability and the lack of government enforcement allowed new illegal militia mining camps to form which located themselves deep within Congo’s forest. There, bushmeat became the main source of food. On top of that, the mass number of people entering the forests in conjunction with the mines’ unsanitary conditions introduced an increased risk of disease for animals such as gorillas. The government instability and the dangers of war also ceased much of the conservation and protection efforts occurring in Congo at the time, enabling the numerous rampant rebel groups present in Congo to openly par take in poaching.

Military assistance having been obstructed by surrounding African countries, Congo was pushed into entering numerous lumber leases with German, Chinese and Malaysian corporations to uphold their military activities. The roads emerging to support the new logging efforts opened nearby villages to receive easier means of transportation and access to deeper parts of Congo’s wildlife reserves. The result was a significant increase in bushmeat sales in villages near these logging sites.

The potential threat of rebel forces during the war caused many military officers controlling urban trade to leave their post. This created an open access market in the bushmeat and pet trade that was then undertaken by exploitative lower ranked soldiers looking for profit. The result was an observed quintuple increase of protected animal sales in urban markets in north-eastern parts of Congo around Garamba National Park. Meanwhile, in other northern parts of Congo, researchers in other studies have found a 23% increase in protected animal sales. The overall pattern being a significant increase in protected animal sales.

On the other hand, during the conflict much of the military front lines were located within bonobos reserves. This put those populations in harm's way and further contributed to the population loss of Bonobos.

Forests and Deforestation
On top of all the damage that occurred on many of east and central Africa's protected species, there had also been much harm observed on Congo's flora. The war is said to have caused a loss of 1.31% of Congo's forests, a size comparable to Belgium.

The millions of displaced individuals, as a result of the war, not only had to hunt for bushmeat to survive but in addition, needed to create forest clearings to use as farmland and log trees for firewood. The clearings were well dispersed and small in size but accumulated overtime. Plus, the appearance of these clearing posed the added adverse repercussions of the edge effect as a result of the forest fragmentation.

Moreover, many forests had become the victims of military hostilities. One such forest having to face devastation had been the Virunga National Park. Along with being Africa’s oldest national park it became the first endangered UN World Heritage Site. Its flora was cleared during both the first and second Congo war to make way for both the Rwandan and Congolese army. And with military personnel presiding on its grounds it then became a victim to military activity and assaults.