Protection of the Congo Basin considered as a collective responsibility

Kinshasa, November 1^st, 2026 (CPA). – Strong commitments and concrete actions to protect the Congo Basin have been considered on Thursday as a collective responsibility by a non-governmental organisation (from the Democratic Republic of the Congo), on the side-lines of the 3rd Conference of Civil Society Organisations (CSO) of the Congo Basin (DRC), CPA has learnt on Saturday from an administrative source. “For the countries of the Congo Basin, we need strong commitments and concrete actions that go beyond a mere proliferation of declarations. The protection of the Congo Basin is therefore a collective responsibility,” Jonathan Mbaki, executive coordinator of the NGO Network of Educators for Sustainable Development (REDD) has declared. According to him, from Yaounde in Libreville, via Kinshasa, the CSOs in the Congo Basin continue to strengthen their common position. “This took place during the Congo Basin CSOs’ conference, which was held for the first time in 2024 in Yaoundé, then in Kinshasa in 2025 for the second edition,” he has added. He has revealed that in 2026, they are holding the third edition, which is taking place in Libreville, whilst pointing out that, despite the efforts made to protect forests, to take forest peoples and local communities (PFCL) into account in ecological development strategies and to mobilise funding, pressures in the Congo Basin continue to mount. “This is why, in Libreville, since Wednesday, October 28^th, 2026, on the occasion of the 3^rd Conference of Civil Society Organisations of the Congo Basin, civil society actors from the Congo Basin, led by Greenpeace Africa and Brainforest, are seeking to advance the implementation of the commitments set out in the Kinshasa and Yaounde declarations,” he has said. According to Mr Mbaki, DRC has been represented by the NGOs REDD, APEM and GASHE, which have highlighted DRC’s position as a ‘solution country’ for climate crises, whilst also mentioning a number of innovations in the on-going forestry reform. “These organisations have furthermore taken the opportunity to call on DRC government to maintain the moratorium on forestry concessions, whilst strengthening the CLIP,” he has concluded. For his part, Julien Mathe, coordinator of the NGO GASHE, has declared: “My impression of this year’s event is that the various commitments made should be accompanied by a monitoring plan to ensure a measurable impact. We are therefore calling for a plan to monitor and evaluate these recommendations.” He has moreover called on the Congolese government to respect the law in order to improve land and forest governance. “We recognise that we have sound legislation, but that it suffers from a lack of enforcement measures,” he has concluded.