Browsing by Subject "DRC"

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    Avoided Deforestation in the Democratic Republic of Congo
    (2008-12-05T15:06:25Z) McClanahan, Paige
    Deforestation and forest degradation account for one fifth of greenhouse gas emissions around the world, second only to fossil fuel combustion. While the Kyoto Protocol has no mechanism that aims to stop forest loss, climate negotiators have begun to devise a program – to be built into Kyoto’s successor – that would reward developing countries for “avoiding deforestation” that otherwise would have occurred. Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, or REDD, certainly offers a lot of promise: by allowing poor forested countries to earn, and then sell, tradable carbon credits on a global carbon market, the program could generate a substantial amount of revenue. And many observers have argued that these funds could be used to help fight poverty in forest-dwelling communities. But REDD implementation would not be easy: it would require the technical capacity to measure and monitor forest cover and the governance capacity to both stop forest loss and distribute REDD-derived income. These challenges would be particularly daunting in countries that already struggle to govern effectively. To consider this issue in greater depth, this paper uses the Democratic Republic of Congo as a lens through which to examine the challenges of REDD implementation, especially with regard to how the program might impact the country’s poor forest dwellers. The paper concludes that, in the face of such governance challenges, the DRC should take concrete steps to create a facilitating environment for the program’s implementation. These steps include increasing investment in the forest sector, strengthening land tenure among forest-dwelling people, devolving more control over forests to local actors, and taking measures to increase transparency and combat corruption.
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    Characterization of Risk Factors for Inter- and Intraspecies Transmission of Respiratory Illness at Lola Ya, Democratic Republic of Congo
    (2023) Hanberry, Daniel Austin

    Zoonotic disease poses one of the greatest threats to both human and animal health in our world today. Recent pandemics such as Ebola, SARS-CoV2, and highly pathogenic Avian Influenza have shown the devastating consequences of infectious disease on both human and animal populations. Few studies have characterized the risk of interspecies pathogen transmission with one of our closest living relatives, Pan paniscus. This endangered species of great apes inhabits only rainforests of the Congo River Basin. Due to human encroachment, bushmeat trade, illegal pet trade, and deforestation, only 15,000-20,000 wild bonobos remain. The Lola Ya Bonobo Sanctuary (LYB) serves as the world’s only haven for orphaned and injured bonobos and presents a valuable opportunity to study the epidemiology of respiratory pathogens in a habituated population. This study aimed to characterize the risk factors for transmission of respiratory illness between bonobos and humans at LYB. Between 2014-2017 a cohort of 77 bonobos and 44 human staff were observed for signs of clinical illness and had their upper respiratory tract routinely sampled. We used a multiplex nucleic acid amplification assay to detect the presence of 18 viral and 3 bacterial respiratory pathogens. Of 282 total bonobo testing events, 93 (33%) returned positive results, primarily RSV-A (n = 41, 44.1%) and Rhinovirus/Enterovirus (n = 37, 39.8%). Although the point of entry into LYB could not be determined, RSV-A initially appeared in the infant and juvenile enclosures and spread serially through the older bonobo enclosures. Rhinovirus/Enterovirus appeared in diffuse clusters throughout the sanctuary. Although new bonobos are subject to a prolonged quarantine, current policy allows for relocation of bonobos between enclosures and frequent and sustained contact with human staff. Active surveillance for respiratory and other pathogens and additional infection control measures may benefit bonobo and human health.