To fight against global warming, Congo-Brazzaville will plant 40,000 hectares of forest in order to sequester more than ten million tons of carbon, according to the Ministry of Forest Economy.
This project, called “BaCaSi”, will be developed over large areas of arable land, near the town of Ngo in the department of Plateaux, in the center of the country.
Ten million tons of carbon in 20 years
Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso kicked off the project on Sunday. “This is a large-scale project, the very first of its kind in Africa (…)”, rejoiced Rosalie Matondo, Minister of Forestry Economy, affirming that the 40,000 hectares of forests will make it possible to sequester 10 million tonnes of carbon over a 20-year period. The trees planted will capture greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and store them, thus constituting carbon sinks. At least 5% of the plantations will be used for agroforestry activities, with the objective of creating a thousand direct jobs.
The project, the cost of which has not been revealed, is financed by the French oil group Total, which exploits nearly 70% of the country’s hydrocarbons. Its start coincides with the holding of the COP26 in Glasgow, where the Congo pleaded for the financing of the Blue Fund for the Congo Basin, an initiative intended to preserve the second carbon reservoir in the world. In 2011, the Congo also launched a National Afforestation and Reforestation Program (Pronar) which aimed to plant one million hectares of forests by 2020. Its results have not been made public.