This chapter introduces the 2025 Congo Basin Assessment Report, discusses the multiple definitions of the Congo Basin, defines the limits of the Congo Basin covered by the report, discusses issues of indigeneity, and describes the regional scientific capacities. The chapter argues that the best way to define the Congo Basin is to use the regional ecological features rather than focusing on the political delimitation or focusing narrowly on the basin of the Congo River itself. Broadening the question of who indigenous communities are and who they are not, the chapter argues that the name Pygmy is contested and that the politics of identity is both complex, contextual, layered, plural, and varied; calling, therefore, for caution in ways they should be used. Rather than going into detailed contents, the chapter briefly summarizes the biodiversity metrics in the Congo Basin, presents the four sections of the report and overall spirit that guided the writing up process, and provides the current status of the available capacities to conduct research in the Congo Basin.