[ [link removed] ]Bonobo baby sitting on its mother's knee amid the lush Congo rainforest
John,
One of the most carbon-rich places on Earth could be sold and carved up
for oil any day now – we need your help to stop it.
Oil companies are gearing up to slash and burn huge swaths of rainforest
and peatland in the Congo Basin, releasing unprecedented amounts of stored
carbon into the atmosphere and wiping out the only home left of endangered
bonobos.
Thankfully local partners are racing to secure official protection for
700,000 acres – and we can help for just $1 per acre.
The Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI) and local communities are working
hand-in-hand to save as much precious forest and bonobo habitat as they
can – and since this year is BCI’s 25th anniversary, for our special
partnership, they’ve arranged a 2X donation match.
Can you chip in to save the Congo Basin?
[ [link removed] ]Donate
$3[ [link removed] ]Donate
another amount
The Congo Basin is the largest carbon sink in the world, absorbing even
more carbon than the Amazon. The peatlands of the Cuvette Centrale alone
store around 29 billion metric tons of carbon, equivalent to three years
of global fossil fuel emissions. And it’s also a critical habitat for tens
of thousands of species, including endangered forest elephants, gorillas
and bonobos.
Its carbon-rich rainforests and peatlands are already under growing
threats from out-of-control logging, mining and wildlife trafficking. Yet
the DRC government is pressing ahead with plans to auction off 30 oil and
gas blocks that include intact rainforest and peatlands.
If an oil spree takes off here, deforestation for exploration and
development would turn this carbon-sink into a climate killer, causing the
region to emit more carbon than it absorbs.
For 25 years the BCI and local Congolese partners have been working to
create something truly magical: a network of nature reserves in bonobo
habitat managed by the people who live there. With all of us chipping in,
we could help them secure thousands of more acres before it’s too late –
and power their work to create a beautiful place where humans, bonobos,
and nature can live in harmony.
Remember, donations are matched! Can you chip in now to save the Congo
Basin?
[ [link removed] ]Donate
$3[ [link removed] ]Donate
another amount
Thanks for all that you do,
Yasmin and the team at Ekō
---------------------------------
More information:
[ [link removed] ]DR Congo: Climate activists in Goma join global protests against use of
fossil fuels, Africanews, 16 September 2023
[ [link removed] ]‘First lung’: This rainforest could be the world’s most important
carbon sink., Euronews, 31 March 2023
[ [link removed] ]How dash for African oil and gas could wipe out Congo basin tropical
forests, The Guardian, 10 November 2022
[ [link removed] ]DR Congo auctions 30 oil and gas blocks, The Independent, 22 August
2022
With your help we can protect more of the Congo Basin from out-of-control
deforestation and power our campaigns to protect nature, wildlife and
people everywhere. Thank you for being part of Ekō's global community and
for all that you do.
Ekō is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.
Please help keep Ekō strong by chipping in $3. [link removed]
