Esombo Botamba

After finishing his studies in Belgium and in the U.S, Mr. Botamba began working at the Language Research Center of Georgia State University in Atlanda to conserve one of the DRC’s most threatened wildlife species, the bonobo. As chairman of the national NGO, the Great Apes of Congo Center (GACC), he spearheaded awareness campaigns particularly on great ape conservation, responsible fishing, participatory mapping, climate change and capacity building of civil society organizations (CSOs) and local communities.

Today, Mr. Botamba is managing a forest project covering more than 12.5 million hectares in the DRC. An active participant in the REDD community, Mr. Botamba strives to ensure that WWF’s REDD+ initiatives and the DRC’s REDD+ readiness efforts are recognized by global policy makers. Before joining WWF, Mr. Botamba was Deputy Country Director for the African Wildlife Foundation.

Mr. Botamba will attend Parallel C4 Imrpoving national systems for REDD+ monitoring and MRV – from national to the community level.