A Congo Republic rain forest full of rare animals and trees, one of the most pristine left in Africa, will be protected from all logging thanks to the voluntary actions of a timber company to forfeit its harvesting rights.

Congolaise Industrielle des Bois decided it would be best to leave the 100-square-mile Goualogo Triangle forest forever untouched by humans, even though it contains thick patches of of mahogany trees and valuable hardwoods, because, as the company's president said, "The Goualogo Triangle is a very special place."

Logging in the triangle could potentially have been worth $40 million to CIB. Although the company is not getting anything in exchange for giving up its harvesting rights, they said there was plenty of other land in Congo available for logging.

The company's sacrifice will benefit dense community of chimpanzees, forest elephants, red colobus monkeys, gorillas and other large mammals, and allow eco-tourism and scientific work to thrive. Congo's government will protect the swampy forest by adding it to an existing national park.