The Congo Basin is not only the world’s largest carbon sink, but is home to 10,000 unique species, such as forest elephants, bonobos, and lowland gorillas. It also provides livelihoods for 60 millions people.

Yet the Congo Basin faces myriad and growing threats, as armed conflict exacerbates poverty and pressure on forest resources.

Congo basin overview

Why the Congo Basin

The Congolese government is committed to preserving its forests and its extraordinary wildlife, to do so however, local communities within the Basin need a sustainable alternative to the extraction of natural resources, conflict and deforestation.

The Government has previously worked with Virunga Foundation to pioneer a transformative dual model of sustainable development and conservation – Virunga Alliance – in and around Virunga National Park, which is transforming an ecosystem into a sustainable economic engine for local communities.

Our Focus

1t.org is committed to supporting collaboration between the Congolese Government - via Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) and the Green Corridor Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) - and the private sector - spanning corporates, investors and philanthropy - to maintain and preserve the greatest terrestrial tropical forest reserve on earth, and plant the seeds for improved livelihoods, avoided forest loss and increased stability along the Congo Basin.

Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor

The Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo is committed to building upon the success of Virunga National Park’s economic model.

In January 2025, the Government of the DRC and partners announce the Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor in Davos, which will scale this model to cover an area the size of France – the largest protected community reserve on Earth.

This initiative is creating a new way of doing conservation: using business and economic development as a key enabler of conservation, rather than relying solely on regulation and restrictions.

Congo Basin: How to engage