Improving biodiversity governance and sustainable livelihoods with capacities for Environmental Monitoring and Assessment In Democratic Republic of Congo

The evidence base on the current status of biodiversity and the interlinked features of the ecosystem that define ecosystem integrity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is inadequate. Even less information exists on how the ecosystem responds to the changing climate and other pressures. That evidence deficit is particularly large for the aquatic ecosystems of the DRC, which are often exploited as a protein source for local communities. These shortcomings can be addressed through environmental monitoring and assessment (EMA). Established methods and promising developments (e.g. remote sensing, genomics and citizen science) can be used to build an evidence base that enjoys legitimacy as a basis for governance in the eyes of a broad range of stakeholders. To do so requires national capacity to perform EMA and utilize the results in governance. A new capacity building project “Improving biodiversity governance and sustainable livelihoods with capacities for Environmental Monitoring and Assessment In Democratic Republic of Congo” aims to assist the DRC in achieving its Agenda 2030 ambitions to support sustainable livelihood activities that preserve the integrity and functionality of ecosystems and biodiversity amid climate changes. This initially employs environmental monitoring and assessment (EMA) to build the scientific evidence base encompassing biodiversity, ecosystem integrity, and social and economic dynamics crucial for ensuring continued ecosystem functionality while improving human welfare. Governance must then leverage the EMA evidence base to support national institutions with policy implementation and international commitments. To enhance the prospects for success, the emphasis of this project will be on supporting nature based solutions. The two-year inception phase of the project has three objectives that target specific outputs and long-term outcomes (Table 1):

• Evidence: Create a socio-ecological evidence base on biodiversity in the Lake Tumba Landscape of Equateur Province to support local governance of freshwater and marine resources in the face of climate change and resource exploitation.
• Capacities: Plan for establishing national EMA capacity with appropriate educational programs.
• Coordination: Explore the possibilities for sharing EMA evidence and using it meet local, regional and international needs for evidence- based governance of aquatic ecosystems.

The project is currently in a two-year inception phase in cooperation with the Mabali Research Station managed by the Centre de Recherche en Ecologie et Foresterie (CREF). The collection of biodiversity data to support the strategic plan of the research station will be developed and implemented in consultation with local and regional stakeholders.