The Congo Basin is the largest tropical forest carbon sink in the world and is facing threats from climate change, war, and poverty. The good news is that a new initiative aims to protect this vital ecosystem while promoting sustainable economic development and peace. 

The Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor will expand a successful conservation model in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to cover an area the size of France. This will protect 108,000 square kilometres of primary forest and support 60 million people who depend on the forest for food, energy and jobs.  

The Congo Basin is crucial in fighting climate change, sequestering 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) annually. However, issues like deforestation, illegal resource extraction and climate impacts threaten the forest's health. To address these challenges, the DRC government and partners have created the Virunga Alliance, a model that integrates conservation with green economic development, providing clean energy, jobs and sustainable agricultural practices.  

Forests play a critical role in regulating the Earth's climate by absorbing CO₂ from the atmosphere, helping to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The Amazon, once a vital carbon sink, begun to lose its ability to store carbon in 2021, emitting more CO₂ than it absorbs.  

The Congo Basin, however, remains one of the world's most important carbon sinks, still functioning effectively to absorb CO₂. If it fails to be protected, we risk losing one of the last major ecosystems that helps fight global warming.  

Through this approach, the DRC is empowering local communities to protect the forest while fostering economic growth. The Virunga National Park, for example, has created over 21,000 jobs and is generating clean energy for 11 million people. By expanding this model, the Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor aims to create 500,000 jobs and produce 1 million tonnes of food annually.  

By scaling up conservation efforts with renewable energy and sustainable agriculture, the Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor will provide a new path to prosperity, peace and environmental protection in the Congo Basin. 

Planet Ark does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the original information and encourages readers to check the references before using this information for their own purposes.