The Congo Basin is one of the three key-areas in the world that regulate moisture transport and rainfall patterns and have a significant role in the hydrological cycle as well as the global climate system. It contains the Earth's second largest area of contiguous moist tropical forests and is estimated to be the largest carbon sink in our world.
The protection and conservation of the Congo Basin forests and peatlands is vital not only for the local communities that depend on them, but also for the global community that benefits from the basin's ecosystem services.
This brief introduces the Global Environment Facility (GEF)-funded Congo Basin Impact Programme–led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)–which includes one regional and six national child projects. The regional project "Transformational Change in Sustainable Forest Management in Transboundary Landscapes of the Congo Basin" will contribute to the long-term goal of healthy and thriving forest ecosystems in the Congo Basin.