The Tumba-Mai Ndombe lakes landscape stretches along the western border of the DRC and includes one of the world's largest wetlands. The northern zone contains a variety of forest stands, including peat swamp forests, limbic forests and secondary forests.
 
The wetland ecosystem provides an important habitat for birds and was designated a Ramsar site in 2008 by the Ramsar Convention Secretariat. The various ecosystems are home to emblematic and endemic species of fauna, including large mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish.
 
There are also high densities of two threatened species of large African primates, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus), as well as forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis), hippopotamuses (Hippopotamus amphibus), around 16 species of diurnal monkeys, seven species of duiker and leopards

There are four protected areas in the landscape: the Ngiri Triangle Nature Reserve, the Tumba Lediima Reserve, the Eala Botanical Garden and the Mabali Scientific Reserve. The first three are managed by the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) and the last two by the DRC's Ministry of Scientific Research. There is also a reserve, the Malebo community zone, located in the Bateke-Nord chiefdom.
 
The landscape is home to over two million people, almost half of whom live in the town of Mbandaka in the north and the rest in the smaller towns (Lukolela, Makanza, Bikoro, Bomongo, Inongo, Kwamouth, Bolobo, etc.) and villages along the rivers and lakes. Agriculture, fishing, hunting and the collection of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are the main sources of income for rural communities.