In 2017, a team of scientists from the U.K. and the Republic of Congo announced the discovery of a massive peatland the size of England in the Congo Basin.
Sometimes called the Cuvette Centrale, this peatland covers 145,529 square kilometers (56,189 square miles) in the northern Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It holds about 20 times as much carbon as the U.S. releases from burning fossil fuels in a year.
Today, the Congo Basin peatlands are relatively intact while supporting nearby human communities and many wildlife species, but agriculture, oil and gas exploration, and logging are serious threats.
Scientists, conservationists and governments are now looking for ways to protect and better understand the peatlands for the benefit of the people and animals and the future of the global climate.
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