On the World Wetlands Day 2 February, we celebrate the vital importance of wetlands. This year's theme, Protecting Wetlands for Our Common Future, acknowledges their importance for humanity and for life on our planet. Today SLU Global highlights a project located in the Congo River Basin in Central Africa, which contains some of the largest tropical rainforests in the world, important for livelihoods and biodiversity.
During 2025, researchers at SLU and in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) collaborate in a project to improve biodiversity and livelihoods through environmental monitoring in the DRC. The aim is to support the country in fulfilling its national goals and Agenda 2030 ambitions to support sustainable livelihood activities that preserve the integrity and functionality of ecosystems and biodiversity.
The project brings together expertise from different institutions operating or interested in the Congo Basin and particularly in the larger area of the Cuvette Centrale where the Network for the Conservation and Restoration of Forest Ecosystems and its Mabali Scientific Reserve are located to ensure that interests of a variety of stakeholders are taken into account.
Wetlands are land areas that are saturated or flooded with water either permanently or seasonally.
Examples of inland wetlands are marshes, lakes, rivers, floodplains, peatlands and swamps.
Other types of wetlands can be coastal (saltwater marshes, estuaries, mangroves, lagoons and coral reefs) or human-made wetlands (fish ponds, rice paddies and salt pans).