Lesson video

Hello, I'm Ms. Roberts and welcome to today's geography lesson.

This lesson is the last lesson in a unit all about the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is a country in Central Africa.

Today, we are going to think about the future of this country.

We are thinking about their sustainable future.

By the end of the lesson today, you're going to be able to suggest some different ways that the DRC could develop sustainably while still protecting its environment and its people.

Let's look at some important keywords that are going to come up during the lesson today.

Sustainable development is a key concept, really, that we're exploring here, and this is the development that meets the needs of the present.

It meets the needs that people are having today without compromising the ability for future generations to also be able to meet their needs too.

Renewable energy is another important topic, and renewable energy is energy that comes from sources that can be reused and reused and they will not be used up or run out.

And conservation is the careful protection of something.

In this context, we're gonna be looking at the conservation of the natural environment in the DRC.

The lesson structure for today is three parts.

We are going to think firstly about energy production in the DRC.

Then we're going to look at conservation, community of the DRC, and then finally we're going to look at supporting the future of the DRC.

So let's begin then by exploring energy production, which is a really important topic currently in the DRC.

The reason it's important is because all around the world, not only in the DRC, there is an ever increasing demand for energy.

Why is that? Look around you now.

You're using an electrical device to watch this lesson.

Look at the room you're sitting in.

We need energy to power all of our daily activities, from travel and transport to charging our devices to lighting and heating our homes.

What have you used energy for today? Here are just some examples, electric vehicles, cars being charged, things that plug in.

What have you used that plugs in? Have you watched TV today? Have you been in a kitchen? Have you microwaved any food today? These are just some examples of the things we do every single day that have a requirement for energy to be produced.

Energy comes from many different sources.

We know this, and some of those energy sources are renewable and others are non-renewable.

Renewable energy includes things like solar energy that comes from the rays of the sun, hydroelectric energy, which comes from fast flowing water and wind energy, which is when the natural movement of the wind turns a turbine.

In the DRC, it's estimated that around 19% of the population has electricity in their homes.

That leaves a staggering 81% of people that do not have access to electricity at home.

In urban areas like the city of Kinshasa, about 41% of people don't have electricity, so it's a bit higher in urban areas.

But in rural areas, if we move out into the villages and settlements in the rural parts of the DRC, you'll find that maybe one percent of people there might have electricity at home.

What reasons can you think of for these statistics? Why do more people have access to electricity in urban areas? Why does only 19% of the population have electricity at home? If you want to, take a moment to pause the video and talk to a partner to share your opinion.

Sam and Sofia are talking about these issues.

Sam says that there are important buildings in cities like hospitals and they need power.

Thanks, Sam.

That's a very valid point.

That might be a good reason why urban areas have more electricity.

Sofia says, rural areas don't always have connection to the electric grid to supply their electricity.

That's another very good point.

Thank you, Sofia.

The electricity is supplied around most countries through a national grid, a huge network of pylons and cables that transport electricity from one place to another.

If there's no way to access the grid, then we can't access the electricity unless we can find another means, another power source, perhaps by something like a generator or something connected to batteries, maybe a solar panel, but these things are expensive and people in rural parts of the DRC simply can't afford them.

Energy is an essential part of sustainable development.

Increasing energy and electricity production means that more people will have access to power, and that means that things like industries can develop as well as things like powering schools to increase education, empowering hospitals to increase healthcare.

So really, energy production is essential for development to take place.

Thanks to a range of physical factors, the DRC has many opportunities for generating renewable energy, as well as non-renewable as well.

It faces many challenges to do so though.

The graph you can see here shows how electricity generation has been increasing in the DRC over the last 20 years.

Time for a learning check.

Can you answer this multiple choice question? How can energy production support sustainable development in the DRC? Be careful, there could be more than one correct answer.

Ready? Did you find more than one answer? Good.

There are two, aren't there? Industries are going to grow.

This can generate employment and wealth and healthcare will improve, which means people will be healthier.

Now, one of the biggest opportunities for renewable energy in the DRC is hydroelectric power.

This is thanks to the mighty Congo River that runs through the DRC, particularly in the west of the country where there are waterfalls and rapids with plenty of fast flowing water, which is essential for HEP.

The problem is that building the dams that are required for HEP is very, very expensive.

They also need to be up kept and maintained, which is very expensive as well.

There are currently two very large hydroelectric dams in the DRC called the Inga Dams. The photograph you can see here is the Inga One.

Most of the electricity that is produced using hydroelectric power doesn't reach the people.

It's used directly to power the mining industry because that's where money is going to be made.

Now, the electrical output that's generated by these stations is far below what it could be.

It actually has the potential to power millions of homes, but it doesn't.

And the reason for that is due to lack of maintenance of the dams. The DRC has experienced years of civil unrest and conflict, and when something like a civil war is taking place in a country, it means that priorities change.

The priority is on defence and feeding people.

Priority is not looking after hydroelectric dams. For this reason, these dams have not been maintained and now need extensive repairs, which is why the output generated from them is nowhere near as much as it could be.

Whilst HEP is the biggest opportunity for renewable energy in the DRC, there are other aspects that can also produce renewable energy.

There are plenty of days of sunshine every year, which has the potential for solar energy.

There are great winds that sweep across the plains.

There is potential for wind energy and don't forget, the great reef valley of Central Africa passes through the DRC, so there is potential there for geothermal energy using the heat of the earth.

All of these renewable sources can be used to meet the ever increasing demands of human activities for that energy.

If we can use more and more renewable energy, then this will in turn protect the rainforests.

It will stop people cutting them down as a fuel would, for example.

And that in turn will help to promote biodiversity.

Do you think it is true or false to say that the Congo River provides free renewable energy to the DRC through HEP? It's partly true, but it's not entirely true, is it? Can you say why? Did you have ideas like this? It's true that the Congo River provides renewable energy.

It's true that that renewable energy is hydroelectric power or HEP, but it's by no means free because dams have to be built, power stations need to be built, they need to be maintained and up kept, the national grid connecting to them needs to be built.

There is a great deal of infrastructure around HEP that costs money, and that money comes from people paying their electricity bills.

So it does provide HEP, it does provide renewable energy, but it does not provide it for free.

Time for task A, your first task of three in this lesson.

And for this task, I need you to look at the graph.

The graph here is about electricity generation from renewable sources in the DRC and how that has changed between 2000 and 2022.

I would like you to use the graph and describe how the electricity from renewable resources has changed in that period of time.

You should include statistics from the graph in your answer and give some reasons to support your findings.

You can pause the video now whilst you complete the activity and then I will share some example answers.

Ready? Let's take a look.

Okay.

The general trend of the graph is that electricity production has increased in this period.

This is mostly from renewable energy sources.

This is likely because the DRC has lots of renewable energy.

For example, hydroelectricity from the Inga dams. Production increases from six terawatt hours in 2000 to a peak of 12 terawatt hours in 2020.

This is double the production.

There are some fluctuations where production increases and decreases along the way, and those could be due to civil unrest in the DRC.

Did you have similar ideas? Well done.

Moving on then into the second part of the lesson, let's explore conservation and community.

Some of the most precious and unique landscapes of the DRC are designated as national parks or national reserves.

Conservation of those areas is an important priority.

I have dropped pins on this map to show you where some of the DRC's national parks are.

The one that circled is called Virunga National Park, and this is part of the Great Rift Valley in the east of the DRC.

Within this vast area of national park, there are over 1000 species of mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds, and that's because it has such a variety of landscapes.

We can find mountains here, we can find forests here, we can find lakes and a river here.

It's so vast.

The park is an important habitat for 44 particular species of endangered animals, and it's the protection of those species that needs to happen on a daily basis.

Some of those animals include the rarest primate on earth, which is the mountain gorilla.

Conservation is an ongoing concern in places like Virunga National Park.

So to help with that, around 700 people, local people from the area are employed as park rangers.

The largest aspect of their role is conservation, and they undergo months worth of training for their role.

The conservation doesn't just involve looking after plants, planting plants, taking care of animals.

It's a much wider role in places like the DRC because the rangers are also there to provide a human presence to police the park, if you like, and to support the local communities that live there.

Time for a learning check now.

Can you complete this sentence? Conservation is important in Virunga National Park because, it provides jobs for locals, it boosts industry, it stops climate change or it protects endangered species? Think carefully.

Could there be more than one correct answer? Why don't you pause the video and decide for yourself? Ready? Let's check.

Conservation is important in Virunga National Park because it provides jobs for locals, tick.

Anything else? And it protects endangered species.

Well done.

It's not about boosting industry in the national park.

That would actually cause more damage.

And we can't say that it stops climate change because it doesn't.

It can certainly help though.

Conservation will contribute towards reducing climate change.

The picture you can see here is one of the small towns.

This is a village, actually, on the edge of Lake Edward, which is part of the Virunga National Park.

Lots of people live here and in the DRC, one of the main ways of survival is small scale subsistence farming, farming for themselves, for food and fishing in places like Lake Edward.

So the park rangers who work in this park work alongside those local communities and they help them.

They help them with looking at more sustainable farming methods that have less harm done to the environment.

This helps to sustain habitats.

And it also improves livelihoods of people and the life of the community.

Outside of local organisations, international organisations also play a role of conservation in the DRC.

The Virunga National Park is actually an internationally protected area because it's what we call a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This means that there are international treaties protecting it, and it means that organisations like the UN can go in there to help and support the local people, particularly during times of civil unrest.

This picture, you can see members of the UN arriving with food supplies for people of the DRC.

This means that the communities can continue to thrive without further damage being done to the natural environment.

So conservation is active there.

True or false, only local people are responsible for conservation in the DRC.

Absolutely false, isn't it? And why is it false? It's false because we've just seen that international organisations like the UN play their role in conservation of precious environments too.

They support communities, for example, when there is civil unrest.

Great job.

Let's move onto task B.

Task B is a creative task for you this time.

You have learned just now about the job of a park ranger in the Virunga National Park.

I want you to design an advertisement to recruit a new ranger to come and work in the park.

What should a job advert include? It should include details of any training that's required for the role, the duties the rangers are expected to carry out, and what people can expect to achieve by carrying out this role.

I would like you to share and compare your advert with a partner.

Talk to them about the choices you've made.

Look at the differences and similarities between your two adverts.

Pause the video now while you complete the activity, and I will share an example from one of the Oak Academy children when you un-pause the video.

All done? I hope you enjoyed the chance to get creative with that task.

Let's have a look at an example together.

Here is an advert one of the Oak Academy children created, with the headline there, help us Grow and Protect Your National Park, Rangers Required in Virunga National Park.

No experience required, age 18 plus.

Training and support provided.

Roles open to males and females.

You can expect to learn about the plant and animal species of the park and participate in conservation efforts to protect them.

Understand threats to the park, and help to police them to reduce illegal activity, and support local communities to improve lives sustainably through farming and water resource projects.

We have even got an email address there for people to apply to.

Good job.

Okay.

So let's move into the third and final part of this lesson and think about a sustainable future of the DRC.

How can we support that? Many people in the DRC, especially in rural areas, make money through small scale trade through markets.

This involves exchanging goods, which can be leftover crops from subsistence farming or handmade or craft items such as clothing.

This woman here in a market in Kivu is selling some green beans, which will be leftover excess crops from their subsistence farming.

Trade also takes place across the DRC at a much larger scale though, and this is especially true in industries like agriculture, where many cash crops are grown in the DRC.

So this pie chart here shows us what some of the biggest cash crops are in the DRC.

There are others, but here we can see that in 2018, 29.

9 million tonnes of cassava was produced by the DRC.

Cassava, plantains, maize and palm oil are sold in bulk quantities.

That means huge amounts.

These are then exported for money from the DRC.

This supports the economy of the country as well as the local growers and farmers who produce those raw materials.

This person has been growing coffee beans at a small scale.

Now, whether trade takes place on a small scale or a large scale, it's important that trade is practised fairly.

This means that all the people involved receive adequate pay and work in safe conditions.

If people earn enough money and they can work without the fear of exploitation, then their lives and livelihoods will be improved.

So fur trade really is essential for a sustainable future in the DRC.

Let's move onto some activities to bring our learning together for this lesson.

First of all, on what we've looked at in this section, I would like you to complete the blanks in this paragraph.

I have increased the challenge level here though because I'm not providing you a word bank.

There are three missing words.

I would like you to figure out what those words must be.

Pause the video and chat with a partner if you wish to.

When you un-pause the video, I'll share the answers with you.

Ready? Okay, let's have a look together.

Some crops are known as cash crops.

Well done.

Because they are grown in huge quantities which are then sold in bulk and exported to other countries.

These crops make a lot of money for the economy of the DRC.

Good job.

This graph tells us about something called foreign aid.

It shows us how much foreign aid financially has been received by the DRC from other countries and other organisations.

This happens when higher income countries provide financial support in order for sustainable development to take place in a country that couldn't otherwise afford to develop for themselves.

Foreign aid is especially important during times of conflict or civil unrest and during times of unexpected events like natural disasters.

The lady in this picture is the prime minister of the DRC and this photo was taken of her in 2023.

The Prime Minister works with other politicians in the country to create policies and it's the results of the government policies that can assist or hinder sustainable development.

The government of the DRC has made pledges about sustainable development.

They include promises to increase electricity supplies to people around the country.

They want to increase the amount of hydroelectric power from nine percent of the total to 32%.

They want to help to conserve animal species and restore the national parks.

They want to promote green tourism and invest in agriculture so that land is more protected and food production can be increased.

These are all great things for the DRC to aspire to.

Let's stop for a learning check.

Why has the amount of foreign aid received by the DRC varied over time? Remember how that graph was very up and down at different periods.

Why is that? Pause the video, read through these possible options and then when you come back, I will look at the answers with you.

Ready? Did you choose option C? Well done.

This is the correct one.

The amount of aid changes because it could increase during times of conflict or after a natural disaster.

And this leads us into Task C, the last task for this lesson, which brings all of your learning together.

I would like to know what you think are the main opportunities for building a sustainable future in the DRC.

I would like you to consider things like sustainable development, which includes energy production, resources, conservation, trade, foreign aid, and government policies.

You can use any of the resources from this lesson.

You can do further research from other books or the internet, but do make sure that your sources are trustworthy if you do so.

Sam says there is great potential for renewable energy in the DRC and that's very sustainable.

Do you agree with Sam? Why not use that as your starting point? Pause the video and when you return, I will share some examples with you.

All done? Okay, let's take a look together.

Here is Sam's answer.

Sam says that the DRC has the opportunity to use so many natural resources to create renewable energy.

For example, the Congo River can produce hydro power and with more energy industries can grow, then the economy will make money and the DRC won't need as much foreign aid.

If the government has more money, then they are more likely to achieve their policies for sustainable development.

Great job, Sam.

I think Sam has really managed to summarise a lot of important things in that sentence there, and she's used some of that key geographical terminology as well.

Great job.

Throughout this lesson, you've heard a lot about sustainable development.

We know that there's opportunities for sustainable development in the DRC and that a large part of that has got to do with renewable energy and being responsible with their natural resources.

We know that the DRC has plenty of opportunity for sustainable development, and a lot of that is to do with the ability to use renewable energy sources such as hydro power from the Congo River.

We know that there are a lot of community led conservation projects, and we also know that Fair Trade would greatly improve livelihoods for the people of the DRC.

We know also that this will be helped and shaped in the future by the DRC's own government policies.

You have worked really hard today.

You've took on board a lot of information.

I hope you have enjoyed this lesson, finding out more about the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and I'll see you again next time.

Bye for now.