Lobbying DRC forest laws

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s Forest Code was passed in 2002. The development and adoption of the Code was rushed: the Forest Code was passed by the unelected Transitional Government, without meaningful consultation with forest communities and civil society. The end result is a Code that is flawed and which does not necessarily reflect the realities on the ground.

Since then, a process has been underway of developing guidelines for the Code’s practical use. The Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) and its Congolese partners are working to ensure that the Code’s application is subject to scrutiny by and input from civil society and forest communities nationwide.

To make sure information about the Forest Code and developments in forest policy reaches all parts of DRC, and that comments and input from all parts of the country reach the decision makers, RFUK has been working with the Natural Resources Network (RRN).

This network includes over 100 NGOs, from every province in DRC; with the Centre d’Appui au Développement et la Participation Populaire, (CENADEP), based in Kinshasa, acting as network co-ordinator.

RFUK supports RRN so that down to the level of each province, the members of the network can track local and national policy, meet regularly and reach out to the communities with whom they work to share information and discuss the latest developments in forest law.

The network also has one place on the Steering Committee, which reviews each draft forest law as it is developed. The networks structure means that it can consult on draft legislation quickly and effectively and feed back to the committee.