SAVE THE CONGO NOW  - Rivers & Lakes

The Congo is rich in rivers with untapped reserves of gas, oil, diamonds and hydro-electric capacity, and largest diversity of fish, after the Amazon. One of its main rivers is: the Congo River -the second longest river in Africa after the Nile and the second largest flow in the world after Amazon. It reaches almost 45 000 Kilometres across Africa, draining every marsh, lake and watercourse in a river basin larger than the subcontinent of India.

With more than 700 fish species, 500 of which are endemic, the Congo River Basin ranks second in the World in fish diversity, after the Amazon. It possesses another extraordinary feature: it has one-sixth of the world's hydroelectric potential; and can power the whole continent, the Middle East and part of Southern Europe.

Three of Congo Rivers’ tributaries are longer than the Rhine, Western Europe’s longest river. The Congo River is fed by snow melt from the freezing summits of volcanoes in central Africa, floodwater spilling from Lake Tanganika, Africa’s oldest and deepest Lake, and rain water from the second-largest rainforest on the planet. By the time it reaches the sea, the Congo River pumps out more fresh water into the ocean than in other river in the world except Amazon. It has another extraordinary feature. Unlike any other river system, the outflow of the Congo River remains steady all year around.

Its other mighty rivers are Lake Mai-Ndomber and Lake Pool Malebo, with untapped resources of oil and diamonds, is situated in the West central DRC; Lake Albert and Lake Edward, which contains untapped reserves of gas, petrol, diamonds and diversity of fish, are situated in the East (bordering Uganda); Lake Kivu is shared with Rwanda; Lake Tanganika, the third largest fresh water lake in the world by volume and the second deepest, after Lake Baikal in Serbia, covers the entire border zone with Tanzania; Lake Mweru straddles the Zambian border; whilst Lake Upemba and Lake Tshangalele acrosses Katanga.

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Africa Rescue, save the Congo Now ...

Rainforest

The Congo is home to the mighty and ancient yet intact rainforest on the planet. Covering an area more than twice the size of France (1.3 million square kilometres or 358 million acres), DRC’s rainforest is the second largest area of contiguous moist tropical forest left in the world and represent approximately one fifth of the world's remaining closed canopy tropical forest.

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