Access to land, recognition of customary rights, and the protection of forest ecosystems are today among the most sensitive challenges in environmental governance in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the intersection of conservation, economic development, and social justice, land issues directly affect the survival of local communities and Indigenous peoples, whose ways of life remain closely tied to natural resources.
In a country undergoing profound legal and territorial reforms, the ability to align these dynamics with the rights recognized for Indigenous peoples appears, according to several analyses, to be a decisive test of the credibility of public environmental policies. It is in this context that a multi-stakeholder dialogue workshop on land reform, conservation, and Indigenous peoples’ rights was held on April 9 and 10, 2026, in the Kahuzi-Biega Hall of the government administrative building, formerly Tembe na Tembe, in Kinshasa. Bringing together nearly sixty participants from public institutions, civil society, and technical partners, the meeting aimed to cross-analyze perspectives, compare experiences, and identify concrete pathways for better coherence in ongoing reforms.
In the large Kahuzi-Biega Hall, the opening of the workshop was marked by remarks that set the tone for the discussions. Speaking on behalf of the Action for the Promotion and Protection of Threatened Peoples and Species (APEM), its Executive Director, Maître Blaise Mudodosi, emphasized the strategic importance of the meeting, welcoming a level of mobilization that, in his view, “demonstrates the importance given to the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities over land and forests, as well as to natural resource management and biodiversity conservation.”
In a substantive speech, he recalled that the workshop is part of a broader set of actions carried out with the partner Forest Peoples Programme (FPP), focused on the sustainable management of forest ecosystems and the promotion of the rights of Indigenous Pygmy communities. Referring to the Congo Basin, which hosts nearly 60% of Africa’s tropical forests and an Indigenous population estimated at around one million people, he highlighted the persistent realities of marginalization, discrimination, and forced displacement, particularly in the creation of protected areas.
Without dismissing the progress made, notably the adoption in 2022 of the law on the protection and promotion of the rights of Indigenous Pygmy peoples, Maître Mudodosi warned of the gaps between legal texts and their implementation. He called on participants—experts from public institutions and civil society actors—to “ensure that the gains achieved are maintained and consolidated in all ongoing reforms.” The stated ambition is clear: to produce, at the end of the workshop, a shared contribution paper capable of informing decision-makers and concretely influencing public policy.
Continuing in this vein, the representative of the Forest Peoples Programme, Lassane Koné, placed the discussions within a broader environmental governance perspective. According to him, the simultaneity of reforms—whether in land-use planning, forest policy, conservation, or the implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategy 2025–2030—represents both an opportunity and a risk. “Rarely have so many strategic processes been launched at the same time,” he noted, warning that public policies could advance faster than the safeguards intended to protect rights.
According to his analysis, civil society contributions already highlight major inconsistencies, particularly regarding free, prior, and informed consent and the effective inclusion of communities. “The challenge is to transform legal recognition into real protection,” he stressed, calling for a governance model in which Indigenous peoples are not merely consulted, but recognized as full stakeholders in decisions affecting their territories.
It was in this attentive and demanding atmosphere that around sixty participants began the workshop’s work on land reform, nature conservation, and Indigenous peoples’ rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Initiated by the General Secretariat for Customary Affairs, in partnership with APEM and FPP, the meeting takes place within a dense and sometimes contradictory legislative context that Congolese authorities have been attempting to clarify for several years.
Indeed, the Democratic Republic of Congo has undertaken a series of reforms affecting land governance, spatial planning, and conservation. From the 2025 land-use planning law to the revision of the 2014 nature conservation law, including the creation of the Kivu–Kinshasa Green Corridor and the reform of the 1973 land law, the country is seeking to reconcile economic development, environmental protection, and the rights of Indigenous populations. Law No. 22/030 of July 15, 2022 marked significant progress by recognizing specific rights related to land, participation, and free, prior, and informed consent.
However, according to local sources and several converging analyses, inconsistencies persist between these legal frameworks and sectoral legislation. These gaps continue to fuel land conflicts, particularly in sensitive areas such as Kahuzi-Biega National Park (PNKB), where issues of restitution, compensation, and rehabilitation of Batwa communities remain unresolved despite significant regional decisions.
The Secretary-General for the Environment, represented at the workshop’s opening, recalled that these reforms, initiated in the 1990s, now require deep harmonization. “These laws contain numerous points of divergence. We seek effective, improved, and harmonized implementation,” he stated, calling for collective commitment to sustainable and inclusive policies.
In the same dynamic, the representative of the National Human Rights Commission, Maître Djafari Ramazani, emphasized that modernizing natural resource governance cannot come at the expense of fundamental rights. He stressed that while legal recognition is real, its operational translation remains fragile. The situation of the Batwa in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, he noted, illustrates the persistent difficulty of reconciling conservation imperatives with respect for human rights.
Taking the floor in turn, the Secretary-General for Customary Affairs, Augustin Mungini, placed the discussions in a historical perspective, recalling the injustices suffered by Indigenous Pygmy peoples and the need for lasting redress. According to him, “the right to land and natural resources is inseparable from their very existence,” emphasizing that their inclusion is an essential condition for any sustainable development project.
Structured around plenary sessions and group work, the workshop aims to produce a consolidated legal and policy contribution paper. This document will identify major inconsistencies, propose technical recommendations to relevant institutions, and suggest concrete legislative adjustments. At the end of this first day, the working atmosphere—combining technical rigor with open exchanges—suggested a shared willingness to overcome structural barriers. According to some participants, this initiative could help redefine the foundations of a more coherent land and environmental governance framework, where conservation is no longer seen in opposition to community rights, but as a space of convergence between social justice and ecological sustainability.
By Kilalopress