In a decision that raises numerous questions, Eve Bazaiba, the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has reportedly approved the Mai Ndombe Emission Reduction Program (ERPA Mai Ndombe) several years after its official launch. This late decision highlights the ongoing challenges of environmental governance in the DRC and raises concerns about the effectiveness of conservation programs in the country.
The jurisdictional ERPA project, of which the private REDD+ initiative of Mai Ndombe (ERA Congo) is a part, was launched over five years ago with the aim of protecting more than 12 million hectares of critical tropical forest in the Congo Basin, the second-largest tropical forest in the world. Despite its noble intentions to reduce deforestation and improve the livelihoods of local communities, the project has long operated in a regulatory gray area.
The late approval of the project on September 9, 2024—more than five years after its official launch—raises several critical questions:
- Why did it take over five years to formalize this project?
- What have been the consequences of this lack of approval on the program’s effectiveness and the actual protection of the forest? Could the initial goals have been met despite this delay?
- How have local communities, particularly indigenous populations like the Batwa, been affected by this administrative delay? Could they have benefited from the promised advantages in terms of development and education?
- If a project of the scale of ERPA, funded by the World Bank, has not been approved until now, what does this mean for other ongoing REDD initiatives and carbon markets in the DRC?
- Who can clarify the reasons for this delay? Could the National REDD Coordination (CN REDD) provide explanations for this prolonged approval process?
Moreover, the real impact of the jurisdictional ERPA project on local communities remains unclear. Just three months ago, parliamentarians from the Mai-Ndombe province initiated a call for former Governor Rita BOLA to explain certain issues, including those related to the Mai Ndombe project.
Conservation experts and local activists in the DRC express their frustration at this bureaucratic sluggishness. “Five years without a clear regulatory framework means five years of lost opportunities for genuine conservation and sustainable development,” states an environmental expert under the condition of anonymity. Ms. Bazaiba’s decision, although positive on paper, raises concerns about the government’s ability to effectively manage long-term conservation projects. Critics argue that this late approval could be an attempt to save face amid international pressures, rather than a genuine commitment to environmental protection.
While the approval of the ERPA jurisdictional project by Ms. Bazaiba may be seen as a step in the right direction, it primarily underscores systemic failures in the management of conservation projects in the DRC, according to some observers from the Congolese civil society interviewed by Kilalopress. For such programs to have a real and lasting impact, it is imperative that the Congolese government adopts a more proactive and transparent approach to managing its natural resources, placing local communities at the heart of these conservation efforts.
By Franck Zongwe Lukama
