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