MegaTransect

MegaTransect was the name for a project conducted in Africa in 1999 by <a href="/facts/J._Michael_Fay/np0G5mrr">J. Michael Fay</a> to spend 465 days on the expedition hike of 2,000 miles (3,219 kilometers) across the <a href="/facts/Congo_Basin/TGz9kK1Q">Congo Basin</a> of <a href="/facts/Africa/XkqQUP9s">Africa</a> to survey the ecological and environmental status of the region.
A <a href="/facts/Transect/rSGNvpCm">transect</a> is a term in ecology that denotes a survey of the natural vegetation through a particular area. The concept of a megatransect was conceived as a vegetation transect on a large scale that could be used to take an ecological census of the natural vegetation and ecosystems.
Shortly after the hike, Fay successfully lobbied alongside the President of <a href="/facts/Gabon/RKDffnwV">Gabon</a> to create 13 new <a href="/facts/National_park/otRgEoQ3">national parks</a>. In 2002, US Secretary of State <a href="/facts/Colin_Powell/V9dUmxsg">Colin Powell</a> and other Bush administration members gave 53 million dollars to help preserve the Congo Basin.
Mike Fay later went on to carry out the MegaFlyover in 2004.

MegaTransect open-in-new

MegaTransect