Kinshasa, January 20th, 2026 (CPA). – The first edition of the environmental conference, focused on the theme ‘The future of the Congolese forestry sector in the era of emerging issues’, was held on Tuesday January 20th 2026, in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), at the initiative of the NGO Jurec (Lawyers for the Environment in Congo).
‘The theme of this first edition responds to concerns about the forestry sector in DRC, which faces several challenges, including the adoption of forestry policy, the revision of the forestry code and others, in the face of emerging new issues,’ has declared Felix Lilakako, Chairman of the Board of Directors (PCA) of the NGO Jurec. ‘By organising this environmental conference at the start of the new academic year, the NGO Jurec aims to provide stakeholders with a conducive, inclusive and participatory forum for discussion on current issues in the sector for 2026,’ Mr Lilakako has also added.
The current issues discussed during the exchanges included the status of forest policy development with the contribution of civil society, the reform of the forest code with the contribution of the private sector, and ecocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the end of the conference, it has been recommended that the Ministry in charge of the Environment urgently organise a pre-validation workshop to analyse the views of the various stakeholders in forestry policy before its validation.
According to the JUREC chair, the various recommendations made at the end of these discussions will be made available to the Ministry in charge of Environment, Sustainable Development and New Climate Economy for adoption and integration into the forestry policy document currently being drafted. The environmental forum launched by the NGO Jurec is an innovative process that brings together stakeholder representatives at the beginning of each year to reflect on the challenges facing the sector and identify possible solutions. The latter has expressed the wish to see this practice become permanent within the sector and be institutionalised.