Forest governance in Congo: corruption rules?

Innovative management of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) forests is an international priority. This paper argues, however, that recent forestry codes and initiatives have not achieved expected results, and that corruption and mismanagement are a main reason for this.

The author points out that the post-conflict DRC is struggling to overcome the challenges of poverty, regional insecurity, colonial legacy and the illegal exploitation of its natural wealth. Therefore, it is important to promote socio-economic wellbeing and biodiversity conservation there.

The main conclusions from the paper are as follows: 

• environmental governance is not primarily a technical issue in DRC – it is a political and social challenge that has to be considered in a holistic way
• development practitioners struggling to conceptualise new environmental services will have to embed their strategies in the political landscape of DRC
• to improve forest governance, the current gaps that separate public and private international partners, national authorities and local populations have to be narrowed 
• a dynamic involvement from the current inadequate civil society will also be required.
  

The paper recommends the following:

• environmental education and awareness campaigns about rights and responsibilities to help local populations bargain into forest governance strategies 
• the creation of enabling conditions to attract responsible private sector partners to help put Congo’s forest economy on track 
• greater integration of respect for local logics and belief systems
• strategies must take into account a host of cleavages, tensions, problems of distrust, as well as gender and generation gaps that characterise forest communities 
• increased and more systematic capacity-building and training for all stakeholders involved in forest governance.