Governing peatlands in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Context, agents of change and policy making

Abstract

Introduction 2 Peatlands in the Democratic Republic of Congo 2.1 From wetlands to peatlands: An overview of how knowledge has evolved 2.2 The socioecology of peatlands in the DRC 2.3 Land uses and pressures impacting peatlands 2.4 Wetland biodiversity loss 2.5 Peatland degradation and socioecological imbalances 3 Peatland actors and agents of change 3.1 Mapping and analysis of peatland actors 3.2 Links between actors 4 Peatland policy making 4.1 The institutional backdrop for peatland management 4.2 Political and policy events relating to peatlands 4.3 Peatlands in climate change policy making 5 Conclusion References iv List of boxes, figures and tables Boxes 1 Profiles of Ramsar sites in the DRC 2 MEDD Peatland Management Unit (PMU) roles and tasks 3 Legal and strategic framework relating to peatlands in the DRC 4 Commitments of the DRC government within the framework of the 2018 Congo Brazzaville Declaration Grant No. QZA-21/0124), International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU, Grant No. 20_III_108), and the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (CRP-FTA) with financial support from the CGIAR Fund Donors.We want to express our gratitude to Denis Jean Jacques Bambuta, the DRC Peatlands Management Unit Coordinator, for the time taken to review drafts of this paper and for the valuable comments and suggestions. We also thank all governmental and non-governmental respondents for their useful inputs over the course of this work.