Kinshasa, 9 September 2026 – The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has adopted its first-ever National Forest Policy, setting out the government's vision for forest governance over the next decade and introducing several important measures to strengthen the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The challenge is now to translate these and other gains into effective laws, policies and institutions for the world’s second largest tropical forest, particularly through the proposed amendment to the 2002 Forest Code, which the government plans to submit to Parliament in its September 2026 session.

The policy was approved by the Council of Ministers on 10 July 2026 following sustained advocacy by the Forêts d’Avenir consoritum and other civil society groups. A new policy brief finds that it includes commitments to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) for communities affected by forest allocation decisions, greater participation in forest governance, and stronger safeguards for community land and resource rights.

The new framework also gives renewed support to community forestry, including plans to simplify procedures for obtaining Local Community Forest Concessions (CFCLs) and to expand opportunities for local enterprises, cooperatives and sustainable forest-based livelihoods. Community-led conservation initiatives are recognised as key contributors to the country's commitments on biodiversity protection and climate resilience.

Additional measures aim to improve transparency and accountability in the forestry sector through stronger law enforcement, public disclosure of forest concession information and the use of digital monitoring tools to combat illegal logging and corruption.

According to Willy Elua, of the NGO APEM, "there have been notable and substantial improvements between the first draft and the final version of the policy. This qualitative improvement is largely due to the active participation of civil society. The forestry administration has acknowledged that these contributions have made the document more coherent and better grounded in the realities of local communities and Indigenous Peoples, thereby helping to better secure and defend their rights."

However, civil society organisations warn that significant challenges remain. Concerns include the implementation of the policy, potentially conflicting government initiatives, and elements of the ongoing revision of the Forest Code, that could weaken some of the policy's gains, particularly around community consent and community forestry.

They are calling for continued consultation to ensure that the new legal framework delivers tangible benefits for forest-dependent communities while protecting the Congo Basin's globally important forests.

​​According to Alphonse Wala, of ​GeoFirst Development, “whilst the progress made is encouraging, its ​​​​implementation ​​​remains a cause for concern. Congolese civil society will continue to monitor and support the government constructively, to ensure that its commitments are translated into concrete measures. The challenges are interlinked and significant: securing and defending community rights, stimulating socio-economic development and food self-sufficiency, whilst protecting forests, their biodiversity and the global climate.”​​ ​​