DR Congo
Climate catastrophe looms as DRC oil plan poses new threat to Cuvette Centrale peatlands
The DRC government has adopted a plan to open up one of the world’s largest carbon sinks to oil drilling only months after it signed a $500 million forest protection agreement with the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) at COP26. Last week, the DRC Council of Ministers adopted a plan to tender 16 new oil blocks, several … Read more
DRC suspends twelve concessions following publication of IGF audit – Many more must now follow
The DRC Vice Prime Minister, Eve Bazaiba, this week suspended twelve logging concessions, covering nearly two million hectares, following a damning government report into the state of the industry. This welcome development comes after intense scrutiny from RFUK and other international and national organisations, but is likely to account for only a fraction of the … Read more
Protected Areas and Indigenous Rights: A submission to the UN Special Rapporteur
In response to a call for comments to inform the Special Rapporteur’s report to the UN General Assembly at its 77th session, RFUK has put together a brief highlighting how, despite much lip service to the contrary, conventional conservation and climate change programmes continue to wreak havoc on indigenous peoples and other forest-dependent communities.
Perspectives on Gender and Equality from our Community Forests Project
The ‘Community Forest’ model in DRC offers an unprecedented opportunity for communities there to legally secure, manage and protect their traditional forests. But to assure the delivery of equitable and sustainable outcomes, there is a need to ensure they are developed by the communities themselves, with actively inclusive processes to ensure the information obtained on … Read more
DRC national logging moratorium must be extended indefinitely following damning audit of the industry logging
Rainforest Foundation UK and Greenpeace Africa have today called on the DRC government and its international partners to extend the national logging moratorium indefinitely, following a damning official report that lays bare the lawlessness and impunity in the country’s timber industry. After several delays, the DRC Environment Ministry last week finally published an audit by General Inspectorate … Read more
Geo First
Pioneers of participatory land use planning in the province of Maniema, GeoFirst are empowering communities to manage their forests effectively, ensuring that their resources will be available for future generations. Our joint short-term goal is to secure these lands as Community Forests. News Two landmark community forests awarded in the buffer zone of the Lomami … Read more
PREPPYG
Grassroots organisation PREPPYG works closely with forest and indigenous communities in North Kivu, promoting their rights and providing training on agricultural activities and community enterprise to enhance their wellbeing. With Réseau CREF and RFUK, they are also spearheading community forestry in their region. News Perspectives on Gender and Equality from our Community Forests Project Community … Read more
RÉSEAU CREF
A strong NGO network in North Kivu, Réseau CREF has supported communities to manage their lands long before there were laws to protect these efforts, and often against powerful interests such as mining and conservation. They advocate for a society where the free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) of local communities and indigenous peoples is … Read more
GASHE
GASHE (Groupe d’action pour sauver l’homme et son environnement) is a leading Congolese NGO based in Equateur Province, DRC. The charity aims to protect the environment and its resources whilst encouraging human development of those who live there, such as forest and indigenous communities. Since the beginning of our partnership in 2012, we have gone … Read more
CAGDFT
Founded in 2011 and located in Kinshasa, DRC, CAGDFT (Centre D’Appui à la Gestion Durable des Fôrets Tropicales) have played a central role building the legal framework for Community Forests in DRC – one of the most progressive in Central Africa. RFUK has worked with CAGDFT in this field since 2014, bringing together government, donors, … Read more