GABON

-- Lying at the heart of
Africa's largest and last belt
of rainforest is the Minkette
equatorial forest, which is
home to Gabon's pygmies.
But environmentalists fear
that it may soon become
endangered with the
onslaught of development. A
few dozen miles from the
northern Gabonese village of
Evela - which is bordered
by the equatorial forest -
roads are being paved to provide better access to the area.
Logging companies in
Gabon's capital, Libreville
and Europe see a vast Potential in this pristine forest, At
the same time, various environmental groups are racing
to prepare a list of plant and
animal species and to define
areas for strict conservation.
They feel that what happens
to this jungle in Gabon will
have serious repercussions
on the rest of Africa's last
major belt of pristine rain
forest, which is spread over
an area stretching from the
equatorial coast across
Gabon to the Congo river
basin in Zaire.