BUTA, DRC – May 1, 2024. A new wave is sweeping across environmental advocacy in Africa. In Buta, the capital of Bas-Uélé Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the NGO Alerte Congolaise pour l’Environnement et les Droits de l’Homme (ACEDH) convened local civil society actors for a consultation and information forum on the ERA – Environmental Rights in Africa – process. This continent-wide initiative aims to strengthen legal protections for climate defenders in Africa and ensure broader access to environmental justice.
At the heart of this gathering: awareness, mobilization, and local ownership of a developing continental process. The ultimate goal is clear: to have environmental rights recognized as fundamental human rights by the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Arusha. Public interest lawyer and ELAW platform member Olivier Ndoole, in an interview with Kilalopress, explained that the forum sought “to give environmental civil society actors access to information about the ERA process.”
Launched over two years ago, the ERA initiative has recently passed a key milestone with the adoption of a five-year strategic plan in Freetown, Sierra Leone. This plan includes capacity building, environmental monitoring, and the establishment of legal mechanisms to protect both environmental defenders and natural resources.
In parallel, a strong link has been established between ERA and the Africa Climate Platform (ACP), a pan-African coalition advocating for a unified legal framework across the continent. The petition filed with the African Court thus aims to create a legal and institutional tool that ensures both the protection of environmental activists and access to public interest information.
The choice of Bas-Uélé Province in northeastern DRC is no coincidence. Rich in biodiversity, with two major natural reserves – Bili-Uélé (60,000 km²) and Rubi-Télé (around 14,000 km²) – the region is under mounting pressure: illegal logging of redwoods, a gold rush, extensive cattle herding by transboundary Mbororo herders, and the impact of climate-induced migration from neighboring Central African Republic.
Despite its major ecological potential, the province remains marginalized in large-scale conservation strategies. For Olivier Ndoole, the goal was therefore to “turn this forgotten province into a cornerstone of Africa’s climate struggle,” by mobilizing local leaders, provincial authorities, and grassroots communities. The forum also served as a platform for community ownership of climate issues and environmental governance. Participants were invited to propose initiatives, develop local projects, and become “climate champions” in the DRC. Partnerships are being formed with local authorities to strengthen efforts against water pollution, poaching, and other threats to ecosystems.
This grassroots work is designed to feed into broader African environmental advocacy. Bas-Uélé is thus becoming both a testing ground and a springboard for making the voices of neglected regions heard across the continent.
By Franck Zongwe Lukama
