Development in the Congo Basin

When thinking of a developed country, most people picture skyscrapers everywhere. However, when considering the progressing development of the Congo Basin, it is necessary to shift expectations from concrete jungle to jungle. The Congo Basin is the second largest jungle despite being the youngest, and it is home to spectacularly diverse wildlife and plantlife (Lanfear). Unfortunately, as the six countries it spans continue to develop, industries are pressed to use more jungle commodities as means for income (Casareo, Games, Megevand). The development of this region could come with serious environmentally damaging repercussions if the management of the Congo Basin jungle’s valuable resources does not change.

Countries overlapping with the Congo Basin rely on the jungle for income and resources. If a single aspect of the ecosystem’s balance is disturbed, it creates a ripple effect endangering the workings of the entire jungle. Countries in the Congo Basin must approach development and poverty reduction in ways that protect the jungle.

Establishing better infrastructure and technology is expensive. Natural commodities such as lumber, diamonds, bushmeat, and petroleum are the most valuable export goods in the Congo Basin and they all come from the jungle (Casareo). In order to extract these materials, the natural environment is altered and often harmed. The region’s poverty and dependence on raw materials has led to illegal logging and export of lumber becoming a major issue (Games). Cameroon lost 187,000 hectares of forest in 2017 due to illegal export of lumber (Games). This extreme depletion shows how heavily citizens of the Congo Basin rely on the jungle, and this has led to desperate measures. In addition, as the Congo Basin region develops, transportation, infrastructure, demand for biofuel, and improved agricultural technology are putting pressure on an essential element of a healthy Earth (Megevand).

Jungles are of the utmost importance to Earth because their ecosystems make them uniquely capable of slowing global warming. For example, areas of peat moss called peatlands cover only 3% of Earth’s land surface, but they absorb as much carbon as all the plants and trees in the world (Fountain). Recently, a peatland the size of New York state was discovered in the Congo Basin during an expedition (Fountain). Simon Lewis, a professor and author who took part in the discovery, said on the subject: “It’s astonishing to me that in 2017 we can be making these kinds of discoveries” (Fountain). The concealed peatlands make one wonder: what else hidden in the jungle is vital to the environment? Currently, the peatlands in the Congo Basin are inaccessible, but as transportation diffuses to new areas, that could change and it could also affect the jungle’s many big animals. Elephants and gorillas are necessary for the Congo Basin jungle to grow because they eat fruit from trees and spread the seeds around the jungle (Lanfear). The Congo Basin has more big animals than any other jungle, but as industry impinges on their habitats, the Congo Basin’s world-class gardeners are put at increasing risk (Lanfear).

How do we keep the jungle’s wildlife and plantlife safe as countries in the Congo Basin develop? Many organizations are working to answer this question. The World Wildlife Fund is conducting a program in agricultural areas of the Congo Basin in which they introduce farmers to sustainable methods that protect the jungle (Casareo). In addition, they have planted 10 million trees (Casareo). According to the Program on Forests, an organization focused on forests and poverty reduction, in order for the Congo Basin to be protected through development, the global demand for natural commodities needs to be kept in check and governments as well as citizens of the region need to be informed about sustainable jungle management. There is a long way to go, but effective development and progress toward a developed, non-concrete jungle depends on these issues being addressed.

Sources:

Casareo, Kerry, et al. “Congo Rainforest and Basin.” WWF, World Wildlife Fund, www.worldwildlife.org/places/congo-basin.

Fountain, Henry. “Scientists Map Vast Peat Swamps, a Storehouse of Carbon, in Central Africa.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Jan. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/01/11/science/peat-swamp-congo-global-warming.html?searchResultPosition=1.

Games, Dianna. “The Fight to Save Africa's Forests.” African Business, Nov. 2019, p. 14. Gale In Context: Global Issues, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A606080629/GIC?u=los42754&sid=GIC&xid=5e327f2e. Accessed 11 Mar. 2020.

Lanfear, Sophie, director. Our Planet: Jungles. Netflix Official Site, Netflix, 5 Apr. 2019, www.netflix.com/watch/80094030?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C0%2Cf128d018d255b181980b83d5a1b0a1a6d591bec6%3A503d8b2d17c3421e53c866f8281ec492e44345bc%2C%2C.

Megevand, Carole, et al. “Economic Growth and Drivers of Deforestation in the Congo Basin.” Profor, Profor, 24 Feb. 2017, www.profor.info/knowledge/economic-growth-and-drivers-deforestation-congo-basin.

The Message Within

The sheepskin coat in “Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress” is used as a symbol to show the boys’ desire to learn despite the lack of intellectual liberty.

Given to him by the villagers in the “Phoenix of the Sky”, the Narrator’s sheepskin coat is a short coat made of patches of wool varying in length and texture. Inside, the coat is bare hide and much of it is old and cracked. Because of the sentimental value of the coat, it is a prized possession of the narrator, and he keeps it close to himself. After reading Balzac’s Ursule Mirouët, the Narrator is so struck by Balzac and the freedom and lives of the characters that he feels he must copy down as much of the book as possible. He says, “It was the first time in my life that I had felt any desire to copy sentences from a book. I ransacked the room for paper, but all I could find was a few sheets of note paper intended for letters to our parents. I decided I would write directly onto the inside of my sheepskin coat.” (58) The Narrator having a “desire to copy sentences” shows that he sought a private space to escape the harsh reality of the Cultural Revolution. The lack of intellectual liberty drove the narrator to copy these passages onto the coat in order to revisit the story in private without risking his chances of escaping reeducation. 

Soon after, Luo takes the coat with him on his daily pilgrimage to the Little Seamstress’ house. After returning, he tells the Narrator, “When she’d finished reading she sat there quite still, open-mouthed. Your coat was resting on the flat of her hands, the way a sacred object lies in the plans of the pious.” (62) Similarly to the Narrator, the coat allows the Seamstress and escape from her reality into a world of expression and freedom. The author specifically chooses the words, “the way a sacred object lies in the plans of the pious” shows how important the coat truly is. The use of the word “pious” compares the coat to a religious object in the eyes of an extremely devout religious person shows the ultimate importance importance of it.