Kinshasa, February 24th, 2026 (CPA) – Support from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been requested for the implementation of the national roadmap on peatlands, during the opening on Tuesday in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, of a training workshop on monitoring tools for peatlands in the Congo Basin. “We request that the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) continue to work with the Ministry of Environment, Sustainable Development, and New Climate Economy, in implementing the national roadmap on peat lands, on one hand, and in exploring new avenues for collaboration on the other,” stated Pascaline Mbangu, Secretary General for Environment, Sustainable Development, and New Climate Economy. The subject of peatlands, Ms. Mbangu noted, is becoming increasingly relevant in discussions on climate change adaptation and mitigation policies. “Since peat lands are an emerging topic, the development of knowledge about this ecosystem is an important step,” she added, asserting that expertise, methodology, as well as technical and financial means are needed.
Strengthening National Technical Capacities Requested
According to Mr. Judicaël Pazou, speaking on behalf of the FAO Representative in the DRC, this workshop represents a major opportunity to strengthen the technical capacities of national actors in the use of advanced tools, particularly remote sensing, for monitoring peatlands. “This training is a crucial step to support sustainable management based on reliable scientific data,” he specified, emphasizing that this is a unique opportunity to promote land-use planning based on scientific evidence and to improve the sustainable management of natural resources in the sub-region. He thanked the Ministry in charge of Environment, Sustainable Development, and New Climate Economy, as well as the Peatland Management Unit, for their close and ongoing collaboration in implementing this project. “We thank the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German government for its decisive financial support, as well as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for the quality of collaboration and technical commitment throughout the process,” he noted. According to him, this partnership illustrates the collective commitment to the protection and sustainable management of peatlands in the Congo Basin, for the benefit of populations and the climate, while considering the specific context of the Democratic Republic of Congo. “The country has embarked on a political process aimed at developing a legal framework for the sustainable management of peatlands. This work falls under the third axis of the project aimed at securing crucial reserves of biodiversity, carbon, and water in the peatlands of the Congo Basin through informed decision-making and good governance,” concluded Mr. Pazou.