Deforestation near Yangamba, DR Congo
Copyright© Axel Fassio/CIFOR, via flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Core area: Conserving nature and natural resources, protecting life on Earth Forest conservation
The tropical rainforest in the DR Congo is massively under threat: a rapidly growing population needs not just firewood and construction timber, it also needs more and more land for agricultural use. Simultaneously, mining projects are destroying further areas of forest. In the eastern part of the country, rebel groups and militias are financing their activities through illegal felling and organised poaching – an additional threat for biodiversity. The growing international demand for timber, minerals and agricultural products like palm oil is also increasing the pressure on the forests. For many Indigenous Peoples and local communities, however, the forest remains an indispensable source of livelihood: it delivers food, energy and traditional natural remedies. This dependence in particular makes forest conservation especially complex – because every limitation on resource use has a direct impact on supplies for the population.
Objectives of the measures
The projects promoted by the BMZ contribute towards the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of natural resources in the DR Congo, taking special account of the needs of Indigenous People and local communities.
Germany is currently supporting six nature reserves (a total of 98,885 square kilometres, equal to almost a third of the surface area of Germany) in connection with improving the management of nature reserves and implementing riparian measures. The aim is to effectively combine nature conservation with improving the living conditions of the local population. Multilateral engagement in the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) also makes it possible to combine agreeing and implementing ambitious reform processes in policy areas that are important for forest conservation with concrete measures for the population.
Processes and priority areas
With the support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), 100,000 people have been actively included in the administration of 14 forest areas that are now being managed by the community. In this way, 254,000 hectares of forest are being managed in a sustainable way. Besides, populations of unique animal species are being stabilised through the BMZ measures.
CAFI uses an integrated approach in the DR Congo, implementing rural development projects known as PIREDDs (French for Integrated Programmes to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). The aim of these programmes is to promote the sustainable management of natural resources by combining sustainable agricultural practices, forest conservation and local economic development. This approach has been used, for example, to grow food for subsistence agriculture on 44,934 hectares in the DR Congo, often as mixed cultivation together with energy timber plantations.
Our support in the water sector has so far made it possible for 2.8 million people to have improved access to drinking water and for ten million people to benefit from improved health.
- However, many people in Central Africa still do not have any reliable access to drinking water. In order to ensure clean water for all in the long term, authorities and water utilities receive training, for example in how to operate facilities in an efficient and climate-friendly fashion. In parallel, information campaigns are being implemented in the communities, so that water is used more sparingly and distributed fairly.
- At the level of the government, countries are advised on implementing their biodiversity strategies – with a special focus on involving Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Exchange with international partners ensures that experience is pooled and solutions are shared on international information platforms.
As at: 26/11/2025