Hi, my name is Noelle Kumpel. I work as the manager of the Central, East and South Africa Programme here at ZSL and I am responsible for our country programme in DRC.

The rainforests of eastern DRC are at a transition where the easternmost edge of the Congo Basin forest, the famed Ituri forest, meets the forest of the Albertine Rift. They are part of the second largest block of forest on Earth, representing a vital store of carbon and a home to outstanding biodiversity as well as providing essential ecosystem services on which millions of people depend.

Eastern DRC has also been ravaged by civil conflict, poor governance and poverty with many people suffering as a result. Large numbers of people have been displaced from their homes to places such as this camp, putting further pressure on natural resources.

The clearance of forested land for agriculture and fuel not only depletes natural resources and threatens biodiversity but globally the loss and degradation of forests is responsible for around 18% of greenhouse gas emissions.

To address this issue ZSL has recently initiated a new project working with communities to reduce deforestation and alleviate poverty in the threatened forest corridor between Virunga National Park and Mont Hoyo Reserve to the north.

This is a collaborative project with partners implementing a number of different activities, such as supporting traditional protected area management, compensating communities to conserve the forest through carbon credits and promoting fuel efficient stoves to reduce levels of charcoal consumption in nearby urban areas – a major threat to the forest.

Another partner, a consortium of fair-trade agroforestry company ESCO-Kivu and chocolate company Original Beans, will work with smallholder farmers to set up sustainable cocoa agroforestry in a buffer around the main forested area, reducing levels of destructive slash-and-burn agriculture while providing additional, more sustainable income for local people.

One initial activity will be a feasibility study to evaluate the potential for a reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) project to generate revenue to conserve and restore the forest. This is very complex and involves assessing carbon stocks in the area, working with local communities and authorities to understand local rights, ownership and wishes for the area, and developing protocols to monitor and manage the project. Here field coordinator Stuart Nixon teaches techniques for monitoring forest wildlife - an essential co-benefit of a progressive forest carbon project - via camera trap surveys.

Techniques such as camera trapping enable us to monitor wildlife that is otherwise very hard to spot! This forest is home to animals like the okapi, an elusive and iconic species found only in DRC, and by conserving the forest we will be ensuring a future for it and many other amazing species.

A healthy forest encompasses not just trees but the rich complexity of biodiversity, including the people who depend on it and the services it provides. A successful REDD project should incorporate co-benefits and safeguards for both people and biodiversity in addition to reduced greenhouse gas emissions and although it is early days and many challenges lie ahead we are hopeful this project can make a difference in the troubled but irreplaceable forests of this area of DRC.

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