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CongoPeatlands-Securing crucial biodiversity, carbon and water stores in the Congo Basin Peatlands by enabling evidence-based decision making and good governance

Peatlands are one of the least understood and monitored ecosystems globally. The recently mapped peatlands of Cuvette Centrale in the ROC and DRC are estimated to be the largest continuous tropical peat complex in the world at 145,000 km2 . It is estimated to store approximately 30 gigatons of carbon, which is equivalent to two years of global greenhouse gas emissions. There is presently very limited in-situ monitoring carried out in the Cuvette Centrale peatlands. Peatland hydrology is also not fully understood, and the consequent lack of data is hampering effective peatland management. The Lac Télé/Lac Tumba (LTLT) landscape covers 126,440 km2 of the larger Cuvette Central peatland and is the focus of this project. The DRC and the RoC made a strong political commitment towards the sustainable management of natural resources in 2017 by creating the world's largest transboundary Ramsar site in the Cuvette Centrale. However, none of the Ramsar sites in the two countries has an active management plan, and the current wetland inventory is incomplete. In 2018, DRC and RoC signed a transboundary collaborative agreement – the Brazzaville Declaration on Peatlands, adopted during the third meeting of the GPI – which commits both countries to work together with support from Indonesia and the Global Peatlands Initiative partners to implement, coordinate and collaborate between different government sectors to protect the benefits provided by peatland ecosystems. Furthermore, in 2019, during the Fourth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA4), all member states adopted a resolution on the Conservation and sustainable management of peatlands urging “Member states and other stakeholders to give greater emphasis to the conservation, sustainable management and restoration of peatlands worldwide”. Peatlands have recently come under increased threats in the tropics due to their deforestation, drainage and conversion for agriculture, forestry and other commodities. Both, RoC and DRC are facing economic pressures to develop infrastructure and extractive industries due to national issues as highlighted by the IMF and the severe poverty of local communities, all of which drive ecosystem degradation and increases the risk of environmental and social disasters. Logging concessions overlapping peatland areas that were given out under the previous DR Congo government have been revoked by the new government. There were discussions on issuance of oil concessions in RoC, which received intense public outcry, but to our knowledge no decision was made to commence extractive activities as yet, though the licenses to explore for oil have been put out on auction (August 2022). This project will support the governments and stakeholders of ROC & DRC (full stakeholder mapping attached) to mitigate climate and development impacts on biodiversity, water and carbon in the Lac Télé /Lac Tumba landscape with a special attention to the peatlands it hosts. Working with stakeholders and global experts we contribute to the enabling environment and a biodiversity-friendly development pathway through effective integrated land-use plans, improved sustainable livelihood approaches, methods, data and tools, addressing peatland and water monitoring, the National Investment Plans, cross-sectoral coordination and ultimately support the conservation and sustainable management of the peatlands. Countries benefit from South-South cooperation to chart a new pathway to the sustainable management of their peatlands, for the benefit of people, and conserving its ecosystem services. The current undeveloped status of the region offers a critical opportunity to promote evidence-based land use planning and improve natural resource governance, which will also contribute to socio-economic development of the nation and local inhabitants. The project contributes to the achievement of targets related to SDG 6 (Water), 12 (Sustainable Production and Consumption), 13 (Climate Action), 15 (Life on Land) and 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions). The main project outcome is that project results are integrated in planning and policy processes of the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo at local, district and national level to enable a biodiversity- and climate- friendly development pathway for the Central Congo Basin Peatlands. Local, district and national decision-makers and local communities take up the knowledge provided through piloted livelihood options, best practice guidelines, monitoring data and maps to implement sustainable management of the peatland landscape. The project ‘s aspired impact is that biodiversity and key ecosystem functions (related to carbon stores and water resources) in the Lac Télé /Lac Tumba landscape are maintained by evidence-based decision making and good governance, and communities within the landscape benefit from accompanying strengthened livelihoods. And this requires that governments and stakeholders includin