Some 40 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo depend on the Congo Basin - the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest - for their food, health, livelihoods and vital ecosystem services.
However, this critical and vast rainforest is under increasing threat from the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. In response, the UN-REDD Programme, in collaboration with the African Forest Forum (AFF), is supporting the DRC in aligning its REDD+ strategy with broader economic sectors to advance sustainable development goals.
As part of this support, a national policy dialogue was held in the capital Kinshasa from 15–16 July, 2025, bringing together 38 policy stakeholders from various sectors of the economy.
Opening the dialogue, Professor Popoola Labode, Executive Secretary of the AFF, emphasized the importance of REDD+ implementation in enhancing forest cover, improving access to clean water, and delivering other environmental benefits.
The dialogue also underscored the urgent need for stronger collaboration among sectors in addressing deforestation and unsustainable land use practices. Participants highlighted the importance of promoting sustainable development and protecting the country’s natural resources. One key theme was the need to make sectoral policies more transparent and aligned for the effective delivery of environmental services.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been engaged in the REDD+ process since 2009 and has achieved several milestones. The National REDD+ Framework Strategy, adopted in 2012, aims to stabilize forest cover at 63.5 per cent by 2030 and maintain it thereafter.
The National REDD+ Investment Plan (2015–2020), adopted in 2015, provided a programming framework for forest-related sectors and laid the groundwork for the Letter of Intent signed with the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) in 2016. This, along with the capitalization of the National REDD+ Fund (FONAREDD), marked the beginning of the investment phase of REDD+ in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Other key outcomes from the dialogue included:
- Increased policy awareness. Key policy actors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were sensitized on how sectoral policies and strategies can influence REDD+ implementation at the national level.
- Improved policy coordination. For REDD+ to succeed, it is crucial that sectoral strategies affecting Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) are coordinated to avoid conflicts between forest conservation and sectoral expansion goals.
- Capacity building. Delegates highlighted the need to increase awareness and build capacity across sectors to better understand REDD+ benefits. Educating stakeholders on the role of forests in carbon sequestration is key to fostering broad-based support for conservation efforts.
- Integration opportunities. Participants were better informed about opportunities for mainstreaming and integrating REDD+ into existing sectoral policies to support sustainable development.
- Identifying disincentives. Policy stakeholders gained a deeper understanding of institutional and policy-level constraints that could hinder REDD+ implementation.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, UN-REDD–AFF Project Manager Achille Momo called on policymakers to embrace the dialogue's outcomes and drive forward cross-sectoral collaboration to unlock the full potential of REDD+ in the country.
As a concrete next step, the dialogue culminated in the development of a national roadmap. The roadmap outlines roles, responsibilities, and a timeline for stakeholders to ensure coordinated and integrated REDD+ implementation - building on agreed recommendations to harness opportunities and address identified constraints.
