The Congo Basin covers an area of more than 4 million km² and is home to a number of different ecosystems. Grassy savannas in the North and South enclose a huge swath of tropical forest in the heart of the continent. These forests stretch a vast distance, from the East African Rift Valley in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Atlantic coasts of Gabon and Cameroon. But not all forests within this region are the same: the forest belt is composed of lowland, montane, and swamp forests, but also dry woodlands - dominated by the so-called Miombo tree species.

The mighty Congo River meanders more than 4,700 km through this area in a large arc before flowing into the Atlantic Ocean at…