The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a mess. It’s home to the awe-inspiring Congo Basin, the second biggest tropical rainforest on the planet with some of the most dramatic biodiversity levels anywhere on earth. But at the same time, it’s one of the least-protected and most vulnerable rainforests anywhere, the DRC is very poor indeed thanks to years of war and neglect, and a decent living wage is hard to come by.
This makes for a deadly combination for conservators. But the DRC has made new laws designed to help local people connect and work with conservation groups and manage their own forests. As part of the initiative, the Rainforest Trust and local partner Amis des Bonobos du Congo have created the Ekolo ya Bonobo Community Reserve in Équateur Province, and the governor of the province has formally signed a declaration to protect the 117,412 acre site where wild bonobos live.
Why Bonobos are important
The Bonobo is a close relative of the chimp, and therefore of ours. They’re remarkably intelligent animals, veteran tool-users and widely studied by scientists. They’re also one of the Congo’s most threatened species. Ekolo ya Bonobo Reserve hosts a diverse range of unique flora and fauna including rare giant ground pangolins, leopards, grey parrots and three types of crocodile. Habitat loss and poaching, both common elsewhere, are less prevalent here thanks to local taboos and better environmental awareness.
Grand ambitions
The project started life confirming the local community’s interest in conserving the land, tapping into a long tradition of conservation and outreach in the area. The past ten years has seen communities and Bonobo conservationists working closely together, and the hope is the local community will ultimately take over the management along with the national Environment Ministry. Trained anti-poaching patrols should help, authorised to prosecute illegal hunters, and they’ll also monitor wildlife and biodiversity hotspots.
It’s all good news, but it’s also the case that without significant and sustainable improvements in the DRC economy, long-term biodiversity will suffer.
The Rainforests 