N A T U R A L R E S O U R C E S |
 Il Congo is one of
the richest countries in natural resources in the world for its forests and mines.Forests cover 48% of the country's territory. The rest of the land is covered by splendid, grassy and bushy savannah. The fauna populating these huge forests and savannahs are a homage to bio-diversity. The Congolese forests are still intact because they have been scarcely exploited unlike many other African countries. The Congolese forest is very varied. There are over three hundred timber species, some of which are interesting from an economical point of view, such as Afrormosia, Wenge, Paduk, Guarea, many varieties of Mahogany (Sapelli, Sipo, Tiama, Khaya, Kosipo), Tola, Limba. Forest related business is carried out under the supervision of State Authorities to ensure that the forest wealth of Congo is not impoverished. IThe hot humid climate, the morphology and the rich, capillary orography favoured the development of farming and husbandry. In colonial times and during the early years of independence, large foreign plantations grew produce for exportation, particularly coffee, natural rubber, cotton, oil, palm seeds, bananas and, to a lesser extent, cocoa and tea. Currently, farming is limited to native crops, specifically food produce. The immense mineral resources - equalled in amount only by the Amazon basin - are currently not exploited to the maximum and remain a colossal wealth of the country. . During the seventies, the Congolese mines provided 61% of the world's cobalt, 50% of the world's diamonds, 20% of the germanium, 7% of the copper and 5% of the tin. Considerable amounts of zinc, cadmium, silver, gold, beryllium, manganese, uranium, tungsten, radium and coal are also found. |