Environment News Service

24 jul. 08 - 09.13h

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, July 24, 2008 (ENS) - The Ngiri-Tumba-Maindombe area in the Democratic Republic of Congo has become the world's largest Wetland of International Importance, officially recognized by the Ramsar Convention, a treaty protecting designated wetlands.

A ceremony to announce the recognition of Ngiri-Tumba-Maindombe as a Ramsar wetland is set for today at the Cercle de Kinshasa in the DRC capital. The announcement is to be made in the presence of high-level government politicians as well as representatives of Ramsar, the global conservation organization WWF and other partners.

More than twice the size of Belgium, the 65,696 square kilometer site is situated around the Lake Tumba region in the Central Western Basin of the DRC and contains the largest freshwater body in Africa.

Its rivers and lakes constitute a major sink for the most prevalent greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide.

Until now the world's largest Ramsar site was Queen Maud Gulf in Canada at 62,782 square kilometers, designated in 1982.

Support for the DRC government in its effort to win recognition for the Ngiri-Tumba-Maindombe site began in 2004 and was provided jointly by the Central African Regional Program for the Environment, a USAID initiative, as well as the Ramsar Convention, and WWF, which was responsible for the technical aspects of the project.

For the full article, please visit: http://www.monuc.org/news.aspx?newsID=17808

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79436

JOHANNESBURG, 24 July 2008 (IRIN) - In an effort to mitigate the negative impact of climate change, new funding by European Commission's Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) will help bolster disaster risk reduction and community resilience in Mozambique, Madagascar, Malawi and the Comoros.

A statement released on 23 July said the EC had extended the scope of its disaster preparedness programme (DIPECHO) with a new allocation of €5 million (US$7.8 million) for the four southern African countries.

"This is an important step in supporting communities that are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. Experience shows that many lives can be saved if people know what precautions to take and how to react when the disaster strikes," Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, said in the statement.
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More storms on the horizon

"The number of extreme weather events has increased sharply in recent years. Climate change already seems to be having a serious humanitarian impact," John Clancy, spokesman for Commissioner Michel, told IRIN.

"The decision to extend it [DIPECHO] to the southwest Indian Ocean reflects an unfortunate reality: more cyclones are occurring in that area, causing ever more structural damage and serious flooding," Clancy said.