Gabon Environment - 2024

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

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.)

Revenue from forest resources

2.6% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 26.29 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 5.32 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 1.13 megatons (2020 est.)

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: 80 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 10 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 40 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

166 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)