COPENHAGEN, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai Monday urged stakeholder to make better use of a fund aimed at protecting the Congo basin forests.

    Professor Maathai said at an event organized here in the Denmark capital by the African Development Bank (ADB) that countries make up the Congo River must maintain high standards of good governance and accountability if the fund succeeds in protecting the Congo basin.

    The fund was created in 2008 to take preventive measures to protect the Congo basin forests and support projects that address climate change by slowing the rate of deforestation of the Congo basin and alleviate poverty within the estimated 50 million people who live there, according to Maathai, the first African environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for "her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace."

    Maathai said that even though Africa was not the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, the continent would be hard hit by the negative consequences of climate change.

    "Forests play an important role in climate change by storing large quantities of carbon as these forests grow," she said, adding that "slowing down the rate ... is essential to maintaining the ecological services such as biodiversity."

    She applauded the governments of Britain which contributed 50 million pounds and a matching contribution from Norway, noting that this would be used to support innovative and transformative projects that are aimed at safeguarding the rainforest.

    President of the ADB Donald Kaberuka said that the Congo basin forest which covers an estimated 200 million hectares and has been storing 500 million tones of carbon dioxide per year has been facing some challenges over the years.

    Kaberuka called on countries that depend on the Congo basin for their livelihood to consider sustainable management of these forests as integral to achieving sustainable economic development and alleviating poverty in the region.