The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is home to the Congo Basin- the world’s second-largest rainforest, after the Amazon. Denis Sassou N’Guesso, President of the DRC signed up for the Central African Forest Initiative at a meeting in Paris with the French President, Emmanuel Macron. The signed documentation is a Letter of Intent that commits 65 million dollars (US) for the preservation of the Congo Basin.
A collection of donors: the Europrean Union, France, Germany, Norway, South Korea, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom will be supporting this initiative. France and the European Union will contribute 45 million dollars (US) from the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) and the remaining 20 million dollars will be provided by the outstanding countries.
The Congo Basin covers over 20 million hectares, and occupies 69.8% of the DRC. In the agreement signed, there is also a commitment to avoid the conversion of about 20 000 hectares of forest on an annual basis.
Read more about the Congo Basin here: https://eia-global.org/subinitiatives/congo-basin
By Linda Buthelezi
