People, too, have been living near the southeastern rivers and streams for at least 12,000 years. We have relied on them for food, transportation, drinking water and spiritual solace. These places have witnessed eons of human and natural history and are testaments to the resilience of life on Earth.

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Stretching from the mountains of the moon in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, the Congo Basin contains a quarter of the world's tropical forests, second only to the Amazon Basin. Covering more than one million square miles, this tropical block is teeming with so much wildlife that it seems to belong to another time. Networks of trails formed by the massive feet of forest elephants lead through an expansive reservoir of tropical trees and plants, home to gorillas and chimpanzees, red river hogs and African forest buffaloes, elusive golden cats and elegant bongos.

While threats from logging, the bushmeat and wildlife trades, Ebola, poaching, climate change and population growth are everywhere, there is a new spirit of hope in the Congo Basin Rain Forests. Major developments such as the U.S. government's $53 million Congo Basin Forest Partnership and millions of acres of new protected areas - including 13 new national parks in Gabon - can be traced to the 1999 WWF-organized Yaounde Summit, which brought together for the first time the Central African heads of state to discuss the future of their countries' spectacular forests and wildlife. The resulting Yaounde Declaration committed these leaders to creating protected areas covering at least 10 percent of the Congo Basin Forest, eliminating illegal logging and halting the bushmeat trade.

On the ground, WWF and its partners have habituated gorillas for research and ecotourism, control the bushmeat problem, help indigenous groups such as the BaAka pygmies hold onto their traditional way of life, search for solutions to the Ebola outbreaks that are killing villagers and devastating gorilla populations, and working with logging companies to halt poaching and reduce deforestation.

http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildplaces/congo/index.cfm
THREATS: http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildplaces/congo/threats.cfm

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But despite its natural richness, the Amazon ecosystem is fragile and in peril. In Brazil, for instance, illegal logging, slash-and-burn agriculture and other human impacts are consuming the forest at the rate of over 9,000 square miles per year. WWF's focus is on two conservation priorities: the Southwestern Amazon ecoregion, a last refuge for highly endangered species like jaguars, harpy eagles and giant river otters; and ARPA one of the world's most ambitious conservation projects that will result in more than 190,000 square miles of Amazonian rainforest -- an area larger than the state of California -- under protection by 2010.

The immensity of the Amazon's challenge, like the scale of its landscape, requires a long-term conservation vision, backed by strong scientific expertise and the commitment of a global network of resources. These are precisely the strengths that World Wildlife Fund has applied to its more than 30 years of work to protect and preserve the Amazon and the animals that inhabit this ecological wonder.

http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildplaces/amazon/index.cfm
THREATS: http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildplaces/amazon/threats.cfm

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Beautiful but threatened primates known as douc langurs live alongside Southeast Asia's only Javan rhinos, along with elusive tigers and highly endangered wild cattle known as kouprey. But the real "find" in the Forests of the Lower Mekong is the saola, a deer-like member of the cow family discovered by WWF scientists in 1993.

But while the Forests of the Lower Mekong may sound like a paradise, threats are everywhere, such as logging, plantation and agricultural clearing, and large development projects that could endanger the wildlife and habitats. WWF is working closely with the governments of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to minimize these threats and offer alternative economic and development projects.

Millions of people and animals rely on the forests of the Lower Mekong for their livelihoods and sustenance. With that in mind, and recognizing the global significance of these dense forests, WWF is working throughout the ecoregion to help ensure that they are around for generations to come.

http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildplaces/flm/index.cfm
THREATS:http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildplaces/flm/threats.cfm

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For numerous species of plants and animals, this area became a refuge from advancing glaciers and harsh climates during the most recent ice ages. The respite from ice helped produce the richest temperate plant species in the world.

As the first international environmental group allowed to work in China, WWF is putting its best science, conservation and field expertise to work protecting not only the pandas, but their forest home and the thousands of plants and animals within.

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