Forest Planning Meeting at Bakunda, DR Congo

A brief excerpt from a forest planning meeting in Bakunda, Equateur Province, DR Congo. Bakunda is a very small village just southwest of Basankusu, a large town at the confluence of the Maringa and Lopori rivers. It’s not on the map. Kondjo Shoko of the Direction Inventaire Aménagement Forestier (DIAF), a part of the Ministère de l’Environnement, Conservation de la Nature et Tourisme (MECNT), explains the basics of forest planning in Lingala. Forest planning is an effort of the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation of Nature, and Tourism in partnership with various entities such as African Wildlife Foundation, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Agency for International Development and others. Forest planning is an effort to plan for the future of DR Congo’s forests, what will be forests of permanent production, protected areas and community forests. It’s a big job and you can imagine the difficulties of pulling it off in DR Congo. Video by John Sidle/U.S. Forest Service (September 15, 2009).