The context of REDD+ in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Drivers, agents and institutions, 2nd edition

Abstract

Abbreviations vi Acknowledgments viii Executive summary ix 1 Forest cover in the DRC as estimated by different authors Approximate correlation between current and historical provinces 3 Types of forest in the DRC, their characteristics and related titles 4 Estimated deforestation rates in the DRC between 1990 and 2015 5 Changes to the classification of direct and indirect causes of deforestation and forest degradation in the DRC 6 Actual and anticipated forest CO 2 emissions reduction in the DRC 7 Decentralized administrative organization in the DRC according to the 2006 Constitution 8 Breakdown of responsibilities according to the Constitution and laws on decentralization 9 Breakdown of responsibilities across the three levels of forest governance according to the Forest Code and its implementation texts 10 Types of land in the DRC and their main characteristics 11 Forest categories according to the 2002 Forest Code 12 Evolution and performances of the DRC's strategy for development 13 Population growth between 2010 and 2015 14 Distribution of the DRC's energy capacity across former provinces, by source 15 Volumes of mine production between 2005 and 2015 (1st semester) 16 Value of mineral exports (million USD) from the DRC between 2005 and 2015 17 Ministries involved in REDD+ 18 Events in the REDD+ initialization phase 19 Events in the REDD+ readiness phase 20 Events in the investment phase 21 REDD+ strategy pillars and their objectives 22 Funding portfolio already planned by the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) 23 Programs approved by the REDD+ National Steering Committee as of June 2017 List of figures, tables and boxes v Boxes 1 Moratorium on the attribution of new forest titles: Issues and implications for forest governance in the DRC 2 International environmental conventions that have been ratified by the DRC 3 Indigenous peoples' rights to customary ownership of land and forests

A decade of REDD+ in a changing political environment in the Democratic Republic of Congo

“…This analysis is based on the results of research project conducted by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) from 2017 to 2020 within the framework of the Global Comparative Study on REDD+ project (GCS-REDD+). The resulting report and publications (Kengoum 2020;Kengoum et al 2020; In press) are based on literature review, stakeholder interviews with 45 organizations and nine experts on REDD+, as well as data collected in the field. Useful information was also gained from a knowledge-sharing event on REDD+ and a capacity-building forum with journalists -both held in Kinshasa in October 2019 -as well as a webinar (71 attendees) in November 2020.…”

“…The country has tried to put in place datacollection bodies -such as a national meteorological agency, an agronomical institute (INERA), a waterways authority (RVF) and a maritime management agency (RVM) -to monitor climate change and to provide climate information. The DRC has also implemented an adaptation project (PANA/ ASA), but Kengoum et al (2020) pointed out that this has not made much progress so far. The national government has also committed itself to internalizing the costs of fighting climate change as much as possible, to prioritizing existing bilateral funding mechanisms, and to improving national climate governance through the European Union's VPA-FLEGT process, involving voluntary partnership agreements on the trade of harvested timber (Kengoum et al 2020).…”

“…There has been increasing involvement of actors in REDD+ policy events in the DRC since 2009, mainly due to conditions set out by the UN-REDD Programme and the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, which stipulate that REDD+ operate as a participatory process. Financial support -including that within the CAFI framework -also boosted participation, helping civil society organizations to organize themselves and start building their REDD+ capacities (Kengoum et al 2020). This has led to improved relations between government and civil society organizations (Thuy et al In press).…”

“…Coordination between ministries has been an issue since the beginning of the process due to many factors, including the fragmentation of the policy institutional framework (Eba'a Atyi et al 2018), and the political arrangement of the government architecture that led to power plays among ministries and weak national ownership of the process (Mpoyi et al 2013;Kalame et al 2014;Kengoum 2015;Kengoum et al 2020;Thuy et al In press). Funding for the national REDD+ coordination unit has fallen by more that 70% since December 2016, causing a serious impact on its capacity to oversee REDD+.…”

“…The DRC has the largest and most well-conserved forests in the Congo Basin. However, the deforestation rate in the DRC for the period 2000-2015 is estimated at 0.2% to 0.3% per year (Kengoum et al 2020) due to commercial agricultural production (40%), food agriculture (20%) and firewood (20%) (MEDD 2015). The deforestation rate is among the highest in the Congo Basin region.…”