relatively untouched forest within a number of nature reserves. An alternative alignment for the road has been proposed between Yaoundé, Cameroon and Brazzaville, ROC, which would do more to facilitate transport between the south and west of the continent, and which would probably have less of an environmental impact. It would run via Lambaréné (Gabon), and Dolisie (ROC). From the south, traffic going to West Africa would branch off in Yaoundé onto the western section of the Lagos-Mombasa Highway, while traffic going east and north would share the paved road from Yaoundé to Garoua-Boulai on the Cameroon-CAR border. As well as being shorter for traffic between south and west, this alternative alignment has other advantages: it already carries a little international traffic, it runs through more populated and economically active areas, it adds Gabon (and its capital, Libreville, via a spur) to the network, and it passes very close to Equatorial Guinea (Rio Muni) and the Atlantic ports of Douala and Pointe-Noire. Furthermore, a greater proportion of this section is paved, and those sections which are gravel roads or earth tracks are important as national roads and so are higher priorities for paving. Between Dolisié and Matadi an alternative mainly paved route is also available through Pointe-Noire and Cabinda, crossing the Congo River at the Matadi Bridge, instead of by ferry between Brazzaville and Kinshasa. Southern section The southern section between DRC and Cape Town on the other hand is an important regional road in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The Route follows south on the N1 highway in the DRC. It enters Angola through the EN140 and follows south through to the EN120 and enters the B1 in Namibia. The route continues to follow South and connects into South Africa using the N7 highway. The highway continues south until it interchanges with the N1 and M7 highways in Cape Town. Paving of existing roads is required in northern Angola but from Ngage through Angola, Namibia's B1 road and South Africa's N7 highway to Cape Town is fully paved and is in a fair to good condition. See also Trans-African Highway network Lagos-Mombasa Highway References African Development Bank/United Nations Economic Commission For Africa: "Review of the Implementation Status of the Trans African Highways and the Missing Links: Volume 2: Description of Corridors". August 14, 2003. Retrieved 14 July 2007. Michelin Motoring and Tourist Map: "Africa North and West". Michelin