The environmental and socio-economic benefits of reforestation of 8,000 hectares on the Batéké Plateau, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

This paper takes the advantages from an environmental and socio-economic development of a forest planted with funding from the European Union on the Bateke Plateau.

This project whose main objective was to supply the city of Kinshasa in good quality fuelwood has had a positive impact on the environment and the socio-economic life of the villagers and townspeople.

On the environmental front, the artificial forest and carried out with the planting of trees of mainly Acacia auriculiformis and a few Eucalyptus sp. p. has positively influenced the microclimate of the region. She also helped to enrich the environment in terms of biodiversity by enabling good development of many plant species shading and building a shelter for some animal species. The soil structure has also been enriched by the contribution of organic matter and nitrogen fixed by vegetable planted.

On the socio-economic emphasis is placed on the establishment of essential infrastructure for socio-economic development of this region (access road, village, etc.), the settling of agriculture and villages