DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO | 156,559 ACRES PROTECTED WITH ANOTHER 994,078 ACRES TO COME
Help Halt Extractive Activities in Congo’ s Great Swamp Forest
A great swamp forest sits in the heart of the Congo Basin, with layers of peat up to 30 feet deep. The peat consists of thousands of years worth of wet, partially decomposed vegetation that helps filter water and minimize flooding. Peat is considered to be better at storing carbon than all other types of vegetation combined.
We are working with Rainforest Foundation Norway and Groupe d’ Action Pour Sauver L’ Homme Et Son Environnement to support the designation of 1.15 million acres of tropical peatlands in the Democratic Republic of Congo( DRC) as Community Forests, granting legal land rights to the local communities that rely on the health of these swamp forests for their daily survival and long-term wellbeing.
Critically Endangered African Forest Elephants also thrive in this densely wooded landscape, and they rely on conservation investments like yours to provide security from ongoing habitat fragmentation and intense ivory poaching. Similarly, the DRC’ s Endangered White-bellied Pangolins and Chimpanzees rely on dedicated conservation efforts to protect their populations from the illegal wildlife trade and hunting for bushmeat.
African Forest Elephants | Michal Hamet