Collaboration for Earths largest tropical forest reserve

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is launching the Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor, a 540,000 square kilometre initiative designed to protect 100,000 square kilometres of tropical forest while creating 500,000 jobs. The project leverages the Congo Basin—the world's largest tropical forest carbon sink—and the hydropower potential of the Congo River to drive a green economic model. This approach aims to combat poverty, address food insecurity by transporting a million tons of food annually from the Kivus to Kinshasa, and promote peace by reintegrating over 10,000 former militia members into the workforce. The initiative is supported by the European Union, which has provided €90 million in grant funding, alongside partners such as the Grameen Bank and the Schmidt Foundation.

• The Congo Basin serves as the world's largest tropical forest carbon sink, with 60% of its area located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It sequesters 1.5 billion tons of CO2 annually and contains a peat swamp storing 29 billion tons of carbon, which is roughly equivalent to three years of global greenhouse gas emissions.
• The Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor is a new protected area covering 540,000 square kilometres and home to 31 million people. It aims to protect over 100,000 square kilometres of intact tropical forest and create 500,000 new jobs through economic hubs based on sustainable agriculture and renewable energy from the Congo River's hydropower.
• The green economic model, pioneered by the Virunga Alliance, uses renewable energy to stimulate local business and peace. In the past five years, it has created over 21,000 jobs, with 11% filled by former members of armed militias. The broader corridor initiative seeks to reintegrate more than 10,000 young men and women from armed militias into employment.
• The European Union has announced €90 million in grant funding to support the green corridor, specifically targeting the protection of biodiversity, the use of renewable energy, and the boosting of sustainable agriculture value chains.

APA

Tshilombo, F.-A. T. (2025). Collaboration for Earths largest tropical forest reserve. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/collaboration-for-earth-s-largest-tropical-forest-reserve/

Chicago

Tshilombo, Flix-Antoine Tshisekedi. Collaboration for Earths largest tropical forest reserve. World Economic Forum, 2025. https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/collaboration-for-earth-s-largest-tropical-forest-reserve/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Tshilombo |first1=Flix-Antoine Tshisekedi |title=Collaboration for Earths largest tropical forest reserve |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=7 February 2025 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/collaboration-for-earth-s-largest-tropical-forest-reserve/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{tshilombo2025collaboration, author = {Tshilombo, Flix-Antoine Tshisekedi}, title = {{Collaboration for Earths largest tropical forest reserve}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2025}, month = feb, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/collaboration-for-earth-s-largest-tropical-forest-reserve/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }