Gabon Environment - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

deforestation (the forests that cover three-quarters of the country are threatened by excessive logging); burgeoning population exacerbating disposal of solid waste; oil industry contributing to water pollution; wildlife poaching

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 38.51 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 5.32 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 1.13 megatons (2020 est.)

Climate

tropical; always hot, humid

Land use

agricultural land: 19% (2018 est.)

arable land: 1.2% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.6% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 17.2% (2018 est.)

forest: 81% (2018 est.)

other: 0% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 91% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 2.27% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Revenue from forest resources

forest revenues: 2.6% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

coal revenues: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever

water contact diseases: schistosomiasis

animal contact diseases: rabies

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 238,102 tons (1995 est.)

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Congo (3,730,881 sq km)

Major aquifers

Congo Basin

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 84.7 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 14.1 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 40.3 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

166 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Gabon on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Gabon 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Gabon 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.