1. Rainforests
The Congo & Mbuti
Year 8 Geography- Topic 1 – Global Environments - 2011

2. The Congo Rainforest
The Congo Rainforest is the second largest area of
tropical rainforest in the world
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was
known as Zaire up until 1997

3. The Congo Rainforest
Quick Facts
-The Congo Rainforest covers 47% of the DRC
-The Congo River is the 5th longest in the world
-The Congo River crosses the equator twice
-The Congo River eventually ends up in the Atlantic
Ocean

4. The Congo Rainforest

5. The Congo Rainforest

6. The Congo Rainforest

7. The Congo Rainforest
Okapi’s are unique to
the DRC Rainforest.
They are relatives
with the giraffe and
are rarely seen in
public. It looks like a
Zebra from behind

8. The Congo Rainforest

9. The Congo Rainforest

10. The Congo Rainforest

11. Mbuti Initiation
To toughen up
the young
Mbuti Boys,
they are
whipped on a
daily basis.
They are only
9-12 years old
at initiation

12. The Congo Rainforest
The Mbuti tribe are
pygmies which means
they have an average
height of less than 150cm
This makes getting
around the rainforest
much easier.

13. The Congo Rainforest
The Mbuti tribe refer to the Congo forest as
‘father’ or ‘mother’.
They acknowledge the rainforest as a source
of food and shelter
They only hunt when they need to eat or trade

14. The Congo Rainforest
EMERGENTS
CANOPY
UNDERSTOREY
FOREST FLOOR / UNDERGROWTH
Remember this picture?
The Mbuti people ensure the canopy remains intact
so that the sun does not get through and the rain is
minimised