#the congo rainforest

[stormofdefiance]

An incredibly lazy wee doodle of barn swallows since I'm struggling to sleep and going back to my teenage ritual of drawing birds far too late into the night. Where I live, it will soon be time for the swallows to leave and make their bi-annual 8000 mile migration all the way to South Africa. Summer goes with them, and already my late North European nights seem to be turning dark so soon. A couple of months ago the night would just be a muted blue until dawn would crack with a skylark's song at 3am, and from now it will just be a couple of months until the black sets in before the afternoon ends.

It genuinely makes me want to cry thinking about these matchbox sized little beings throwing themselves into that endless blue all in pursuit of airborne insects, those small bodies making their way over the widening, waterless Sahara, that 40 day excursion that, by mid-October, will be over. How long a journey that seems, how short for a being smaller than my hand.

I'll miss them as much as I'll miss the sun until my late-March birthday comes along again and the spring sky is briefly interrupted by their sudden return, their tumbling bodies celebrating the world waking up again, back - somehow, dare I project a sense of sentiment, remembering - to the very same nests they'd left behind just months ago.

[panafrocore]

The Bantu Expansion: A Significant Human Migration

The Bantu migration stands as a fascinating and pivotal chapter in human history, marked by a series of extensive migrations of the original Proto-Bantu-speaking group. This expansive movement originated from a central nucleus in what is now Central Africa. The migration’s narrative is not solely supported by historical accounts, but also by a convergence of evidence from various disciplines such…

[troythecatfish]

[thoughtportal]

whats going on in Congo, and how you can help!

[bjekkergauken]

Mokele-mbembe

[postcard-from-the-past]

Lumberjacks in the rainforests of Congo

French vintage postcard

[t0rschlusspan1k]

29.12.2023 | Petitions for the environment and climate change.

Please read, share wherever you can, talk about them and if you can afford it, please, please, please donate - consider taking up a collection among your friends.

Actions.eko.com: Nestlé and P&G: Stop setting Indonesia’s rainforests on fire

Indonesia’s forests are burning – a thick toxic haze suffocates half of the country, keeping children out of school and forcing people and animals to relocate. But it didn’t happen by accident and we know who the arsonists are. Together, we will hold them accountable. Nestlé and Procter & Gamble are doing business with rogue palm oil and paper producers who recklessly burn precious rainforests to the ground to expand their monocultures, steal Indigenous lands, and drive orangutans, rhinos, and elephants closer to the brink of extinction. (keep reading)

Rainforest Action Network - RAN: This one is for donating, they need 100,00$ by December 31!

We urgently need your help to fight for the world's last rainforests in 2024 by making any size donation today. Those who believe they can change the world are the ones that do. Donate now.

Help us challenge mega-corporations like Liberty Mutual, Bank of America, Procter & Gamble, Nestlé and Mondelēz. Their thirst for endless profits contributes to the widespread destruction of irreplaceable rainforests like the Leuser Ecosystem of North Sumatra and the Amazon rainforest and fuels the expansion of dangerous fossil fuel projects that choke the life out of the planet. For a small organization, RAN's significant impact is only possible because of dedicated supporters like YOU. Your generous donation today makes a world of difference.

Rainforest Rescue: DRC: Do not sacrifice Congo's rainforests to the oil industry!

The DRC government in Kinshasa is nearing a point of no return: President Tshisekedi wants to sacrifice vast areas of Congo rainforest and peatland for oil. This would be an unmitigated disaster for the climate, biodiversity and local people. Together with our African partner organizations, we can put a stop to these plans. The rainforests of the Congo Basin are home to millions of people and countless animal and plant species, including chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas. They are a treasure trove of biodiversity and crucial to the fight against climate change. Despite this, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) began auctioning 27 oil and 3 gas blocks in late July. The blocks cover some of the last remaining intact forests on Earth. Three of the blocks overlap the Cuvette Centrale peatlands, which are estimated to store 30 billion tons of carbon, the equivalent to one years’ worth of global emissions. The peatlands are so vast and remote that little is known about the biodiversity at stake there. Nine oil blocks overlap protected areas. More than half of the Congo Basin's peatlands and 60 percent of its rainforest are in the DRC, the country plays a key role in the fight against the climate crisis. The science is clear: the governments of the world must cut carbon emissions in half within the next eight years. In his speech at the UN's COP26 conference in Glasgow, President Tshisekedi promoted the vital role of the Congo Basin forests in regulating the global climate and his intention to enhance DRC’s energy mix by "combining several types of energy: biomass, hydro, solar." The cost of not doing so, he said, would be a climate crisis. The world cannot afford any further expansion of oil and gas. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), an immediate end to new investment in fossil fuel supply projects is the first step to keep global warming below 1.5°C and achieve global net zero emissions by 2050. In an alliance of environmentalists from Africa and around the world, we want to keep the oil in the ground and the fossil fuel industry out of the Congo Basin. Please sign our joint petition!

DR Congo: Stop the destruction by miners and loggers in Tshopo!

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is home to the second largest area of rainforest on Earth. Defending it is crucial to the fight against climate change and the extinction crisis. Yet miners are polluting rivers and loggers clearing forests in Tshopo province. In the small town of Basoko, local people are fighting back. The people of the small town of Basoko fear for their health and livelihoods: the Aruwimi River, a tributary of the Congo, has been polluted ever since the Chinese mining company Xiang Jiang Mining began dredging for gold there. Some species of fish have disappeared completely. Skin diseases are on the rise. "We say NO to mining in Aruwimi, which is destroying our ecosystem in an anarchic way," states a memorandum to the county government read during a demonstration. On March 11, 2022, residents of the region protested on land and with boats against the trashing of their environment. Mining is not the only threat to nature in Tshopo province: companies such as FODECO, Congo Futur and SOFORMA are reportedly logging at a breakneck pace near Basoko. "They are systematically plundering the forests without any benefit to local people," says Jean-François Mombia Atuku, chairman of the environmental protection organization RIAO-RDC. "Anyone who demands accountability is silenced," he said, adding that workers are "kept like slaves" in the forest. "Human rights are not relevant for these companies." The grievances regarding mining have been heard in the capital Kinshasa: In January 2022, Environment Minister Eve Bazaiba called on Xiang Jiang Mining to cease operations by February 25, 2022. However, nothing has changed since then – the company is still operating, apparently unimpressed. "What we need now is international pressure," says Jean-François Mombia Atuku. It must be brought to bear on President Tshisekedi, who positioned his country as a heavyweight in the fight against the climate crisis during the COP26 climate conference. It’s time to apply that international pressure – please sign our petition.

[a-god-in-ruins-rises]

this alone will ensure america's power and prosperity for centuries to come.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Rainforest nations in Africa and Asia join Amazon summit to discuss rainforest preservation

Representatives of rainforest nations in Africa and Southeast Asia joined a summit of Amazon countries in Brazil on Wednesday to begin charting a common course for preservation of the ecologically diverse regions that are crucial in countering climate change.

On Tuesday, leaders and ministers from eight Amazonian nations signed a declaration that laid out plans to drive economic development in their countries while preventing the Amazon’s ongoing demise “from reaching a point of no return.” Some scientists say that when 20% to 25% of the forest is destroyed, rainfall will dramatically decline, transforming more than half of the rainforest to tropical savannah, with immense biodiversity loss.

The eight nations — Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela — are members of the newly revived Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, or ACTO, and have expressed hope a united front will give them a major voice in global environment talks ahead of the COP 28 climate conference in November.

Several environmental groups expressed frustration with Tuesday’s joint declaration, saying it was largely a compilation of good intentions with little in the way of concrete goals and timeframes. However, the region’s largest Indigenous organization praised the inclusion of two of its main demands.

The Amazon nations were joined Wednesday by the presidents of the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo, an emissary from Indonesia’s president, and France’s ambassador to Brazil, representing the Amazonian territory of French Guiana. The president of Norway, the largest contributor to Brazil’s Amazon Fund for sustainable development, also attended.

Continue reading.

[nickysfacts]

The Okapi: the mysterious African Unicorn!

🇨🇩💜🦒

[crystalsandcrochet]

The Congo

[allpplareequal]

Modern academics: There is no way

Ancient people: yes way

[harvestheart]

Okapi

Say “hello” to the okapi (Okapia johnstoni). Though its stripes resemble a zebra’s, this herbivore is actually most closely related to the giraffe! Never seen one? Worry not: This shy ungulate is hard to spot because the stripes on its coat help camouflage it in its densely-vegetated, sun-dappled habitat. Found in Central Africa—typically in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo—the okapi feeds on leaves and tender shoots, using its long, flexible tongue to strip vegetation. In fact, an okapi’s tongue can reach lengths of up to 11.8 inches (30 cm)… meaning it can lick its own eyeballs.

Photo: derekkeats, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons #wildlife #animals #amazingnature #nature #science https://www.instagram.com/p/CpQtn1ht2g6/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=