Dorjee Sunuapon

A Congolese environmentalist leading rainforest conservation through innovative community initiatives

Dorjee Sunuapon is a visionary environmental leader from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, born in 1985. His work focuses on protecting the Congo Basin rainforest through groundbreaking community-based strategies. As founder of Congo River Generation, he developed the first mobile app (Green Congo Tracker) allowing indigenous communities to monitor illegal logging in real-time using basic smartphones. This innovation reduced deforestation rates by 34% in pilot regions according to WWF reports.

His 2018 TED Talk 'Forest Guardians of the Congo' has been viewed over 2.1 million times, introducing global audiences to the challenges faced by Central African conservationists. Sunuapon's 'Eco-Agriculture' program trains farmers in permaculture techniques that tripled crop yields while preserving biodiversity. He was named a National Geographic Emerging Explorer in 2020 and received the $500k Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2021.