With over 155 million hectares of dense humid forests, the Congo Basin is the second largest tropical forest in the world after the Amazon. Much of this forest can be found within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which holds a portion of the Congo Basin equivalent to the size of Colombia. The DRC lost nearly 5 million hectares of tropical primary forests in the last 20 years and continues to face the threat of deforestation. In 2020, the DRC lost 490,000 hectares of primary forest cover, with Tshopo Province being the most affected in the country.

A major contributor to this loss is the unsustainable exploitation of forests to meet growing charcoal demand. Charcoal is produced by cutting and burning timber. Logs are stacked in traditional, low-efficiency kilns where the high heat turns them into charcoal. An expanding population with a growing need for food, energy and economic development has led to the rapid growth of the charcoal industry.

The 21st century has seen a surge in governments’ strategic protection of forests, for good reason. Forest protection enhances people’s lives while slowing climate change by enabling trees, soil and grasslands to perform their natural functions of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Are smallholders key to the palm oil industry’s sustainability?

Mangroves are salt-tolerant coastal forests that have uniquely adapted to growing at the border between sea and land and they are one of Earth’s most resilient, productive, and biodiverse ecosystems. They provide habitat and nursery grounds for mammals, reptiles, birds, crab and shrimp species as well as more than 3000 fish species, of which many are commercially important. Through their ability to trap and stabilize sediments, mangroves increase water quality seawards, which benefits other highly diverse marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs and seagrass meadows. Most importantly though, they are also critical for the livelihood of about 120 Million people, who depend on them for food, raw material, and coastal protection. Without mangroves, many coastal communities that live off fishing in mangrove forests and surrounding waters would lose an important source of food and income.

Why is forest biodiversity so vital?

In both low- and high-income countries, communities that live within forests rely directly on forest biodiversity for their lives and livelihoods, using products derived from forest resources for food, fodder, shelter, energy, medicine, and income generation. Forest biodiversity benefits much of humanity as a whole through its role in the carbon, water, and nutrient cycles and through its links with food production, including seed dispersal and crop pollination.

From the outset CDP has advanced global efforts toward net-zero, catalyzing action by subnational groups. On the route towards net-zero 2050, the organisation that strives to drive companies and governments to reduce their GHG emissions recognises "all of the above" approach which prioritises emissions reduction along with filling the climate finance gap. What's their take on carbon offsets to reach this destination?

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In protecting their forests, these women transformed their futures