Eastern Congolian swamp forests
The Eastern Congolian swamp forests are a largely intact, but not well studied, tropical rainforest in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. They form the eastern half of one of the world’s largest swamp areas and include the Tumba-Ngiri-Maindombe wetland, the largest RAMSAR site on Earth.
The landscape is flat and very wet. The forests lie on the left bank of the Congo River, between about 300 and 400 meters above sea level, and flood seasonally as the river and its tributaries rise. The climate is tropical and humid with heavy rainfall, more than 2,000 mm per year. The area blends wetlands and swamps with patches of drier forest and savanna higher up.
Biodiversity is rich but not fully explored. Forest elephants live here, though poaching near rivers has reduced their numbers. Bonobos and many other primates—such as Angola colobus, Wolf’s mona monkey, golden-bellied mangabey, black mangabey, southern talapoin, and Dryas monkey—also inhabit the forests. Some mammals are nearly unique to this region, including Hutterer’s brush-furred mouse, Allen’s striped bat, and Muton’s soft-furred mouse.
The area supports many birds, including the Congo sunbird, African river martin, and Congo martin. Endemic amphibians and reptiles include Cryptothylax minutus, Chapin’s chameleon, Gastropholis tropidopholis, Polemon robustus, and Zygaspis dolichomenta.
Access via the Congo River has led to logging and wildlife poaching, especially of forest elephants. About a quarter of the ecoregion is protected, with major areas such as Salonga National Park (a World Heritage Site), Lomami National Park, Yangambi Biosphere Reserve, Lomako-Yokokala Nature Reserve, and Tumba-Lediima Nature Reserve. The Ngiri Ramsar Site covers part of the region.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 01:51 (CET).