The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one the most important biodiversity hotspots around the world and the second one in the African continent. The DRC possesses over 50% of Africa's tropical forests and also harbours a number of spectacular endemic species like the okapi, Grauer's gorilla, bonobo and Congo peacock. The Congo rainforest is home to more than 600 tree species and 10,000 animal species, including forest elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees, okapi, leopards, hippos, and lions. However, their habitat between the Kahuzi Biega National Park and the Itombwe National Reserve at the Eastern part of the country has been interrupted due to intensive deforestation practices. This project aims to create a forest corridor to regenerate, restore and conserve animals’ habitat and biodiversity between the protected regions by planting local trees to transform bare places and mountains of the Mitumba range into forests. The project, developed in collaboration with national and local governments, will recover tree cover, combat soil erosion and contribute to mitigate climate change. The project will start as a pilot in 4 villages of the Mitumba mountains, and will transform the population of these villages to become Friends and Protectors of forest ecosystems.