The Bonobo Conservation Initiative is a non-profit organization based in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

that promotes conservation of the

bonobo The bonobo (; ''Pan paniscus''), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee (less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee), is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus ''Pan (genus), Pan'' (the other bei ...

and its habitat in the tropical forests of the

Congo Basin The Congo Basin () is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It contains some of the larg ...

. Under the Bonobo Conservation Initiative, a

reforestation Reforestation is the practice of restoring previously existing forests and woodlands that have been destroyed or damaged. The prior forest destruction might have happened through deforestation, clearcutting or wildfires. Three important purpose ...

project is planned for the

Maringa-Lopori-Wamba Landscape The Maringa-Lopori-Wamba Landscape (MLW) is an ecologically sensitive landscape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo within the Maringa / Lopori basin. Since 1973 a Japanese team has been researching the bonobo population near the village of ...

around the

Luo Scientific Reserve The Luo Scientific Reserve () is a protected area situated in the Ikela territory of Tshuapa province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The reserve covers . The reserve is in the territory of the Bongando people. A Japanese team first started ...

in an attempt to counter the destruction of bonobo habitat and increase areas where the bonobo are protected. will be replanted, forming corridors to link existing patches of forest, with the project funded by sale of

carbon credit Carbon offsetting is a carbon trading mechanism that enables entities to compensate for offset greenhouse gas emissions by investing in projects that reduce, avoid, or remove emissions elsewhere. When an entity invests in a carbon offsetting p ...

References

{{reflist Nature conservation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Conservation projects Bonobos