With its national oil reserves depleting, Gabon is planning more careful logging to preserve the majesty of its forests while maintaining timber production. How should Central African countries manage their share of the rainforest? Also known as the 'lungs of Africa', the rainforests in the heart of the continent store more carbon per hectare compared to the Amazon rainforest; furthermore, they regulate temperature and provide rainfall, for example, to the Ethiopian Highlands.

Gabon's Minister of Water and Forests, Lee White (Lee White) – a biologist and former employee of the Wildlife Conservation Society – explains that halting industrial logging, as some environmental activists desire, is not realistic.

"Let the activists come and show us how to manage the forest, how to provide jobs for the people of Gabon, and how to replace the oil-based economy that we are going to lose."