Protecting the vulnerable Congo Basin
A project to protect the world’s second-largest area of tropical rainforest has received £9.1m from the government.
Researchers will investigate the value and vulnerability of the Congo Basin and translate the new knowledge into policy action to protect forests, improve livelihoods, and support sustainable development.
The Congo Basin Science Initiative (CBSI) is co-chaired by Professor Simon Lewis and includes researchers from Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Gabon.
The past lack of investment in understanding the Congo Basin is a scandal.
It will invest in a large network of scientists from across the region to train a new generation of researchers and collect new data to transform our understanding of the Congo Basin.
The scientists will work together to monitor the climate, rivers, vegetation, biodiversity, land uses, and how local and indigenous people utilize the natural environment. There will also be funding for 20 PhD studentships and 12 Masters scholarships to train a new generation of scientists from the region.
Professor Lewis said “The past lack of investment in understanding the Congo Basin is a scandal. For the Amazon, we know there is a threshold of deforestation and climate change, a tipping point, beyond which parts of the Amazon Forest will die off, which would accelerate climate change.
“For the Congo, we don’t even know if a tipping point exists, or if it does, how close we are to breaching it. We will find out this critical information with this new funding.”
Scientists formed CBSI in response to a call by Environment Ministers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo for a $150 million investment in science to understand and protect central Africa’s forests.
Congo Basin Science Initiative
In February 2023, 50 scientists gathered in Libreville, Gabon, at the Congo Basin Science Meeting agreeing to form CBSI.
The Congo Basin Science Initiative was launched in October 2023 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, at the Summit of the Three Basins. The grant from the UK government is the first major investment in CBSI.
Professor Raphael Tshimanga, co-chair of CBSI, from the University of Kinshasa DRC, added: “This is an important moment, as this funding will support twelve of the leading research teams across the Congo Basin to gain an integrated understanding of how this region is changing.
“We will be able to monitor our forests as a whole system and explain this new understanding to policymakers and the world to keep the Congo Basin’s forests standing and contribute to our countries’ development.
“I hope we can build on this important investment, as the data and capacity needs of the Congo Basin region are large. Having a programme led by scientists from the Congo Basin shows how science should be done. I’m excited to have the resources to work directly with scientists in other Congo Basin countries.”
Further information
The grant is called the Congo Rainforest Alliance for Forest Training for Sustainable Development (CRAFT-Sustainable Development). This is the first funded project under the new Congo Basin Forest Action Programme from the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
For more information, please email Kersti Mitchell in the Press Office.
Top image: Field measurements on the Kasai River, one of the major tributaries of the Congo basin, to calibrate and guide the implementation of the first Integrated Sediment Sampler station (ISCO) for the Congo basin. Photo credit: Congo Basin Water Resources Research Centre and Congo River users Hydraulics and Morphology.
