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Brazzaville Declaration
Ministers align for protection of the Congo Basin
23/03/2018 Good news for the protection of tropical peatlands at the Third Meeting of the Partners of the Global Peatlands Initiative 21st-23rd March in Brazzaville (Republic of Congo): Ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and of Indonesia signed the Brazzaville Declaration for conservation and sustainable use of the world’s largest tropical peatland in the Congo basin. The peatland complex is estimated to be larger than England and to hold about 30 billion tonnes of carbon. This equals more than 15 years of carbon dioxide emissions from the United States. Moreover, the Congo basin is important for the region’s ecological stability and biodiversity. The Greifswald Mire Centre co-organised the meeting as a steering commitee partner of the Global Peatlands Initiative.
The photo shows from left to right: Mr. Amy Ambatobe Nyongolo (Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Democratic Republic of Congo), Arlette Soudan-Nonault (Minister of Tourism and Environment, Republic of Congo), Siti Nurbaya Bakar (Minister of Environment and Forestry, Indonesia), Erik Solheim (Executive Director, UN Environment)