Brazzaville, 23 March 2018 – In an unprecedented move to protect the Cuvette Centrale region in the Congo Basin, the world's largest tropical peatlands, from unregulated land use and prevent its drainage and degradation, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Republic of Congo and Indonesia j Contact online >>
Brazzaville, 23 March 2018 – In an unprecedented move to protect the Cuvette Centrale region in the Congo Basin, the world''s largest tropical peatlands, from unregulated land use and prevent its drainage and degradation, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Republic of Congo and Indonesia jointly signed the Brazzaville declaration that promotes better management and conservation of this globally important carbon store
There is a lot atstake in the protection of these peatlands: the equivalent of three years of global greenhouse gas emissions are stored in the Congo Basin, emissions that could be released if the peatlands are degraded or the natural wetlands drained.
To preserve the future of these valuable natural peatlands – which are about the size of England, and were only mapped scientifically in their entirety for the first time last year – the DRC and the Republic of Congo established a transboundary collaboration agreement. The agreement noted the importance of good land use and infrastructure planning that takes the nature of peatlands into account.
"Conservation and development can go hand in hand," said Erik Solheim, Head of UN Environment. "We will manage to conserve the peatlands if we put people''s needs first. We can help countries to better understand the unique nature of the peatlands, and plan very carefully for any potential use."
Peatlands are wetlands that contain a mixture of decomposed organic material, partially submerged in a layer of water, lacking oxygen. The complex biodiversity of the peatlands means they are home to a variety of species, but their high carbon content makes them uniquely vulnerable to incineration if they are drained. The declaration recognizes the importance of the scientific breakthrough of mapping the world''s largest tropical peatland area.
Both the Republic of the Congo and the DRC are in the process of planning economic concessions for agriculture, oil and gas mining, and logging. Unregulated exploitation of the peatlands could potentially be detrimental to the environment and to the climate, as it could release the carbon emissions that have been locked in for millennia.
"Peatlands have grown over the course of 10.000 years, and they can be destroyed in a matter of days if the land use is not sensitive to the nature of the peatlands," said Tim Christophersen, Head of Freshwater, Land and Climate Branch at UN Environment.
The declaration was signed on the sidelines of the Third Partners Meeting of the Global Peatlands Initiative, taking place in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, on 21-23 March 2018. The meeting was opened by Clément Mouamba, Prime Minister of the Republic of Congo, together with Erik Solheim.
The meeting also fostered a deep collaboration between Indonesia and the countries of the Congo Basin. Indonesia, the nation in the world with the most experience on peat management issues, stepped up as a valuable partner in South-South development cooperation.
"Indonesia has extensive experience in managing tropical peatlands, both in positive and negative terms. We are keen to share our experience with the Congo Basin and other countries through South-South Cooperation" said Siti Nurbaya, Minister of Environment of Forests of the Republic of Indonesia. "The main peatland management principle is to keep the peatlands wet."
"Destroying the peatlands would be a grave assault on the Paris Agreement and the climate. We need to find sustainable alternatives, and traditional management practices are important," said Arlette Soudan-Nonault, Minister of Environment and Tourism of the Republic of the Congo. "We are taking action with the Brazzaville Declaration signed today".
About the Smoke on Water Report:Smoke on Water is a Rapid Response Assessment that looks at peatland location, extent, threats and the policies to manage and protect them. The goal of this rapid response assessment, carried out on behalf of UN Environment and based on the efforts of more than 30 contributors, is to raise awareness about the importance of the world''s peatlands and to encourage immediate action to preserve them.
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About UN EnvironmentUN Environment is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. UN Environment works with governments, the private sector, the civil society and with other UN entities and international organizations across the world.
About the Global Peatlands Initiative
The Global Peatlands Initiative is an effort by leading experts and institutions to save peatlands as the world''s largest terrestrial organic carbon stock and to prevent it being emitted into the atmosphere.
For more information, please contact:Shari Nijman, News and Media Unit, UN Environment, nijman[at]un , +254720673046
Dianna kopansky, UN Environment, Dianna.kopansky[at]un
Congo, officially the Republic of the Congo or Congo Republic,[a] also known as Congo-Brazzaville, is a country located on the western coast of Central Africa to the west of the Congo River. It is bordered to the west by Gabon, to the northwest by Cameroon, to the northeast by the Central African Republic, to the southeast by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south by the Angolan exclave of Cabinda, and to the southwest by the Atlantic Ocean.
The Republic of the Congo is a member of the African Union, the United Nations, La Francophonie, the Economic Community of Central African States, and the Non-Aligned Movement. It has become the 4th-largest oil producer in the Gulf of Guinea, providing the country with a degree of prosperity, with political and economic instability in some areas, and unequal distribution of oil revenue nationwide. Its economy is dependent on the oil sector[13] and economic growth has slowed since the post-2015 drop in oil prices.
Christianity is the most widely professed faith in the country. According to the 2024 rendition of the World Happiness Report, the Republic of the Congo is ranked 89th among 140 nations.[14]
It is named after the Congo River whose name is derived from Kongo, a Bantu kingdom which occupied its mouth around the time the Portuguese first arrived in 1483[15] or 1484.[16] The kingdom''s name derived from its people, the Bakongo, an endonym said to mean "hunters" (Kongo: mukongo, nkongo).[17]
During the period when France colonised it, it was known as the French Congo or Middle Congo. The Republic of the Congo, or simply Congo,[3] is a distinct country from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, also known as DR Congo.[18] Brazzaville''s name derives from the colony''s founder, Pierre Savorgnan de Brazzà, an Italian nobleman whose title referred to the town of Brazzacco, in the Italian comune of Moruzzo in Friuli Venezia Giulia, whose name derived from the Latin Brattius or Braccius, both meaning literally "arm".[19]
Bantu-speaking peoples who founded tribes during the Bantu expansions, mostly displaced and absorbed the earlier inhabitants of the region, the Pygmy people, about 1500 BC. The Bakongo, a Bantu ethnic group that occupied parts of what later became Angola, Gabon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formed the basis for ethnic affinities and rivalries among those countries.
The Portuguese explorer, Diogo Cão reached the mouth of the Congo in 1484.[22] Commercial relationships grew between the inland Bantu kingdoms and European merchants who traded in commodities, manufactured goods, and people captured and enslaved in the hinterlands. After centuries as a central hub for transatlantic trade, direct European colonization of the Congo River delta began in the 19th century, subsequently eroding the power of the Bantu societies in the region.[23]
The area north of the Congo River came under French sovereignty in 1880 as a result of Pierre de Brazza''s treaty with King Makoko[24] of the Bateke.[22] After the death of Makoko, his widow Queen Ngalifourou upheld the terms of the treaty and became an ally to the colonizers.[25] This Congo Colony became known first as French Congo, then as Middle Congo in 1903.
In 1908, France organized French Equatorial Africa (AEF), comprising the Middle Congo, Gabon, Chad, and Oubangui-Chari (which later became the Central African Republic). The French designated Brazzaville as the federal capital. Economic development during the first 50 years of colonial rule in Congo centered on natural resource extraction. Construction of the Congo–Ocean Railway following World War I has been estimated to have cost at least 14,000 lives.[22]
During the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, Brazzaville functioned as the symbolic capital of Free France between 1940 and 1943.[26] The Brazzaville Conference of 1944 heralded a period of reform in French colonial policy. Congo "benefited" from the postwar expansion of colonial administrative and infrastructure spending as a result of its central geographic location within AEF and the federal capital at Brazzaville.[21] It had a local legislature after the adoption of the 1946 constitution that established the Fourth Republic.
Following the revision of the French constitution that established the Fifth Republic in 1958, AEF dissolved into its constituent parts, each of which became an autonomous colony within the French Community. During these reforms, Middle Congo became known as the Republic of the Congo in 1958[21] and published its first constitution in 1959.[27] Antagonism between the Mbochis (who favored Jacques Opangault) and the Laris and Kongos (who favored Fulbert Youlou, the first black mayor elected in French Equatorial Africa) resulted in a series of riots in Brazzaville in February 1959, which the French Army subdued.[28]
Elections took place in April 1959. By the time the Congo became independent in August 1960, Opangault, the former opponent of Youlou, agreed to serve under him. Youlou, an avid anti-communist, became the first President of the Republic of the Congo.[29] Since the political tension was so high in Pointe-Noire, Youlou moved the capital to Brazzaville.
The Republic of the Congo became fully independent from France on 15 August 1960. Youlou ruled as the country''s first president until labor elements and rival political parties instigated a 3-day uprising that ousted him.[30] The Congolese military took over the country and installed a civilian provisional government headed by Alphonse Massamba-Débat.
Marien Ngouabi, who had participated in the coup, assumed the presidency on 31 December 1968. One year later, Ngouabi proclaimed the Congo Africa''s first "people''s republic", the People''s Republic of the Congo, and announced the decision of the National Revolutionary Movement to change its name to the Congolese Labour Party (PCT). He survived an attempted coup in 1972 and was assassinated on 18 March 1977.[35] An 11-member Military Committee of the Party (CMP) was then named to head an interim government, with Joachim Yhombi-Opango serving as president. Two years later, Yhombi-Opango was forced from power, and Denis Sassou Nguesso became the new president.[21]
Sassou Nguesso aligned the country with the Eastern Bloc and signed a 20-year friendship pact with the Soviet Union. Over the years, Sassou had to rely more on political repression and less on patronage to maintain his dictatorship.[36] The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in the ending of Soviet aid to prop up the regime, and it abdicated power.
Pascal Lissouba who became Congo''s first elected president (1992–1997) during the period of multi-party democracy attempted to implement economic reforms with IMF backing to liberalize the economy. In the years 1993 and 1994 the first Congo Civil War in Congo occurred. In June 1996, IMF approved a 3-year SDR69.5m (US$100m) enhanced structural adjustment facility (ESAF) and was on the verge of announcing a renewed annual agreement when civil war broke out in Congo in 1997.[37]
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