BY ROGER MUCHUBAGroupe Travail Climat REDD, DR CONGO

Civil Society

CHATHAM HOUSE, Third Dialogue on Forests, Governance and Climate Change, 22nd January 2010

Email: rogermuchuba@yahoo.fr

Forests in the Congo Basin and DR Congo � Congo Basin forests - the second largest continuous

rainforest in the world

� DRC contains more than 60% of Congo Basin’s forests –forests occupy 60% of the land in the DRC –approximately 1,200,000 km2approximately 1,200,000 km2

� Historical deforestation rate of approx. 0.25%/year in DRC

� Forest is a reservoir of carbon

� Estimated that 17 billion tonnes of carbon are sequestered in the DRC, out of a total of 32 billion tonnes in the Congo Basin.

Forest-dependent peoples in the Congo

Basin

� More than 30 million peoples living in Congo Basin’s rainforest

� Includes: Indigenous ‘pygmie’ groups (Baka, Twa etc.); Bantu agriculturalists Bantu agriculturalists

� Dependent on the forest for food, livelihoods, medicines, traditional practices

� Protectors of the forest for thousands of years – minimal ecological impact

� Communities use the forest in sustainable manner eg. non-timber forest products, eg. honey, chennille (caterpillars).

� Outside influence in forest brings conflict

Drivers of deforestation and threats to the forest

and forest-peoples in DRC

� Forest policy focused on industrial exploitation and ‘strict’ conservation

� Industrial logging dominated by foreign companies� Artisanal logging expanding rapidly � History of creation of park sand reserves without consultation of � History of creation of park sand reserves without consultation of

traditional customary owners of the land� Threats to the forest and forest-peoples

� Profit from logging has not reached communities – poor benefit-sharing

� Concessions to logging and national parks deprive communities of land and resources - eviction of local communities from their lands

� Loss of biodiversity� Shifting cultivation and gathering fuelwood/charcoal – reflects

problem in DRC state provision of basic services

State policy in Congo Basin• States retain legal rights to all land and national territories in

Congo Basin

• Customary rights of communities to land and resources not recognized – therefore insecure land tenure

• Congo Basin governments adopted new Forest Codes and other • Congo Basin governments adopted new Forest Codes and other legislation - 1980s-2000s

• Focused on industrial exploitation of forest and conservation

• Legislation related to forest communities not developed or implemented

• No legislation for ‘indigenous territories’ such as those in Brazil

• Only Congo Brazzaville to pass Indigenous Peoples law in 2010

DR Congo Forest Policy • Forest Code (Code Forestier) adopted in 2002

• Supporting legislation on community rights and benefit-sharing still not adopted

• Transitional Government granted 25.5millions of hectares of logging concessions illegally, 2002-04Transitional Government granted 25.5millions of hectares of logging concessions illegally, 2002-04

• Moratorium on new logging forest concessions - 2002

• After legal review, illegal concessions cancelled in 2008

• Challenge to manage cancelation with transparency

• Legal review (2005) showed crucial role of indigenous peoples and importance to maintain the moratorium

• Zoning process – slow implementation

Community-based forestry in Congo

Basin• Difference between ‘community-based forestry’ and ‘community

forestry’

• Cameroon implemented community forestry

• However, onerous administrative process, small concession size and not related to traditional forest managementnot related to traditional forest management

• Provision in the DRC Forest Code for community-based forestry – but no implementation

• Currently – debate on community forest law

• Proposal to restrict size of community forest to 10,000 hectares, but traditional areas are often 100,000 hectares

• Need to transfer land rights not just management rights over forest

• Law is crucial for success of REDD process

National REDD process in DR Congo• DR Congo – joint UN-REDD and Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF),

World Bank

• January 2009 – first joint scoping mission - UN-REDD/FCPF

• May 2009 – second mission

• Presentation of the programme of UN-REDD and FCPF• REDD National Coordination began operating – government body

• October 2009 - third mission• October 2009 - third mission

• November 2009 - Decree on REDD statute gives legal recognition to National Committee - civil society/Indigenous Peoples/government/private sector body

• December 2009 – McKinsey report on REDD in DRC

• January 2010 consultation on Readiness Proposal Plan (RPP) to FCPF

• Overall, good cooperation between civil society and National Coordination

• Held workshops in provinces to involve civil society organisations (CSOs) and communities

Challenges for REDD in Congo Basin� Identifying the real drivers of deforestation and degradation

� not point communities as causes of forest deforestation� How to ensure that benefit sharing is real?

� Sustainable Forest Management could lead to subsidies for industrial logging through REDD

� Indigenous and forest peoples must benefit from REDD� Legal reforms needed to recognise community-based forestry� Legal reforms needed to recognise community-based forestry� Need to ensure fair and participatory zoning plan� How to apply social and environmental safeguards in relation to

REDD?� Focus should be on natural forest not plantation� Take into consideration UNDRIP specially FPIC (free, prior,

informed consent)� Governance and transparency in all processes� MRV (monitoring, reporting and verification) more than carbon

� How to build an effective and accessible complaint mechanism?� Need to stop projected law censoring civil society

Role of civil society and NGOs in DR Congo

� Forest reform � Outreach / awareness-raising of the Forest Code and other instruments� Promotion of community rights

� Activities on the ground� Civil society pilot projects on participatory MRV, creating awareness-raising

material in 2010material in 2010� Developing alternatives to industrial logging (such as payment for

ecosystem services, non-timber forest products , community-based forestry etc.)

� Develop participatory mapping, using GPS technology, to help secure land tenure

� Monitor activities of international organizations� World Bank� Using the complaint mechanism of Forest Code

� Support independent monitoring of forest governance

Regional and international actors in the

Congo Basin

� Regional and international programmes can improve forest governance

� COMIFAC action plan (plan de convergence) - 2005

� Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF) - £100 million – UK/Norway 2008

� CBFF managed by African Development Bank (ADB)

� Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) now co-ordinated by Germany – 9 landscapes

� FLEGT – ongoing process between EU and Congo Brazzaville

� Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification – mixed results

• All Congo Basin states are party to UNDRIP, CDB, ICCPR, ACRHP

• BUT no effective application of these instruments

Recommendations for REDD in Congo Basin� COMIFAC must be engaged on good governance

� under UNFCCC mechanism to secure funders� Develop a specific law on Indigenous Peoples rights, especially to land,

territories and resources – good example from Congo Brazzaville� Ensure civil society has a strong, independent voice in all stages of the

REDD process as one guarantee of good governance and transparencyREDD process as one guarantee of good governance and transparency� Similarly, Parliament and local government must be involved in REDD

process� Develop good partnership between Governments and World Bank,

FAO, UNDP, UNEP and civil society� World Bank must respect their own safeguard policy (OP4.10)

� States must respect their international engagements (UNDRIP, ICCPR)� Need to build a global anti-poverty policy like DSRP document in DRC� Need to address consumption in developed countries (OCDE link with

consumer countries)