The Three Basins Threat Report

October 26, 2023

Delegates from around the world are gathering in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, for the Summit of the Three Basins, a critical initiative aimed at strengthening governance for three vital ecosystems: the Amazon, Congo, and Borneo-Mekong/Southeast Asia. However, a recently published global report, titled “The Three Basins Threat Report: Fossil Fuel, Mining, and Industrial Expansion Threats to Forests and Communities,” highlights the persistent challenges faced by tropical forests in these regions due to fossil fuel, mining, and extractive industry expansion.

Threats to Tropical Forests

The report, collaboratively compiled by Earth Insight and other non-profit organizations, underscores the alarming threats faced by the world’s remaining tropical forest basins. These regions are experiencing extensive forest loss, pushing them towards a systemic breakdown that has far-reaching consequences for global climate stability, biodiversity, and the livelihoods of millions of indigenous peoples and local communities.

Oil and Gas Concessions

Approximately 20% of intact tropical forests within the three basins are now located in active and potential oil and gas concessions. In the Amazon and Congo basins, nearly 25% of forests are within active or potential mining concessions.

Impact on Indigenous and Local Communities

These expansions have a direct impact on over 200 million people, including a significant proportion of Indigenous and local communities whose livelihoods are closely tied to these forests.

Call for Protection and Indigenous Inclusion

The report calls upon world leaders to commit to protecting the forests in these three basins and emphasizes the importance of placing Indigenous peoples and local communities at the core of the solutions discussed within the framework of the Three Basins Initiative.

Specifics for Each Basin

In the Amazon basin, nearly 13% of undisturbed tropical forests overlap with existing or planned oil and gas blocks, and over 33% overlap with active and inactive mining concessions. Indigenous territories covering more than 31 million hectares are within these zones.

In the Congo basin, more than 39% of undisturbed Tropical Moist Forests overlap with oil and gas blocks, and nearly 27% overlap with mining concessions. The report emphasizes that these expansions pose an existential threat to Indigenous pygmy and other rare and threatened peoples.

In Southeast Asia, nearly 20% of undisturbed Tropical Moist Forests are within oil and gas blocks designated for production or exploration. In Indonesia, 53% of natural forests are vulnerable to being granted for various extractive concessions, including palm oil, mining, logging, and energy.

International Call for Action

The Summit of the Three Basins, scheduled from October 26-28, is attended by heads of state, government representatives, international organizations, donors, financing organizations, and experts. In his welcome message, Denis Sassou-Nguesso, President of the Republic of Congo, emphasized the need for global mobilization to address the environmental and climate emergency that threatens the planet.

Historical Context

The first Summit of the Three Tropical Forest Basins took place in Brazzaville in 2011 and led to the Declaration of the Summit of the Three Tropical Forest Basins, which recognized the necessity of establishing a platform for cooperation among the countries within these three vital basins.

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