On February 13, 2006, the City Council of Falls Church, Virginia, approved a resolution naming Kokolopori, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as its "sister city." Falls Church City is a small independent town of 10,000 people known for the quality of its schools, located in the greater Washington, DC, metropolitan area.
Kokolopori is an indigenous community of approximately 8,000 people in Equateur Province, DRC, located in Central Africa in the world’s second largest contiguous rainforest, sometimes called “the second lung of the earth.” The Mongandu people of Kokolopori manage a rainforest reserve, the Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve, which is 1800 square miles or more than four times the size of Fairfax County, Virginia. This reserve is home to many native plant and animal species, including bonobos, the least known and most endangered of the four great ape species, native only to the DRC. For the results of the socioeconomic survey of Kokolopori, click here.
The purpose of the Kokolopori- Falls Church Sister City Partnership is to promote friendship and cooperation between the two communities, help build a more peaceful and just world and preserve our planet’s rainforests and wildlife for future generations. A voluntary citizen-led initiative funded mainly through grants and donations, the Kokolopori – Falls Church partnership was established as a program of the Bonobo Conservation Initiative (BCI), a US and DRC-based 501(c)(3) great ape conservation organization.
While our homes and lives are worlds apart in some ways, citizens of Falls Church City and Kokolopori recognize that our future depends on the well-being of our children and the health of our environment. Kokolopori and Falls Church each have unique lessons to offer one another, and each can open a window into another culture. We can learn from the Mongandu land ethic, thrift and community spirit; and by sharing our friendship, skills and resources, citizens of Falls Church can help the people of Kokolopori increase their livelihood options and economic security. Together we can help protect the rarest of the great apes, help prevent tropical deforestation that contributes to climate change, and teach our children valuable lessons about global citizenship.
Kokolopori - Falls Church Sister City Partnership
Currently, the new Kokolopori – Falls Church Sister City Partnership is the ONLY sister city link between the United States and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Proposed by President Eisenhower in 1956 to promote international peace and cooperation, Sister Cities International’s nonprofit citizen diplomacy network includes more than 700 US cities, towns and villages with sister communities in other countries, 103 of them in Africa.
To read about the 2008 accomplishments of the Kokolopori-Falls Church Sister City Partnership!
Breaking News: Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve receives official designation as a Nature Reserve!
