蜜芽传媒

The Democratic Republic of Congo is home to one of the largest old-growth rainforests on Earth.

It has been described as the lungs of the region because the area absorbs a huge amount of global carbon dioxide emissions every year.

Yet at the end of last week, some 30 licences for oil and gas extraction went up for auction including.

This includes an area which extends into Virunga National Park, the world鈥檚 most important gorilla sanctuary, as well as tropical peatlands that store vast amounts of carbon, which keeps it out of the atmosphere and from contributing to global warming.

Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu is a climate specialist and an adviser to DR Congo's Ministry of Environment and an adviser to the minister of hydrocarbons. He told Newsday about the plans, saying: "Before anything is undertaken, there will be assessment, there will be strategic environmental and social assessment, and those will be able to tell us whether there will be an impact, what will be the risk, who will be able to mitigate them, what measures will be put in place, and how we will be able to increase the Congolese civil society".

Photo shows: A one year old baby mountain gorilla plays with a branch in the jungle of the Virunga National Park. Credit: Getty Images

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