Support needed to drive Congo Basin’s sustainable development

Collaboration among research institutions and increased funding have been identified as key factors in driving conservation and sustainable development action in the Congo Basin, also known as the ‘lungs of Africa’.

Conservation experts recognise the unrivalled importance of the Congo Basin in terms of carbon sequestration, its key role in mitigating climate change, the lifeline it offers to around 75 million people and their traditions, and the rich biodiversity the region harbours, they say in the Kinshasa Declaration.

The declaration was issued on 5 September 2023 after a three-day workshop in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where conservation stakeholders and experts from the six countries of the Congo Basin met to discuss how resource conservation and the sustainable development drive can be accelerated in the region.

The Congo Basin spans Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

Calls for financial reform

The workshop was part of the regional summit on climate change, biodiversity conservation and food systems in the Congo Basin.

The experts’ concerns are echoed in the Nairobi Declaration African leaders issued on 6 September 2023 after the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. The first-ever Africa Climate Summit called on world leaders to fund climate action and push for financial reforms to help African countries fight climate change.

At the opening of the summit, Kenyan President William Ruto highlighted the importance and urgency for synergised actions to bail Africa out of its climate woes.

Dr Mithika Mwenda, executive director of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), said many African countries are increasingly embracing renewable energy projects, carbon removal and green cities, all of which require funding. Speaking during a virtual PACJA side event during the summit, he said: “These climate actions can no longer be pushed to the periphery. We have to act now. That is why the continent is asking for financial backing.”

Where the Congo Basin is concerned, environmental experts agree that funding and support for research studies on emerging climate issues are key in the global fight against climate change.

Forests provide solution to crisis

“The Congo Basin forests are rich in forest, water and mineral resources that can provide a genuine solution to the global climate crisis. To better protect this forest and promote its sustainable management, there is a need for critical studies to better orient investments, strengthen governance and transparency across all land-use sectors and reinforce cross-sector collaboration,” Samuel Nguiffo, director of the Centre for Environment and Development based in Cameroon, told University World News.

“In 2020, nine out of the 10 countries most affected by climate change were African countries, with extreme weather events only increasing in scale since then,” Tiangoua Kone, Climate Promise regional coordinator for Africa, wrote in a United Nations Development Programme blog post on 23 June 2023.

Kone noted that African countries aim to tackle the adverse effects through their nationally determined contributions, or NDCs, which are national climate pledges that include budgets and investment frameworks for achieving their mitigation targets and adaptation goals.

Other reports also emphasise the need for collaborative research to better protect the resource-rich Congo Basin. In a commentary published in the journal Nature on 20 June 2021, a group of ministers and scientists wrote, “The world’s second-largest rainforest is key to limiting climate change; it needs urgent study and protection.” The writers said Earth’s second-largest expanse of tropical forest lies in Central Africa, in the Congo Basin. “These forests are crucial to regulating Earth’s climate, and are home to forest elephants, gorillas and humans’ closest relatives, chimpanzees, and bonobos.”

African resources ignored

Yet, too often, Africa’s rainforests are ignored or downplayed. The Congo Basin forests receive much less academic and public attention than do those in the Amazon and Southeast Asia, the commentary said.

Between 2008 and 2017, the Congo Basin received just 11.5% of the international financial flow for forest protection and sustainable management in tropical areas, compared with 55% for Southeast Asia and 34% for the Amazon region.

The Kinshasa declaration thus highlights some of the challenges, proposes resolutions and commits governments in the Congo Basin countries and donor institutions to collaborate constructively to better drive funding for research and investments for the conservation and preservation of biodiversity in the Congo Basin.

It highlights “the need for governments in the region to invest in education and training programmes to fill the knowledge gap on agro-ecological practices, support research and knowledge-sharing platforms that enable local communities to adopt sustainable farming methods”.

It also called for the review and strengthening of existing policies and agreements relating to conservation, climate change and sustainable development, ensuring effective implementation through regular monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.

Research should be supported

The declaration expressed the need for technical assistance and technology transfer to improve agro-ecological practices, sustainable land management and climate resilience. To improve capacity-building, working with local organisations and governments to build the capacity of higher education institutions working in the field of conservation and sustainable development is suggested. These include providing training, resources, and expertise.

On research funding, it calls for “the allocation of resources to research aimed at filling the gaps in agro-ecology, biodiversity and adaptation to climate change”.