Covering an area of around 500,000 square miles, the rainforests of the DRC’s Congo Basin are the second largest in the world, and some of the globe’s last remaining areas of primeval forested lands. These tropical forests support rare and endangered species such as gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, white rhinos, okapi, and the Congo peacock. An estimated 35 million people live in and around them.

The DRC’s rainforests are home to around 35 million people and suppport some of the rarest wildlife species in the world.

In 2001, the DRC was singled out by the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) as one of 15 countries where international efforts at forest conservation should be focused. UNEP is also behind the great apes survival project (GRASP), which held its first council meeting in Kinshasa in September 2005. GRASP aims to raise the global profile of the plight facing the great apes and their habitat, as well as taking steps to protect them.

A comprehensive new forestry code was adopted in August 2002, supported by the World Bank and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Both agencies are involved in preparing a national forest zoning plan, which will define areas for logging, conservation and community use, putting an end to illegal timber extraction. Other measures to be taken include a moratorium on the concessions of land and the recovery of around 25 million hectares of unlawful concessions.

The bank and the FAO are also supporting the development of a series of new laws that will help to implement the code, including a law on nature conservation, a vital tool for the sustainable development of the country’s forest reserves. “The exploitation of forests must go hand-in-hand with the protection of the forest environment,” says Joseph Kabila, the country’s president.

Coupled with increased political stability, the existence of these forests and the rare wildlife provides the opportunity to develop a strong eco-tourism sector in the future.