As rainforests worldwide disappear, burn and degrade, a summit to protect them opens in Brazzaville

By CARLOS MUREITHI
Associated Press

Leaders from Brazil, Indonesia, Republic of Congo and other countries with the three largest tropical forest basins are meeting to form a coalition to protect tropical forests from deforestation and destruction. They’ll discuss how to finance the protection of their wildlife-rich regions and how best to work together. The countries in the three basins have 80% of the world’s tropical forests and two-thirds of the earth’s biodiversity, according to the World Wildlife Fund, but logging, forest degradation, loss of native species and extreme weather events fueled by climate change have the forests under enormous pressure that’s putting local economies and food security at risk.