DRC launches Kivu‑Kinshasa Green Corridor to protect forests and help communities ^{CEFR B2}

Armed conflicts in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have increased poverty and damaged the environment, and an ICCN assessment from April 2025 found that nearly 50 percent of Virunga National Park is now under armed-group control. The assessment names Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC)‑M23 rebels, Islamist groups, various local militias and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), whose members took part in the Rwanda Genocide in 1994. ICCN officials say the armed presence diverts an estimated USD 30 million a year from the green economy to rebel groups.

To respond, the government launched the Kivu‑Kinshasa Green Corridor (CVKK) by Decree No. 25/01 signed on 15 January 2025 by Prime Minister Judith Suminwa. The corridor covers nearly 550,000 square kilometers, including 285,000 square kilometers of primary forests and 60,000 square kilometers of peatlands. Authorities describe the project as aiming to protect the Congo Basin, which they call the world’s largest tropical forest carbon sink, and to turn areas weakened by violence into centres of sustainable growth. Officials expect the corridor to allow the annual transfer of 1 million tons of food from the Kivus to Kinshasa and say a dedicated fund will support businesses in renewable energy, agriculture and logistics; the government estimates at least USD 1 billion will be needed over the next three to four years.

The CVKK rests on pillars such as sustainable agriculture, ecotourism, community forestry and ecosystem restoration. Authorities say the approach will create hundreds of thousands of "green" jobs and offer legal alternatives to poaching and illegal resource exploitation. Emmanuel de Mérode, director of the ICCN, described the corridor as one of the largest climate initiatives and said communities can become conservation agents. Local officials and activists have reacted cautiously: in Bas‑Uélé forest administrator Justin Tshipopo called for the inclusion of traditional knowledge, and Fanny Minesi of Friends of Bonobos of Congo (ABC) warned that communities must consent and should not be excluded while the private sector drives decisions. Pilot initiatives in the eastern DRC and Tshopo show encouraging results, with reduced local violence and better protection of Virunga National Park.

The DRC launched Climate Week on Monday, October 27 to bring stakeholders together ahead of COP30 in Belem, Brazil, starting November 1o. Minister Marie Nyange Ndambo said, "Without the DRC, there are no sustainable solutions to the global climate crisis," and stressed that protecting the environment is protecting the country’s future.