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Congo's Basin's Delicate & Untouched Bog-Forest

Jim said:
An interesting article on the Congo’s swampy-forest. Perhaps undiscovered species lurk there as well? Pls excuse if this has already been posted? ...
Click to expand...

I can think of one possibly relevant cryptozoology connection ... Lake Tele in the neighboring Republic of Congo is the most commonly cited location for the Mokèlé-mbèmbé.

http://forum.forteantimes.com/index.php?threads/mokele-mbembe.47341/

http://forum.forteantimes.com/index.php?threads/mokele-mbembe-picture-your-views.3105/

http://forum.forteantimes.com/index.php?threads/re-mokele-mbembe-letters-in-fts-150-152.1103/

http://forum.forteantimes.com/index...racial-memories-or-eyewitness-accounts.61343/

This lake is situated in an area of 'swamp forests' of the sort cited in the article, and it's been rarely visited / explored.

I don't know whether the Lake Tele area is among the peatlands encompassed by the study in the article.
 
Because the peatlands survey you cited is so recent, reference maps on African peatlands don't reflect the wider range of peatlands claimed in it.

Another problem is that there are varying definitions for 'peatland', so the existing maps don't necessarily agree as to how many peatland regions there are or where they're located.
 
The region has a low population along with dangers: man-eating Nile crocodiles, leeches, teste flies, tropical-diseases, poison snakes etc. I would tend to go with the more recent maps. How were the other maps you cited developed? Using imaging technology (perhaps a SAR radar with clutter reduction algorithms) they could asses the area(s) the peat bogs covers. The technology exist (I'm not aware of it currently used for nonmilitary purposes).
A peat bog is a peat bog from what I've seen. I've seen many up in northern Canada. The peat is often surrounded by winding channels of water. The peat itself is soft on top but goes down deep (only the top show's signs of growth). The whole thing looks a bit like a maze. As for the depth of the peat that could be more challenging.
 
I assume earlier maps were based primarily on ground surveys.

There are different types of peat areas recognized for one or another purpose. Some are areas of active peat production; some are wetlands capable of generating peat; and others are areas where peat is simply found (from prior accumulation). For some folks a 'peatland' encompasses all three of these situations; for others it's treated more narrowly.

For example, see:

http://www.peatsociety.org
https://www.wetlands.org

I'm not sure remote imaging can do more than identify wetlands areas, which in turn are candidates for peat formation / presence. Soil acidity is a key parameter in peat formation, and I'm not aware of any ability to assess acidity from a distance.
 
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