Biodiversity

Our Protected Species

The DRC is the most megadiverse country in Africa, home to more than 50% of the continent's tropical forests and thousands of endemic species. The ICCN is responsible for their protection in accordance with the CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which the DRC acceded to in 1976.

In danger

CITES Appendix I

Okapi

Okapia johnstoni

The emblematic animal of the DRC. The sole survivor of the Giraffidae family in Africa, the okapi is endemic to the tropical forests of eastern Congo. Its discovery by scientists in 1901 was one of the greatest zoological surprises of the 20th century.