DR Congo
Use It AND Lose It – Industrial Logging and its Role in Deforestation in the Democratic Republic of Congo
New research demonstrates a clear link between the establishment of commercial logging operations and a cascade of deforestation. Investigating forest loss in DRC across 60 logging concessions and eight ‘control’ areas, the findings from this study show that the selective logging of high-value timber species is not a sustainable form of forest management, but rather … Read more
New RFUK Research Shows Link Between ‘Sustainable Forest Management’ and Deforestation in DRC
A new study published by RFUK establishes a clear link between selective logging and deforestation in the world’s second largest tropical forest. Despite being synonymous with high-level corruption, illegal practices and poor relations with local communities, selective logging of timber from tropical rainforests has long been promoted in the Congo Basin as a form of … Read more
Civil Society in the Congo Basin Sets Out Vision for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaption
Civil society organisations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Congo (RoC) are calling for much greater inclusion of forest communities and forest governance reforms in their governments’ plans to address the climate crisis. In the run up to this year’s crucial climate summit in Glasgow this November, countries around the … Read more
The Bamasobha community gains legal rights over their forest in North-Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo
Women in Bamasobha participating in discussions which led their community to apply for a community forest. When the villages of the Bamasobha community sought legal recognition of their traditional forests, a village chief, M. Sweli Maliani, declared: “We asked for a Community Forest because this is how we can secure our land, and prevent poachers … Read more
Final Evaluation: Embedding Community Real Time Monitoring (RTM) to Sustain Livelihoods and Forests in West and Central Africa
An external evaluation of the ‘Embedding community Real Time Monitoring (RTM) to sustain livelihoods and forests in West and Central Africa’ project took place between October 2020 and January 2021. This project, funded by the UK government, seeks to improve forest governance in Cameroon, Ghana, DRC and Republic of Congo by strengthening of forest communities’ … Read more
RFUK supports civil society call for the immediate cancellation of three million hectares of illegal logging concessions in DRC
RFUK, Greenpeace and Congolese civil society groups are calling on the DRC Government to revoke three million hectares of illegal logging concessions or risk wrecking its image on the international climate stage. Last week it emerged that in June 2020 the Environment Minister Claude Nyamugabo had reallocated four logging titles covering 770,000 hectares to Groups … Read more
Statement: Protected areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo – a broken system
Statement: Protected areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo – a broken system 25th January 2021 Peoples and ecosystems in the Democratic Republic of Congo are being failed by the way conservation is practised. Indigenous Peoples and local communities face frequent threats of intimidation, torture, beatings, sexual violence and death at the hands of ecoguards … Read more
Huge leap in fight against impunity for conservation-related abuses in DRC as park rangers are sentenced for rape and torture
On 28 December 2020, five park rangers accused of raping and torturing four women in DRC’s Salonga National Park were convicted by the Military Court in Mbandaka, following a long battle for justice supported by the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) and its local partner Actions pour la Promotion et Protection des Peuples et Espèces Menacés … Read more
REDD-MINUS: The Rhetoric and Reality of the Mai Ndombe REDD+ Programme
A new study by Action pour la promotion et protection des peoples et espèces menacées (APEM) and the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) finds that one of the world’s highest profile emissions reductions programmes is failing to uphold social safeguards, deliver local benefits, or prevent deforestation.
Forestlink: Unlocking the potential of forest guardians and environmental defenders in tackling illegal logging in DRC
With support from the UK Department for International Development (DfID), the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) has been successfully developing and testing a ground-breaking new end-to-end system that is unlocking the potential of traditional forest guardians in monitoring and protecting their forests. ForestLink enables communities anywhere in the world to capture and transmit highly accurate reports … Read more