The fight against deforestation remains a major concern in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). With this in mind, the World Bank is financing the Maï-Ndombe Emission Reduction Program (PRE), whose eighth meeting of the Provincial Steering Committee takes place in the City of Nioki on June 21, 2023.
In addition to the World Bank, this coordination meeting brings together experts from the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, administrators from the province of Maï-Ndombe, representatives of the indigenous populations as well as operators from the private sector. This initiative continues within the framework of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+).
The PIREDD Maï-Ndombe is implemented in two phases, with a first phase which ended on November 15, 2022 and the second phase scheduled to end on December 31, 2023. The results and impacts of this program are visible, the populations communities that have benefited from the project’s achievements. They have contributed significantly to the improvement of their living conditions, including job creation, income growth and the establishment of local infrastructure.
The World Bank also signed a new Grant Agreement with the DRC in March 2019, which aims to strengthen the investments of the PIREDD Maï-Ndombe in favor of biodiversity.
Faced with the scale of deforestation, the activities of PIREDD Maï-Ndombe in the DRC offer tangible hope for effectively combating this ecological scourge. The results already obtained show the potential of this program in terms of sustainable development for this region of Central Africa.