Republic of Congo

We're protecting the world's second lung.

Forests in Republic of Congo form part of the Congo Basin – the second largest tropical rainforest in the world after the Amazon. The Congo Basin accounts for 70% of Africa’s forest cover and holds huge amounts of carbon.

Strong national laws to preserve forests are an effective way to combat illegal logging and secure communities’ livelihoods.

200k+

sq km of forest in the Republic of Congo is home to an expansive ecosystem of plant and animal species. The bulk of it, an area larger than England, is allocated for logging.

39%

of Republic of Congo's population depends on the forest for their livelihood.

What we're doing

Supporting civil society in law reform: We work towards increasing civil society’s access to legal information, building their legal capacity and supporting meaningful participation in decision-making processes that impact forests and the people that depend on them. We support organisations’ and platforms’ participation in law and policy reforms and raise communities’ awareness of their rights.

Promoting the rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities: Indigenous and local communities are key for the preservation of rainforests. We work to secure the customary rights of Congolese communities in statutory laws, which enables them to take care of and protect their lands more effectively. We pay particular attention to raising awareness of the importance of gender-sensitive legal frameworks.

Acting for inclusive, transparent and sustainable forest governance: Our work in the Republic of Congo places an emphasis on improving forest governance where laws are incomplete or incoherent, or where the laws are not implemented or enforced in an accountable and transparent way. We develop guidance and support the effective implementation of the right to benefit sharing and facilitate alternative grievance mechanisms. We also raise awareness on relevant laws in consumer countries promoting sustainable forest governance.