A woman chief in DRC leads community conservation for local development

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s National Community Conservation Strategy cements the role of local communities living around — and sometimes inside — protected areas as essential for maintaining the integrity of the country’s critical natural landscapes. Involving local communities is a major priority for the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) as the authority strives to conserve fragile ecosystems and critically endangered species amid a magnitude of threats.