Can a National REDD Plan in the Democratic Republic of Congo set a new course for the protection of forests, people and global climate?
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) hosts the world’s second largest tropical forest landscape, with 133 million hectares, including roughly 100 million hectares of dense rainforests in the Central Basin (Cuvette centrale).
This forest basin contains exceptional biodiversity and important ecosystem services at the continental scale. While these large forest blocks have remained mostly intact so far, they are now – or may soon be – under threat.
The future of the DRC’s forests will depend chiefly on the decisions made in the next two to three years in connection with the forestry reform currently underway and the establishment of a national strategy to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD).