I would like to personally thank the Bonobo Conservation Initiative for sponsoring the True North expedition by providing the carbon offset for the trip. We planted the Bonobo Peace Forest flag at the North Pole in honor of all the conservation work these organizations do daily to protect life on earth.
Audio of Doug Stoup planting Bonobo Peace Forest Flag at the North Pole:
Planting this flag brings attention to the fact that all of life on this planet is inexorably linked together.
There are no two places on earth as different as the north pole and rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Yet they are linked.
By protecting the Congo’s rainforests we also protect the north pole.
The melting of the polar ice caps due to global warming has been gaining attention, especially because, as the melts, sea levels rise and threaten coastal zones throughout the world.
Yet many do not yet do not yet understand that by protecting the Congo’s rainforests we may also protect the polar regions.
Close to 25% of all global green house gas emissions are from the destruction of forests. That is more than the combined emissions of all vehicles on earth, including trucks cars , planes and trains.
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s government established the Sankuru reserve not just to protect bonobos and biodiversity, but to show the world their commitment to addressing global warming. Working with The Bonobo Conservation Initiative and local partners they set aside 30,000 km2 (11,000 square miles) of rainforest in the heart of the Congo basin.
That is an area larger than the country of Belgium, and larger than the 3 largest combined national parks in the continental United States. Sankuru’s tropical forest stores between 1.5 to 2 billion tons of CO2, which if released would be comparable to the CO2 emitted each year for 10 years by 38,000,000 cars and trucks.
The Sankuru Nature Reserve is the first official reserve in the Bonobo Peace Forest. A planned constellation of community reserves that will protect more than 20,000 square miles (50,000 km2) of rainforest.
What is special about Sankuru and the Bonobo Peace Forest is that it is driven by and will be managed by the local and indigenous people. This is a unique model, and the first of its kind on this scale. Support for the Sankuru Reserve will not simply protect bonobnos and store carbon, but will generate investment and sustainable development programs to help alleviate the dire poverty in the region.
In addition, this region protects important biodiversity, especially the bonobo, man’s closest relative, sharing close to 99% of DNA with humans. Bonobos, sometimes called the “hippie Chimp” lives in a matriarchal society; and compared to other great apes, including man, bonobo’s are peaceful and cooperative. There is still much to learn from bonobos.
BY saving bonobos and the Congo’s rainforests you can help save polar bears and the polar ice caps
Here are some photos of our closest relatives!