The Congolian Coastal Forests (also called the Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests) stretch along Central Africa's Atlantic seaboard from the Sanaga River in Cameroon south through Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, and Cabinda in Angola to the mouth of the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The dominant cover is coastal evergreen moist broadleaf forest, grading into mixed semi-evergreen forest in the drier south, with coastal grassland and montane forest above 1,000 meters on ranges such as Monte Alen and the Monts de Cristal. The climate is wet tropical with little seasonal variation, rainfall declining from about 2,000 mm a year in the north to 1,200 mm in the south. The ecoregion is a botanical stronghold, holding over 200 strictly endemic plants and three plant families largely confined to tropical Africa, the Huaceae, Medusandraceae, and Scytopetalaceae, while serving as a refuge for the African forest elephant, western lowland gorilla, chimpanzee, and mandrill. Conservation pressure is high, with logging concessions covering nearly the entire region.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 0.3°S, 10.8°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
13a-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.7°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
At a glance
Dominant biome
Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Realm
Afrotropic
Approximate area
73,277 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
About the tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome
Warm, wet, highly productive forests — including tropical rainforests — with closed canopies, near year-round growing seasons, and the richest terrestrial biodiversity on Earth. Low seasonality and high rainfall sustain dense, layered vegetation from canopy to forest floor.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
No catalog plants intersect this ecoregion's zone range. As the catalog grows to cover this region's climate band, suggestions will surface here.
Collections for this ecoregion
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.
Related ecoregions
Other tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregions to explore: