Future Looks Brighter for the Wildlife of the Congo

The future of the bonobos and other species in the Congo Basin is looking brighter thanks to two milestones in conservation. Both the passing of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership Act and AWF's launch of its newest African Heartland in the Maringa/Lopori-Wamba landscape, promise hope for the wildlife of the Congo Basin. This news is particularly welcome to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as it emerges from five years of civil war.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Senate passed the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) Act, HR 2264. According to Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Chairman of the African Affairs Subcommittee and featured speaker at AWF's recent "Conservation is Good Business" Symposium, the Senate acted unanimously to help protect this region. This bill authorizes U.S. participation in the CBFP which aims to protect 11 key landscapes encompassing more than 30 national parks and thousands of square miles across six countries in central Africa.

AWF, a partner of the CBFP, has been given the lead role of carrying out a conservation program in the Lopori-Wamba landscape, the anchor of AWF's new Congo Basin Heartland. The Maringa/Lopori-Wamba landscape is a vast region located south of the Congo River in north central DRC. This landscape is home to several wildlife species that are found only in the Congo Basin, including the bonobo, a lesser known relative of the chimpanzee, and the Congo peacock.

The challenge in this region is particularly daunting. The wilderness of the Congo Basin is in a desperate state after years of civil strife, tremendous refugee crises, and overzealous logging. These have devastated sections of this critical rainforest and have left local people in abject poverty and dependent on unsustainable resource management practices.

As is the case in all its African Heartland work, AWF will work with various stakeholders in this landscape, including local communities, logging companies and international organizations. Together, these stakeholders will together build and strengthen the region's infrastructure and capacity to ensure the conservation of this precious landscape and its endangered wildlife.