Credit: © FAO/Thomas Nicolon
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is currently at a pivotal moment in its efforts to strengthen community tenure and forest governance.
A major milestone was reached on 6 October 2026, when the DRC officially launched the process to develop its National Implementation Plan for the Intergovernmental Land Tenure Commitment (ILTC). Through an inception workshop bringing together government institutions, development partners, civil society organizations, academia, and representatives of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, the country initiated a process aimed at translating international commitments into concrete national actions.
The ILTC, endorsed ahead of the COP30 in Belém, Brazil, seeks to advance the recognition and strengthening of the tenure rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities and strengthen their role as forest stewards and climate actors. The ILTC planning and implementation process in DRC will include a baseline assessment of land and forest tenure, the development of geospatial databases, and the preparation of a National ILTC Plan for 2026-2030. The approach adopted is rights-based and multisectoral, focusing on legal and regulatory frameworks, tenure security, governance capacities, and financing and monitoring mechanisms. Existing initiatives, including FAO-supported community forestry and landscape governance programmes, are expected to provide valuable evidence and lessons for this process.
Lessons from the REDD+ integrated programme in Équateur province (PIREDD Équateur)
A relevant experience informing these national reforms is the FAO-supported PIREDD Équateur programme, funded by the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI). The programme demonstrates how tenure security, community engagement in forest management and restoration, and climate action can be mutually reinforcing objectives. Built around four complementary approaches, namely Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), social inclusion, participatory land-use planning, and community forest tenure security combined with incentives for conservation, the initiative has sought to place local communities at the center of forest governance.
Through participatory spatial planning processes, local communities have been able to map and organize the management of their territories, helping to reduce conflicts and balance conservation and development priorities. Community rights have been strengthened through the establishment of Local Community Forest Concessions (CFCLs), which provide legal recognition of community-management rights over forests and create opportunities for sustainable economic benefits.
The programme has generated significant results. Seventy participatory land-use plans have been developed, thirty-eight community forest concessions have been supported, and hundreds of local governance structures, such as local development committees supporting participatory land-use planning and community decision-making have been established. 720 smallholders have as well received payments for their restoration activities.
Geospatial tools, such as Open Foris Ground and Open Tenure, have shown potential to enable communities to collect georeferenced information and monitor their forests more effectively. As countries seek to strengthen forest governance and improve the recognition of forest and land rights, geolocation and digital field data collection tools are indeed useful for mapping, documenting, and gathering relevant information about community forests and governance mechanisms.
These experiences demonstrate that tenure security is not simply a legal issue but part of a broader forest governance and management process requiring participation, inclusion, institutional support, and long-term engagement.
Nevertheless, challenges remain. Administrative procedures to secure community tenure and forest governance can be lengthy and costly, land-use conflicts persist, and ensuring the inclusion of Indigenous Peoples, women, and youth continues to require dedicated attention. Sustainable financing mechanisms and stronger local capacities are also needed to maintain progress beyond project lifecycles.
New Policy Reforms Create Opportunities
The adoption of the new National Forestry Policy in 2026 represents another important step toward strengthening community rights and forest governance. The policy introduces several significant advances, including the recognition of FPIC, greater integration of forest allocation decisions into land-use planning frameworks, strengthened support to community forestry, and enhanced transparency and accountability measures.
Community forestry occupies a central place within the new policy framework of DRC. Planned reforms include the revision of the National Community Forestry Strategy, simplification of procedures for obtaining community forest concessions, and stronger support for community-based forest management. The policy also promotes co-management approaches in protected areas and seeks to improve forest data forest monitoring through digital tools and timber traceability systems.
At the same time, stakeholders have highlighted several concerns. Questions remain regarding the coherence of forestry reforms with evolving carbon market regulations and other policy initiatives, which is a challenge identified as well in other African countries. Moreover, the ongoing revision of the 2002 Forest Code presents both opportunities and risks, particularly regarding the future protection of community rights and customary tenure systems. Ultimately, the effectiveness of these reforms will depend on how they are implemented and coordinated across sectors.
Understanding the Impact of Normative Reforms: The Analysis Ahead
To support evidence-based decision-making, UN-REDD/FAO will undertake a comprehensive analysis of recent normative developments in the land and forestry sectors, with a particular focus on their implications for the tenure rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The study will seek to understand not only what changes have been introduced, but also how these changes may affect people on the ground.
The ongoing analysis begun with consultations involving government institutions, civil society organizations, Indigenous Peoples' organizations, local communities, and other stakeholders. These discussions will identify key concerns, opportunities, and priorities related to the implementation of recent reforms, including the 2025 Land Law, the 2022 Indigenous Peoples Law, the 2026 National Forestry Policy, and the ongoing revision of the Forest Code.
Building on these consultations, the study reviews the legal and policy frameworks governing land and forest resources. It will assess how effectively current reforms recognize and protect customary land and forest rights, strengthen tenure security, and support community-led governance. Particular attention will be paid to potential gaps, inconsistencies, and implementation challenges that may undermine intended outcomes.
The study will also examine the relationship between land and forest governance systems, as well as how forest and land-related information systems interoperate. Since community rights often depend on both land and forestry regulations, the analysis will assess how well these frameworks work together, whether they facilitate the recognition of customary governance systems, and how they influence use and management of forest resources. Improving coherence between land and forestry legislation is expected to be a critical factor in achieving more effective and equitable forest governance.
Finally, the analysis will explore how ongoing reforms influence community participation and access to emerging opportunities linked to REDD+, forest carbon finance, community forest enterprises, and forest value chains. By examining these connections, the study aims to assess the extent to which stronger tenure security can contribute simultaneously to rights protection, economic development, forest conservation, and climate objectives. The findings are expected to provide practical recommendations for strengthening legal frameworks, improving governance and information systems, and supporting the implementation of both national reform agendas and international commitments, in line with the ITLC current country plan under development, and related implementation and reporting.
To assess the practical implications of these reforms for Indigenous Peoples, the analysis will take into consideration an upcoming FAO policy brief that outlines the steps Indigenous Peoples can take to seek recognition of their territorial rights.
Data on tenure and community-led forest governance
Alongside these efforts, support is provided to institutionalize and operationalize the National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS), which contributes to the production of forest data needed for MRV and climate reporting. This data also informs decision-making on forest tenure rights and community-led forest governance.
In this regard, greater interoperability between the NFMS and other land-related information systems - including the system registering local communities forest concessions, and the tenure information system foreseen under the draft decree setting out the procedures for securing collective and individual customary land tenure on rural lands- could help link forest data with information on tenure and community governance.
Combined forest and tenure information could also contribute to monitoring and reporting on DRC's national commitments, including under the ILTC, improving as well data at global level, such as the Global Forest Resource Assessment (FRA) and other global reporting.
Where these systems draw on community-generated maps or tenure records, Indigenous Peoples and other forest-dependent communities should be able to decide what information about their territories can be shared, with whom and for what purposes.
To better document the links between tenure security, community-led forest governance and climate change mitigation, FAO, through the UN-REDD Programme, also plans to undertake a pilot study in 2027 to estimate forest emissions and removals in community-managed territories.
Improved data availability and stronger monitoring of progress on tenure rights and community-led forest governance will support evidence-based decision-making at all levels.
Contact information:
- Francesca Felicani-Robles, Forestry Officer
- Amelie Arquero, Forestry Officer
- Maria-Ruiz-Villar, Forestry Officer
