APEM
Making the case for community-led forest protection at the Congo Basin Forest Partnership meeting
Last week in Kinshasa, APEM, CAD and other RFUK partners participated in the 20th meeting of the parties of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership, the foremost gathering of actors concerned with the protection and management of the world’s second largest rainforest. The event, which brought together more than 500 delegates from governments, international organisations, research institutions, … Read more
MASS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AGAINST INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY IN EQUATEUR PROVINCE, DRC
Mbandaka, DRC Rainforest Foundation UK and APEM strongly condemn the systematic and grave human rights violations reportedly committed by agents of the police and against members of the Indigenous Pygmy People community in the community forestry concession (CFCL) of Lokolama, in the Bikoro Territory, Equateur Province. During a documentation mission conducted by RFUK and APEM, … Read more
UNVEILING OUR 2023 ANNUAL REVIEW: A YEAR OF GROWTH AND ACHIEVEMENT
We are pleased to publish our 2023 Annual Review. In this latest edition, we reflect on RFUK’s 35 years of promoting a simple yet powerful idea – that we need to entrust the protection of tropical forests to the Indigenous and local communities who depend on them. This year’s review highlights our three-pillar approach to … Read more
ANNUAL REVIEW 2023
We are thrilled to share RFUK’s 2023 Annual Review of our main achievements and impact for the world’s tropical forests and the people that call them home.
Petrol Non-Merci ! Civil society organisations push presidential candidates on their environmental commitments in the run up to DRC presidential elections
Kinshasa Last week, Congolese civil society organisations knocked at the door of several candidates running for the upcoming DRC presidential elections to ask them to prioritize pressing environmental issues in their electoral campaigns and manifestos. Activists from Extinction Rebellion Movement of the University of Goma (XR), in partnership with North Kivu-based civil society network Reseau … Read more
African Civil Society Decries Corporate Capture of the Africa Climate Summit
African Civil Society Decries Capture of the Africa Climate Summit by Corporate Interests As African leaders gather for the Africa Climate Summit, hundreds of African organisations have expressed concerns about the corporate capture of the event. The inaugural summit – held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 4 to 6 September – is billed as a crucial … Read more
A Step in the Right Direction: Publication of ICCN’s Guidelines for Grievance Mechanisms in DRC
In Kinshasa recently, an important step was taken towards securing the rights of the millions of people who live in the vicinity of national parks in the Democratic Republic of Congo. After a lengthy process involving consultation with local communities and civil society, ICCN (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature – Congolese Institute … Read more
A Make Or Break Moment: Fossil Fuel Expansion In The Amazon And Congo Basins Is An Existential Threat To Climate And Communities
Financial system decisions now pivotal to ending fossil fuel expansion in the world’s largest tropical rainforests Recent reports spotlight plans for fossil fuel expansion in some of the world’s most important ecosystems, and follow financial flows from major banks Banks, financial institutions, and their regulatory bodies have a key role to play in reducing threats … Read more
Congolese civil society releases position paper calling into question the legality of DRC oil and gas auction
A group of environmental civil society organisations in the Democratic Republic of Congo have just released a position paper detailing the multitude of issues with the government’s auction of oil and gas blocks covering the country’s forests, threatening its carbon-rich peatlands, several protected areas and millions of local livelihoods. The CSOs express concern not only … Read more
Leading scientists back Congolese civil society call to increase forest community land rights to combat climate change
Ahead of crucial upcoming climate talks in Egypt this November, a gathering of international scientists has backed a Congolese civil society call to scale up recognition of indigenous peoples and other local communities’ rights as a key strategy in the fight against climate change. This month, RFUK’s community forest partners joined leading scientists from around … Read more