A new study published in Communications Sustainability shows how satellite data can be used to estimate annual timber harvest volumes and carbon emissions from industrial logging operations across six Congo Basin countries. Researchers calibrated a model using 62 harvest observations, linking logging road development and forest disturbance detection data to predict harvest volumes at multiple spatial scales. The study found that regional harvests averaged 14.7 million cubic meters per year between 2020 and 2024, generating emissions of 87.5 teragrams of CO2 annually. The authors note that reduced-impact logging practices could cut those emissions by 35 to 58 percent, potentially generating between $309 million and $489 million per year in climate financing. The satellite-based estimates differed significantly from official national statistics, with estimates 125 percent higher for Gabon and 81 percent lower for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The approach provides a transparent, spatially explicit method that could support sustainability assessments, regulatory compliance, and carbon market verification efforts in tropical forests worldwide.
