Environmental Defenders has hailed the Democratic of Congo President, Felix Tshisekedi, for his ambitious green corridor project in the Congo Basin saying it is a foresighted move that will positively impact livelihoods.
This was after it was launched on Wednesday during the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland.
President Tshisekedi said the project will stretch over 2, 400 kilometres linking the Virunga National Park the far East of the country, the vast forests of Ituri in Congo River from Kisangani to Kinshasa.
“The project aims to protect the most intact tropical forest while preserving extraordinary biodiversity, including some iconic species like mountain Gorillas, Okapi and many other animals and plants that are unique to the Congo Basin,” he added.
But this initiative goes beyond simple environmental conservation. It represents a comprehensive strategy to revitalise our economy, strengthen our communities and promote lasting peace in eastern provinces that have long been affected by armed conflicts and instability.
This Project will improve the lives of 31 million people, protect 180,000 square kilometers of pristine forest and will create over 500,000 jobs including 20,000 specifically for the young men and women who have been demobilised from armed groups.
President Tshisekedi said the Congo Basin is a priceless natural treasure abound in majestic forests and absolutely exceptional biodiversity, noting that its potential for renewable energy and sustainable development is immense.
“We firmly committed to realising it, thanks to solar, hydroelectric and wind power technologies we aim to significantly reduce our carbon footprint while transforming our economic paradigm by harnessing the power of our rivers and abundant of sunshine that bound our land to build a sustainable energy infrastructure capable of powering our communities and industries without harming the environment”.
According to President Tshisekedi the main heart of the project is to boost sustainable agriculture, and mineral value chains and harness fertile lands to ensure food security for Congolese by replacing illicit activities and build an economy that respects both people and nature.
He said this will eradicate in the long run illegal finances that fund conflicts in Eastern DR Congo where three decades of conflicts have cost the lives of more than 6 million people.
“This tragedy is a global threat if we fail to protect these forests, the future of the planet will be compromised.”
“This why we need to re-event the way we create and build peace by getting solutions based on nature and principles of equality and social justice and create economic interdependence between the east and west of our country.”
Tshisekedi termed it a new social order for Central Africa anchored in the Act passed by parliament in 2024 to create the great reserve.
President Tshisekedi said when he spoke at Conference of Parties 26 (COP26) in Glasgow in 2021, he defended the idea that DR Congo could be the solution country as it is endowed with exceptional wealth of natural resources but also with unique capacity to meet climate challenges through innovative and sustainable practices.
However, he called for increased strong partnerships on the international scale.
He thanked the European Union for its ongoing support to the Virunga Alliance, an initiative which for almost 40 years has generated clean electricity and created 21,000 jobs through agro industry and this success story inspires him to develop the Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor.
He said it is a model of transparency of governance and fair competition of the region in search of clean development.
Tshisekedi said by developing renewable energy agro businesses and sustainable transport systems, they are creating inclusive economic growth that benefits everyone.
“The creation of this project is not a large scale, it is a genuine opportunity for integrated transformation and will create over 500,000 jobs dedicated to demobilising people who were involved in armed groups.”
“We are opening a new path that can inspire nations demonstrating that conservation is an essential driver of robust and sustainable development.”
EU Commission Jozef Sikela said they will release a 42 million Euros grant, saying it will be doubled soon to support agriculture, renewable energy, and biodiversity protection in the region.
A nonprofit Environmental Defenders, a conservation and human rights organisation dedicated to protecting biodiversity and indigenous people’s rights, works in the Albertine Rift regions, specifically the Murchison-Semliki, greater Virunga, and Ituri landscapes, spanning the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, within the broader sensitive Congo Basin.
The organisation says this critically feeds into their vision, hailing Tshisekedi as a rare breed, visionary and great son of DR Congo.
Environmental Defenders which promised total support and to mobilise citizens to embrace it said the Congo basin must be conserved because it is the world’s largest tropical forest carbon sink, sequestering 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually, and is home to 139 million people.
The Congo Basin is home to 10,000 unique species-a third of which are found nowhere else on the planet.
It also provides livelihoods to 60 million people, who depend on the forest’s resources for heating, food, jobs and energy but it faces growing threats, including monocrop plantations, industrial meat farming, deforestation and impacts of climate change like the spread of drought and disease. It is also threatened by war especially in the eastern part, which Environmental Defenders say the component of demobilising youth from militias is a step in the right direction.
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