As he walked barefoot through the rainforest, he pointed to the ferns, lianas and hardwood trees rising into the canopy. He hunts small antelope, collects timber for his house and is an expert in traditional medicine.
He scraped the bark of a boala tree (Pentaclethra macrophylla) with his machete and collected the powder in a large leaf, explaining how he boils this up with other leaves and roots to treat stomach ache. "I have lived all my life in the forest; everything I do is in the forest," he said. "The forest provides my food and my medicine." But beneath his feet lay something even more precious: dense layers of peat formed over millennia creating a carbon store that holds the equivalent of three years of global fossil fuel emissions.
Now this forest is under threat from plans to exploit other natural resources. The DRC government is creating new logging concessions and also selling permits for oil and gas exploration. As well as the peatlands in the north-west of the DRC, the drilling permits cover Virunga national Park in the east of the country, home to mountain gorillas and the critically endangered lowland gorilla.
The auction has raised concerns about the future of a forest protection deal signed by former British prime minister Boris Johnson, on behalf of the Central African Forest Initiative, and the DRC president, Félix Tshisekedi, at Cop26.
Papa Mbembe's village is a line of mud-and-thatch houses strung along a riverbank, shaded by trees. The only way to get there is by boat along the Ruki River and, for a villager without an outboard motor, it takes 24 hours to reach the nearest town.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Starlink's conquest of the Amazon leaves Brazil in a dilemma
The helicopter swooped into one of the most inaccessible corners of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian special forces commandos leaped from it into the caiman-inhabited waters below.
Dalai Lama's mountain town feels the strain of tourist boom
SUVs and saloon cars pass slowly along McLeod Ganj's narrow one-way Jogiwara Road, blaring horns at pedestrians and scooter riders and playing loud music.
'I am all the world' The brutal rule of a West Bank settler
Palestinians tell ofblacklisted Yakov's reign across the Jabal Salman valley and heisjust one of many violent bosses
Stormy waters New flashpoint emerges in South China Sea dispute
Hopes that tensions in the South China Sea might ease have been short lived.
'Justice delayed' Why trust in public inquiries to bring closure is fading
After the final report of the Grenfell fire inquiry was published, Hisam Choucair, who lost six family members in the blaze, said: \"We did not ask for this inquiry... It's delayed the justice my family deserves.\"
Celeriac soup with almond pangrattato
I'm not ashamed to say that as soon as September hits, my stick blender comes out. Just as I embrace salads when the clocks go forward in the UK, I wholeheartedly throw myself into soup season once the summer holidays end. Autumn is approaching in the northern hemisphere and I'm ready with my ladle. Celeriac is one of my favourite soup heroes, because it gives the creamiest, silkiest finish with little effort. You don't have to make the almond pangrattato, but it is a wonderful addition.
Are smoke signals telling me to make an oil change in the kitchen?
Should you that is, not can you) cook with extra-virgin olive oil? Antonio, Atlanta, Georgia, US
Going underground
A darkly humorous encounter between an American spy-cop and the members ofan eco-commune she is hired to infiltrate
All work and no play
Hard Graft, a powerfulnew London exhibition, focuses onworkers’ exploitation, from the ruined hands ofa washerwoman to mothers forced to sell their bodies
What the princess and the shaman tell us about hereditary privilege
It should have been an Instagram-perfect wedding image, but it turned out to be something more embarrassing.