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![Congo Basin rainforest is a shared global asset that is critical to the planet’s health. And, like the increasingly rare great apes that inhabit it, this asset is in desperate need of protection. Photo: Sergey Uryadnikov/Shutterstock. Congo Basin rainforest is a shared global asset that is critical to the planet’s health. And, like the increasingly rare great apes that inhabit it, this asset is in desperate need of protection. Photo: Sergey Uryadnikov/Shutterstock.](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/lowland_gorilla_congo_shutterstock.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=1YHEweaK)
The Congo Basin is critical to the health of our planet
Lowland and swamp forests, forest savannas, and the mighty Congo river make up the 500 million acres of the Congo Basin, the second largest tropical rainforest on the planet. When standing below the trees, the vaulted canopy of leaves blocks out most of the sunlight and traps moisture making a trek…
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![The GEF-funded Global Wildlife Program (GWP) ensures that elephants have safe and secure land to move in, that they are away from communities with whom they share resources to avoid conflict, and that those engaged in illegal wildlife trade are prosecuted by improving evidence collection and intelligence gathering. Photo: Villiers Steyn/Shutterstock. African elephant herd drinking together at watering hole. Photo: Villiers Steyn/Shutterstock.](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/WorldElephantDay2_870.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=lg8uhA8Y)
Ensuring a world where elephants aren't the next dinosaurs
On August 12, we celebrate World Elephant Day to raise awareness on the plight of the world’s elephant population. This is an important day for me, as the Program Manager of the Global Wildlife Program (GWP) that started two years ago to combat illegal wildlife trade across 19 countries in…