In the heart of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) lies Virunga National Park, a UNESCO Heritage Site that boasts the title of Africa's oldest national park. At 7,800 square km, the park contains the most biodiversity of any part of Africa and is home to the greatly endangered mountain gorilla.

The park suffered greatly from warfare in the eastern DRC, but its continuing importance led the Congolese Government to recently promise to suspend oil exploration within the park.

It would come as a surprise for many then that a London based oil company, SOCO International, has been given permission by the Hydrocarbon and Environmental Ministries of the DRC to explore for oil within the park. While SOCO has claimed that they were approved for aerial surveys, the permits state that they are in fact allowed to conduct seismic surveys as well.

Similar stories abound throughout Africa, including a recent story from Zambia. The most abundant natural resource in Zambia is copper. The copper industry has, historically and today, been a major source of tax revenue, as well as created employment opportunities and stimulated the growth of support industries.

However, despite the positive effects that mining has had on Zambian economic development, there are, like in the DRC, pressing environmental issues. In contrast to the rhetorical commitment by the Banda administration (2008-11) to keep mining out of Zambia's national parks, last year the Australia based company Zambezi Resources was granted permission to begin a copper mine at Kangaluwi within Lower Zambezi National Park.

For developing countries like the DRC and Zambia, economic development is understandably a major priority. Yet the world is becoming increasingly aware of the effects economic development has on the environment. How then can countries like the DRC and Zambia achieve sustainable development?

Part of the concern must lie not only within the countries themselves, but within the countries that form close partnerships with them. Increasingly, China is playing an important role within many African nations, as well as within the globe at large. China's environmental policies, however, still leave much to be desired.

China in the last 20 years has succeeded in unprecedented economic growth. The manufacturing industry, in particular, has polluted the air of many major cities, but there are also issues associated with deforestation and the quality of drinking water.

Since 2007, China has increased its efforts to reverse the damage caused by such rapid economic growth and prevent future damage. However, many global environmental groups claim that it is not enough. Not often addressed though is the role that the United States in particular, and the West in general, also contributes to this environmental degradation. As China works to meet the world's demands for consumer goods, the air in Chinese cities becomes increasingly polluted.

What is important for nations to remember is that economic development and environmental protection are not mutually exclusive. In fact, taken in a long view, the economic development of a nation even depends on the protection of its environmental resources.

There is great potential in the relationship between China and African nations for mutual economic development. However, it is the responsibility of government and of industry to ensure that this economic development protects and even nourishes the environment.

In China, this applies in large part to industrial production. Africa represents a market with huge growth potential for Chinese manufactured goods. However, it is obvious that the global demand for consumer goods causes severe pollution.

And where business owners fail to take the initiative on environmental protection, the government must bridge the gap and develop and enforce stricter regulations on manufacturing in particular, and the whole of industry in general.

African governments must also ensure that economic development does not cause undue environmental harm. More often in Africa the focus is on resource extraction, as in the examples cited from the DRC and Zambia above; however, manufacturing also plays a role in most urban centers.

The unique challenge for African governments is that many business owners and investors are international, including increasing numbers of investors from China. It is difficult for what are often relatively weak governments to both attract investment and enforce regulations, especially insofar as the environment is concerned.

That is why international investors, including the Chinese, must make the conscious decision to help protect the natural resources of the countries in which they invest. Globally it is essential to develop a focus not just on the immediate gratification of economic development projects such as mining and oil extraction, but also longer term initiatives that take into account the delicate balance between the environment and the world's citizens.