Save a carbon rich swamp forest for Bonobos

The forests here are some of the oldest and most biodiverse in the world and they have been storing carbon for millenia. Unfortunately, the wealth of species is matched by rich mineral deposits and other natural resources that have been the sought-after prize throughout decades of civil unrest.

Only 14% of DRC’s land is under formal protection—leaving millions of acres of rainforest and resident wildlife species vulnerable to poaching, habitat degradation and loss, and industrial extraction of the region’s wealth of resources.

Rainforest Trust and our partner, Les Amis des Bonobos du Congo (ABC), are on the front lines of conservation in the DRC to save great apes and other imperiled species. In 2019, we established the 117,412-acre Ekolo ya Bonobo Community Reserve to ensure long-term protection for wild Bonobos, and provide a safe place where orphaned and rehabilitated Bonobos are reintroduced back to their natural habitat.

We now have the opportunity to secure an additional 80,000 acres of strategically located swamp forest habitat for the Bonobos directly adjacent to the first reserve. This will expand the size of the entire reserve to 197,412 acres, an area the size of New York City.

Save swamp forests and peatlands for threatened species

The Ekolo ya Bonobo Community Reserve lies at the northwestern edge of Central Africa’s largest expanse of forest and wetlands, the Cuvette Centrale, bounded by the arc of the Congo River.

It is a rare and unique landscape that includes swamp forests and peatlands that harbour a wealth of species—and it is one of the most carbon-rich ecosystems on Earth. The reserve keeps over 32.5 million metric tons of carbon equivalents locked up, comparable to the emissions of burning over 75 million barrels of oil.

Resident species include Giant Ground Pangolin (EN), White-bellied Pangolin (EN), Grey Parrot (EN), Leopard (VU) and two of the DRC’s four crocodile species. In addition, the diversity of flora includes at least 209 plant species from 61 families, including several tree species with high carbon-sequestration properties.

Help local people protect and manage threatened wildlife

This expansion will leverage decades of progress working with local communities to manage the original Ekolo ya Bonobo Community Reserve for endangered species while building strong, formalized relationships that have community self-governance at their core. Anti-poaching patrols, recruited from neighboring communities, will be expanded, trained, equipped, and granted the legal right to prosecute poachers.

Together, community teams and our partner will develop sustainable income streams from ecotourism, educating visitors about the challenges facing protected Bonobos and the other species living in this unique swamp forest and riverine habitat at the heart of the Congo.