The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo passed a law in January 2025 to lead efforts to establish the largest tropical forest reserve in the world. It will be set up as a 2,600km long green corridor the size of France – 540,000km² – situated in the Congo Basin.
The green corridor will follow the course of the Congo River, the world’s second largest after the Amazon, which meanders 4,374km in a long arc through central Africa. The river gets its water from draining a huge 3.6 million km² area (a watershed) where the rain falls. This massive area is called the Congo Basin.
The Congo Basin straddles ten countries: Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia.
