location: Democratic Republic Of Congo

location: Democratic Republic Of Congo

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Indigenous peoples near Congo parks propose diverse solutions for the future of conservation
- Mongabay spoke with Indigenous people and members of local communities living near four national parks in the Congo Basin, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to gather their testimonies and learn about the solutions they envision for reconciling forest conservation with the rights of nearby communities.
- Many Indigenous peoples wish to return to their ancestral lands from which they were displaced when the national parks were established; though some still prefer that authorities continue to lead conservation efforts.
- Others, however, believe they should remain outside the parks, while calling for better living conditions and greater access to resources and economic opportunities to prevent environmental destruction.
- Initiatives such as community forest concessions, local employment and ecotourism programs seek to reconcile conservation, land rights and the needs of communities, but their implementation continues to face tensions and significant challenges.

Ebola outbreak underscores food insecurity crisis in DRC
The recent Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus has reportedly claimed more than 3,000 lives, and more than twice as many reported cases, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the same time, analysts warn that roughly 26 million people across […]
Polluted waterways and water shortages complicate the fight against Ebola in the DRC
- Safe access to water is scarce across parts of Ituri province, which is the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids like blood, saliva and urine of an infected person. It is, therefore, crucial, in order to prevent the spread of the disease, to be able to wash regularly. Response teams also need access to water to clean equipment and areas used by patients.
- People sometimes use taps and showers installed at Ebola treatment centers to collect water, potentially increasing contact between healthy and infected people.
- Artisanal and small-scale mining in the region also put pressure on local water resources, by turning some waterbodies muddy.

Congo’s Ebola outbreak records one of its highest weekly death tolls yet
BUNIA, Congo (AP) — More than 300 people died of Ebola in eastern Congo in the past week, one of the highest weekly tolls yet, government data showed Monday, as health workers struggle to catch up with an outbreak that is spreading at unprecedented speed. Ministry of Health data showed that as of Saturday, the outbreak had recorded […]
As DRC confronts largest Ebola outbreak, health agencies revise strategy
- The Central African country is facing its largest and also the fastest-spreading Ebola outbreak on record.
- Health agencies are seeking to revise their strategy to tackle the public health crisis but focusing on response at the village level in the affected provinces of the DRC.
- Dr. Jean Kaseya, director-general of Africa CDC underscored the need to bring the outbreak response to the village level, saying that a community-centered approach helps build trust between local populations and health teams while strengthening participatory surveillance.
- One of the reasons this outbreak has turned out to be more difficult to contain is because a rare strain of the Ebola virus, Bundibugyo ebolavirus, is driving the cases.

Ebola responders persevere in the DRC as Uganda nears end of outbreak
- Community leaders and local radio stations are fighting widespread misinformation, while resistance to safe burials has fueled attacks on Ebola treatment facilities.
- The current Ebola outbreak has become the fastest-growing outbreak recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with more than 3,360 reported cases and nearly 1,487 deaths in about two and a half months.
- Aid workers say funding cuts have weakened disease surveillance, community outreach and logistics at a time when the response is already constrained by armed conflict.
- According to WHO, in Uganda, the last confirmed patient was discharged from care on July 16, and the 42-day with no new Ebola cases countdown necessary to declare the end of that country’s outbreak has started.

‘We couldn’t breathe’: DRC villagers revive protest against Perenco over pollution
- Residents of Kitombe, in southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, accuse multinational oil giant Perenco, controlled by the French Perrodo family, of causing severe air and soil pollution linked to oil extraction activities.
- Villagers reported respiratory problems, dizziness, diarrhea and crop failures after a major gas release from a crude oil storage facility in April 2025.
- A parliamentary investigation supported residents’ claims and flagged missing evidence at the site after the incident.
- One year later, communities say they received no medical support or compensation and environmental remediation hasn’t been done. Frustrated residents blocked access roads to Perenco facilities in May, temporarily disrupting oil operations.

WHO evacuated health workers from Ebola treatment center due to armed clashes
On July 15, gunfire erupted between armed groups near an Ebola Treatment Center (ETC) in Nyankunde (or Nyakunde), located 45 kilometers (28 miles) southwest of Bunia in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Following the fighting, medical personnel from the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa CDC and the NGO Samaritan’s Purse evacuated from Nyankunde, […]
Fighting new oil blocks in the Congo Basin: Interview with activist Pascal Mirindi
- Pascal Mirindi is a Congolese environmental activist fighting oil exploitation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- In 2022, as the Congolese government promoted new oil blocks in eastern DRC, Mirindi and his friends created a movement to raise community awareness of the dangers of fossil fuel exploitation.
- In late 2024, the Congolese government initiated a green corridor extending from the eastern to the western side of the country, aiming to establish the “largest protected tropical forest in the world,” yet a few months later, the country launched new oil blocks covering 60% of the country’s surface.
- Mirindi spoke with Mongabay in June about his activism and the future of the DRC.

New colobus monkey, ‘Likweli’, confirmed in DRC
In 2008, wildlife researchers surveying a massive, underexplored forested region in the Democratic Republic of Congo photographed a black monkey. That region eventually became Lomami National Park. And now, nearly 20 years later, the team has confirmed in a study that the black primate is a new-to-science species of colobus monkey. The monkey isn’t well […]
Clinical trials begin in DRC epicenter of Bundibugyo strain of Ebola
- Clinical trials that aim to establish a standard treatment for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is driving the current outbreak, began on July 2.
- The trials are being conducted in Evangelical Medical Center in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, the epicenter of the outbreak.
- Dr. Placide Mbala of the National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB), is in charge of clinical trials, said the trials could take between three and six months, depending on how the disease evolves on the ground.

Before tourists can see bonobos, trackers must earn their trust
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, researchers and trackers are working to habituate a group of about 60 bonobos. The aim is to help the great apes accept a limited human presence, first for […]
Conservation efforts by families displaced for national park sees success in DRC
Descendants of families forcibly displaced during the creation of Maiko National Park in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo back in the 1970s are now leading a new wave of community-led conservation. Gangala Yafali Mangusa Jr., from one such displaced family, is the head of the Bamasobha Local Community Forest Concession (CFCL), […]
As human Ebola cases climb in DRC, critically endangered gorillas are at risk
- Gorillas are vulnerable to communicable diseases that infect humans and other nonhuman primates, including the Ebola virus.
- A new Ebola outbreak was announced in the Democratic Republic of Congo in mid-May, but so far, there have been no reported cases of gorilla infection. Previous outbreaks have devastated western lowland gorillas.
- Armed conflict hampers both conservation and efforts to monitor both Grauer’s and mountain gorilla populations in DRC. They also impair the public health response, which has also been seriously impacted by cuts in U.S. funding under the Trump administration.
- Gorillas are highly social animals, which facilitates spread of infectious disease. Infants and females are disproportionately affected, which has serious consequences for recovery of devastated populations.

Four years to earn their trust: Habituating bonobos in DRC’s Salonga National Park
- In the heart of Salonga National Park, one of Africa’s largest protected areas, researchers are trying to earn the trust of wild bonobos, one of the continent’s most endangered great apes.
- Conservationists say that habituation is a critical tool for protecting the species, allowing scientists to monitor their health, behavior and populations while strengthening long-term conservation efforts.
- As the Democratic Republic of Congo confronts a renewed Ebola outbreak in its eastern region, park officials acknowledge the ever-present risk of zoonotic disease transmission. However, when conducted under strict biosecurity protocols, bonobo habituation offers significant conservation, scientific and ecotourism benefits that outweigh the risks.

Mongabay Africa’s most-read stories so far in 2026
From human-elephant coexistence to an alternative conservation model from the Democratic Republic of Congo, from teen innovators in Kenya to Guinea’s complicated experience with mining, the stories that attracted the most readers in the first five months of 2026 reflect the richness of Mongabay’s Africa coverage on World Environment Day, June 5, 2026. They also […]
Local indigenous people get more land in a DRC community forest
Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo granted 31 community forest land titles to farmers in May, bringing a total of more than a million hectares of forest in Tshopo under the legal stewardship of local Indigenous peoples. Bantu and Indigenous Mbuti communities have lived in the province for generations, but without official […]
Confinement and disinfected bedding: An ape sanctuary in DRC responds to Ebola
- The Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Center, located in South Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, has gone into lockdown to protect its primates.
- Primatologists say Ebola transmission from infected wild primates to humans has been documented repeatedly but there are no recorded cases of transmission from humans to great apes.
- Emergency plans have also been activated to limit the spread of the virus in the protected areas of the Greater Virunga Landscape, a transboundary area shared among the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda.
- As of May 27, the World Health Organization has already recorded 223 suspected deaths linked to the current outbreak.

Can deforestation predict Ebola outbreaks? Q&A with CDC’s Carson Telford
- In 2024, a group of researchers with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) used machine learning to analyze 24 Ebola outbreaks between 2001 and 2022 to isolate which geographic and other variables they shared in common.
- They found that forest loss and fragmentation are among the most important predictive factors for where Ebola outbreaks occur.
- Carson Telford, who led the research, told Mongabay modeling like this can strengthen communication and readiness for outbreaks like the one taking place in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

Descendants of people pushed out for DRC national park lead forest conservation efforts
- Gangala Yafali Mangusa Jr. is a descendant of one of the families that had to leave the forests of what is today in and around Maiko National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Now, he heads the management committee of the Bamasobha Local Community Forest Concession (CFCL) and works with communities to protect biodiversity through local conservation efforts.
- According to experts, the sustainability of conservation efforts depends largely on the ability to balance biodiversity protection with improving the living conditions of Indigenous peoples and local communities.
- According to satellite imagery from Global Forest Watch, forest loss in the Bamasobha CFCL was reduced from 940 hectares in 2024 to 120 hectares in 2025.

World Peatland Day honors a crucial ecosystem in the fight against climate change
Peatlands are boggy wet ecosystems found from boreal forests in the Russian Arctic to the tropics of central Africa. Typically, when vegetation decomposes it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, when that same organic matter falls in a bog and is covered with water, carbon gets trapped and becomes sequestered there, sometimes for millennia. […]
‘People kept dying’: Interview with Dr. Macky Mbavugha on DRC’s latest Ebola outbreak
- The Democratic Republic of Congo is facing a new Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment.
- More than 1,000 suspected cases and more than 238 suspected deaths have already been recorded in the DRC, while the disease has also spread into neighboring Uganda.
- Armed groups, population displacement and intense mobility around gold mining areas are accelerating transmission risks, says Dr. Macky Mbavugha of the International Rescue Committee (IRC).
- Mongabay spoke to Dr. Mbavugha about why it took so long for authorities to identify the rarer Ebola strain, and how USAID funding cuts have severely weakened disease surveillance, community outreach and emergency response capacity.

‘Corporate capture’ of critical minerals risks repeating DRC’s extractive past, warns indigenous leader
- From May 13-15, the Cobalt Institute, a London-based organization, hosted a conference in Madrid to discuss the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of the cobalt industry.
- Cobalt has emerged as a critical mineral in the global transition to green energy: widely used in electric vehicles, smartphones and battery technologies, about 70% of the world’s cobalt is produced in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Robert Agenong’a, an Indigenous politician and civil society leader from Ituri Province in northeastern DRC, near the border with Uganda, attended the Madrid conference to better understand how multinational corporations are positioning themselves within the country’s rapidly expanding critical minerals sector. He criticized the conference as an example of “corporate capture,” where the business interests of the mining sector dominate.
- “The concern is that everyone is interested in getting Congolese cobalt to the world market because it is of very high quality,” he said. “But nobody pays attention to the environmental harms, the social impacts, and the communities’ grievances.”

Gunmen kill two rangers in latest deadly attack in DRC’s Virunga National Park
Gunmen have killed two rangers in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the latest deadly attack in a region roiled by militia violence. Park sources said a heavily armed group opened fire on a control post at Kamuhororo, on the southern shore of Lake Edward inside Virunga, early on May 21. Kasereka […]
Ebola outbreak reaches major cities in DR Congo, Uganda amid fears of regional spread
The Ebola hemorrhagic fever virus outbreak that began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was officially confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 15. Less than a week later, the death toll is rising with at least 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths linked to the disease, as well as 51 […]
He survived a deadly attack, now he is calling for better working conditions for rangers in DRC
- The international community has set ambitious goals to protect nature, the latest aiming to conserve 30% of the planet by 2030. Rangers are at the center of this effort. According to the International Ranger Federation, they play a crucial role in protecting protected areas and achieving global conservation targets.
- But in many protected areas, rangers are increasingly exposed to violence, often confronting armed groups with limited support, particularly in unstable regions such as eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
- For Emmanuel Bahati Lukoo, this reality is not abstract — it is deeply personal. In 2018, he narrowly survived an attack by Mai-Mai fighters (an armed group operating in the DRC). Unlike many rangers who have lost their lives protecting nature in eastern DRC, he survived. More than 100 rangers are believed to have been killed in Virunga National Park over the past decade.
- Seeking to shed light on the realities and working conditions of rangers in the DRC, Bahati recently published a book titled Conservation at the Cost of My Youth: The Survival of a Ranger, in which he recounts the life of a ranger in eastern DRC.

Tensions rise in DRC mining region as community leaders arrested over protest
Civil society groups have denounced the “arbitrary” arrests of 11 community leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo following a peaceful protest over the impacts of mining operations on local communities. Authorities made the arrests on May 1 in the country’s southeastern Lualaba province, prompting calls by local and international NGOs for the “immediate and […]
At least 65 dead in latest Ebola outbreak in eastern DR Congo
A new Ebola outbreak has been declared in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to an announcement made by The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on May 15. Sixty-five people have died and around 246 suspected cases have been identified so far, mainly in the Mongwalu and Rwampara health […]
Agriculture drives most tropical peatland loss in Indonesia, Peru and DRC: Study
Agriculture is the biggest driver of peatland loss in Indonesia, Peru and the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to the largest expanses of tropical peatlands in the world, a recent study has found. Peatlands are crucial in the fight against climate change: They cover less than 3% of the world’s landmass, but sequester more carbon […]
Forests, fires and fragile gains: Interview with WRI’s Elizabeth Goldman
- According to Global Forest Watch data released by the World Resources Institute (WRI) on April 29, tropical primary forest loss declined by 36% in 2025 compared to the previous year.
- While GFW’s data show that more than 4.3 million hectares (10.6 million acres) of tropical forest was cut down, this still represents the steepest single-year decline in two decades and offers a rare moment of optimism after consecutive years of forest destruction and record-breaking wildfires.
- Much of the improvement stems from Brazil, where renewed political will and enforcement under President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva played a decisive role.
- But while the decline suggests that protective policies and favorable weather can slow the destruction of the world’s forests, GFW’s Elizabeth Goldman warns that the progress is fragile.

DRC copper exports to US set to surge amid warnings of corruption risk
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is planning to export 500,000 metric tons of copper to the United States, a fivefold increase in the export commitment made in January by state-owned miner Gécamines SA. “The Congolese government’s intention, through Gécamines, to start exporting its own copper is becoming a reality,” said Jean-Claude Mputu, spokesperson […]
UN report flags disproportionate costs of clean energy transition
A new report published by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) warns that wealthy nations’ push toward cleaner energy comes with high environmental and social costs in mineral-producing countries. The investigation links the extraction of transition minerals used in green energy technologies like solar panels and rechargeable batteries to acute […]
‘True success’ is a DRC that no longer needs outside help: Interview with EU envoy Fabrice Basile
- The European Union’s top envoy to the Democratic Republic of Congo says he hopes to see less foreign presence in the DRC as a sign the country can drive its own development and ensure its people benefit from its resources.
- The DRC holds vast reserves of critical minerals such as cobalt, coltan, copper and lithium, and is also home to the Congo Basin, the world’s second-largest rainforest and a key carbon sink.
- Fabrice Basile says the EU is working with the DRC government to improve natural resource management, emphasizing transparency, traceability and local value creation through approaches tailored to local realities.
- In an interview with Mongabay, he says the EU will support a U.S.-brokered DRC-Rwanda agreement on critical minerals, while stressing that lasting stability depends on governance reforms and pointing to conservation efforts like Virunga National Park as reasons for cautious optimism.

Tropical forest loss falls in 2025, but world still off track on deforestation goals
- Tropical primary forest loss fell sharply in 2025, down 36% from 2024, but the decline may reflect fewer fires rather than sustained progress.
- Despite the drop, the world still lost an area of tropical primary forest larger than Switzerland last year, leaving countries far off track from their 2030 goal of ending deforestation.
- Smaller forest-rich countries are losing remaining forests fastest, while major forest nations like Brazil show gains linked to stronger enforcement.
- Climate-driven fires, weak governance and commodity pressures continue to drive forest loss, making recent gains fragile and uncertain.

What it takes to make conservation work in Central Africa: Luis Arranz’s 46-year journey
- Luis Arranz has spent more than four decades managing protected areas in Central Africa, taking a field-based approach shaped by long tenures in places like Zakouma, Garamba, Dzanga-Sangha, and Salonga.
- He argues that conservation is less about new plans than about execution—maintaining teams, logistics, and consistent operations in remote and difficult terrain.
- Success depends on aligning conservation with local livelihoods, through mechanisms such as tourism and other income-generating activities tied to protected areas.
- Progress is fragile: parks rely heavily on external funding, operate in unstable security contexts, and can quickly deteriorate without sustained presence on the ground.

Emmanuel de Merode, director of Virunga National Park: “If conservation creates hardships, it won’t work”
- Emmanuel de Merode, Director of Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, believes that conservation can succeed only—and exclusively—if it improves the living conditions of local communities. Protecting nature without addressing poverty and basic needs often leads to resistance and conflict.
- Drawing on the experience of Virunga, he explains how investments in hydroelectricity, access to electricity, and local economic opportunities have helped reduce reliance on charcoal, alleviate pressure on forests, and build trust with neighboring communities.
- Despite the progress made, de Merode acknowledges that challenges persist—notably insecurity, poverty, and continued reliance on charcoal—emphasizing that conservation and development must go hand in hand.

DRC: Can the Kivu–Kinshasa Green Corridor turn a war economy into one of hope?
- Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi aims to leverage the ambitious Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor to transform a war economy into an economy of hope.
- The Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor—an idea first publicly announced during the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos—aims to create one of the largest protected areas in the world, connecting Goma in the country’s east to Kinshasa in the west.
- Proponents of the project, environmentalists, and other observers have hailed the concept, while acknowledging that many questions remain unanswered—particularly regarding the management of mining, oil, gas, agricultural, and conservation concessions.
- On paper, the project could create over 500,000 jobs—particularly for young Congolese people—preserve more than one million hectares of land, and help transport vital food supplies from the east to the massive consumer market of Kinshasa, home to over 20 million inhabitants.

Studying the world’s largest gathering of forest elephants with sound and field observation
- At Dzanga Bai in the Central African Republic—one of the few places where forest elephants gather in large numbers—researchers can observe behaviors that are otherwise difficult to document in dense rainforest.
- Ivonne Kienast leads long-term research combining direct observation with acoustic monitoring, building a detailed record of elephant behavior, social structure, and change over time.
- Her work highlights how sustained presence, local collaboration, and incremental data collection shape understanding of both elephants and the broader forest system they inhabit.
- Kienast spoke with Rhett Ayers Butler, Mongabay founder and CEO, and David Akana, director of Mongabay Africa, over two weeks of conversations in the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo during March 2026. Her responses have been edited and consolidated.

Virtus Minerals signs first major deal under US-DRC critical minerals partnership
In a major advance for the U.S. push to secure critical minerals and compete with Chinese firms in Central Africa, U.S.-based Virtus Minerals has signed a megadeal for copper and cobalt deposits in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). After lengthy negotiations that reportedly included heavy behind-the-scenes pressure by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on […]
Can nature outcompete war in Eastern Congo?
- In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, pressure on Virunga National Park reflects deeper economic and governance dynamics, where conservation competes with immediate livelihood needs tied to charcoal production and agriculture.
- Emmanuel de Merode frames environmental decline as a consequence of how people earn a living, arguing that protecting biodiversity requires addressing energy access, jobs, and local economic systems.
- Virunga has developed an integrated model built around renewable energy, small business development, financial access, and localized security, aimed at shifting incentives away from conflict-linked and extractive activities.
- The proposed Green Corridor extends this approach across a national scale, testing whether a viable economic system can be built that depends on maintaining forests rather than clearing them, despite ongoing conflict and political constraints.

From Virunga to Kinshasa, the DRC embarks on a bold conservation gamble
- More than a year ago, Democratic Republic of Congo President Félix Tshisekedi announced the Green Corridor, a conservation initiative that may stretch across the country, create 500,000 jobs, conserve over 540,000 km2 (208,500 mi2) of land, and improve infrastructure along the Congo River.
- According to people familiar with early discussions, the concept grew in part from Virunga National Park’s efforts to tackle an illegal war economy in North Kivu province and to try delivering alternative benefits to surrounding communities, including energy, agriculture and livelihoods.
- With uncertainty lingering over the conflict in eastern Congo, the government is now seeking to adapt elements of the Virunga conservation-and-development approach to a much larger landscape.
- While praised by some, observers, conservation groups and advocacy organizations caution that significant questions remain, particularly around the management of existing concessions — including agriculture, logging, oil and hydrocarbon blocks — as well as the protection of communities’ rights.

A Congo Basin-led bioeconomy could boost Central Africa’s green transition (analysis)
- As the global economy shifts toward greener, more sustainable models, the Congo Basin has a unique opportunity to position itself within this landscape by building a resilient bioeconomy that prioritizes local value creation while preserving critical ecosystems.
- Despite its rich natural endowments, this region often faces a paradox: while conservation protects, extraction exploits, and agreements frequently stall.
- “Promoting innovative approaches to biodiversity value creation directly supports efforts to enhance innovation and competitiveness, while emphasizing the need for durable, inclusive systems that capture long-term value for local communities,” a new analysis argues.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

‘Ancient’ carbon venting from lakes in the Congo Basin peatlands: Study
- A new study finds that lakes are likely releasing carbon that’s been held in the peatlands of the Congo Basin for thousands of years.
- Scientists know these lakes release carbon dioxide, which until now was thought to result from recently decayed plant matter.
- A team of researchers radiocarbon-dated carbon from water samples to show that some of the CO₂ probably has much older origins, reporting their findings in a new study.
- The authors says more work is needed to understand the implications of this ancient carbon release for carbon dynamics and climate change.

Conservation depends on rangers. Their wellbeing is often an afterthought
- An attack on Upemba National Park that left seven dead reflects a broader pattern: rangers are increasingly exposed to violence across protected areas, often facing armed groups with limited support.
- The risks do not end with the attack itself. Many rangers work under sustained pressure, with repeated exposure to trauma, long absences from family, and little access to mental health care.
- Research shows these conditions can affect decision-making, performance, and retention, with implications not only for ranger wellbeing but for conservation outcomes.
- Some efforts are emerging—from counseling programs to support for rangers’ families—but they remain limited, raising a central question: whether the systems around rangers will change enough to sustain the people doing the work.

‘Extraordinary’: Second set of rare mountain gorilla twins born in DRC’s Virunga
Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo recorded the birth of a second set of mountain gorilla twins this year. According to park authorities, the twins were born into the Baraka family and are believed to be a male and a female, now about 2 weeks old. Their arrival follows a twin birth […]
4 months after DRC mine spill, residents remain impacted
- On Nov. 4, 2025, an industrial effluents spill from Congo Dongfang International Mining (CDM), a copper and cobalt plant, contaminated several neighborhoods in Lubumbashi, in the southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, affecting crops, access to drinking water and residents’ health.
- Months later, Mongabay visited three neighborhoods affected by the spill to gather on-the-ground accounts of continued impacts to crops, water and health.
- The government announced health assistance measures, treatment, the launch of a compensation process for victims and a collective settlement of $6 million.
- According to a human rights organization, the amount is insufficient given the health damage, and residents who speak to Mongabay say they fear they will not be included in compensation and health plans.

Upemba National Park staff recount assault that left seven dead
- On March 3, a group of militants attacked the headquarters of Upemba National Park in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo.
- The attack left seven people dead and caused severe damage to facilities at the headquarters.
- A group claiming responsibility for the assault said it was part of an effort to achieve independence for the mineral-rich region of Katanga, of which Upemba is a part.
- Upemba National Parks staff members spoke to Mongabay from the DRC about the attack and its aftermath.

Investigation links DRC air pollution concerns to major copper-cobalt plant
In 2024, the mother of a 6-month-old baby described to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) what happened to her son after one of Africa’s largest copper and cobalt processing complexes was built just a few hundred meters from their home. “One evening, he started vomiting blood. He vomited more than three times, and then he […]
Growing number of Indigenous Twa forced out of DRC’s forests and into towns
- In the last decade, there has been a steady increase in the number of Indigenous Twa families leaving forests their ancestors relied on in the Congo Basin for urban centers in northern North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo.
- According to reports seen by Mongabay, the number of Indigenous peoples climbed by 5,000 in some small towns.
- For some Twa people, moving to the city is not only a consequence of expulsion from protected areas, but also a choice motivated by insecurity, trying to escape land conflicts with Bantu communities and finding alternative livelihoods as extractive activities take up forests.
- These displacements have profound social, cultural, and environmental consequences, say environmental activists, as Twa people severe ties with the forest, and traditional ecological knowledge built over millennia declines.

200 dead, more missing in another DRC mine collapse
More than 200 people have died and dozens are missing after a landslide on March 3 at the Kasasa site in the Rubaya mining area in Masisi territory, North Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. “I saw the ground collapse and [bury] many people who were there. I can’t say exactly how many, […]
US firm Virtus Minerals closes in on deal for crucial DRC copper and cobalt mines
- U.S.-based firm Virtus Minerals has reached an agreement to take control of large copper and cobalt mines run by Dubai-based Chemaf in the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to its CEO.
- Founded by former military and intelligence officials, Virtus has received strong backing from the Trump administration as part of its push to secure access to critical minerals and for greater control over supply chains.
- The deal still has to be approved by the DRC’s state-owned mining company Gécamines, which owns the mining permits sought by Virtus.
- In 2024, Chinese state-owned defense company Norinco attempted to buy Chemaf’s assets but was blocked by Gécamines after an intervention by the U.S. Biden administration.

Baby gorilla seized from traffickers languishes in Turkish zoo
- Türkiye has refused to return a western lowland gorilla named Zeytin, who was smuggled out of Africa a year ago; Turkish authorities seized him as an infant from the cargo hold of an airplane headed to Bangkok.
- The decision marks an about-turn in Türkiye’s plans to return him to Africa, where he’d be in a Nigerian sanctuary with other gorillas, after a DNA test ruled out Nigeria as his country of origin. Turkish authorities announced he will remain in the country permanently.
- Gorillas are social animals that live in family groups, and with no other gorillas in the country, conservationists worry Zeytin will be doomed to a life of isolation in a zoo.
- Conservationists urge Turkish officials to reconsider their decision and send the baby gorilla to a sanctuary in Africa as soon as possible so he has a better chance of possible release into the wild.

Scrutiny grows over DRC-US minerals deal, even as other African nations sign up
- A minerals summit hosted by the U.S. this month marks an acceleration of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce its dependence on China for critical minerals, including by sealing deals with mineral-rich African countries.
- Guinea and Morocco signed separate agreements with the U.S. during the summit in Washington, even as an earlier deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo, signed in December, came under greater scrutiny at home.
- The DRC, which holds more than 70% of global cobalt reserves, has emerged as a key strategic partner for the U.S., but civil society group warns that the new mineral deal prioritizes geopolitics over human rights, environmental protection and transparency.
- Ongoing insecurity in the eastern DRC raises questions about whether Trump’s approach linking U.S. peace-building efforts to economic gains will bring stability to the region.

Landslides claim more than 220 lives in DRC’s Rubaya coltan mining site
- In the Democratic Republic of Congo, more than 200 people have died in landslides at an artisanal coltan mine in Rubaya, in the east of the country.
- The accident occurred as a result of successive risky activities on the rugged and unstable terrain, which was prone to landslides; prior to the accident, heavy rains had fallen on the region.
- According to an expert contacted by Mongabay, safety measures are not generally respected in these artisanal mines where thousands of Congolese “diggers” operate.

Partnering up to run a DRC reserve: Interview with Forgotten Parks’ Christine Lain
- In 2017, Upemba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo was largely a “paper park,” badly underfunded and encroached on by poachers, farmers, artisanal miners and armed groups, with its wildlife in steep decline.
- That year, Forgotten Parks signed a 15-year deal with the DRC government to manage the park.
- The agreement was one of a growing number of public-private partnerships for conservation in Africa.
- Mongabay spoke to Forgotten Parks’ DRC director, Christine Lain, about how Forgotten Parks approaches its work at Upemba.

What’s next for the major pledge to halt & reverse Congo Basin deforestation?
- In January, high-level policymakers came together to discuss the implementation of the recent Belém Call to Action for the Congo Basin Forests, a $2.5 billion pledge to conserve the world’s second-largest rainforest.
- Central topics included the need for innovative funding approaches, such as moving beyond traditional donors in the Global North, direct funding for communities, the need to fund projects that link forest conservation with socioeconomic development and how to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030.
- For this commitment to work, where other environmental pledges have failed, panelists said there must be clear, traceable financing channels, strong institutional coordination, strong legal frameworks and genuine engagement of civil society and local actors.
- The Congo Basin, covering several Central African countries in a wide green canopy, is facing several threats, chronic underfunding — and attention — for its conservation.

In the race for DRC’s critical minerals, community forests are on the frontline
- In the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s copper-cobalt belt, a region rich in critical minerals, villagers are turning to local community forest concessions (CFCLs) to prevent their eviction and conserve the remaining savanna forests in the face of mining expansion.
- This is an area where miners from the DRC, China, the U.S. and elsewhere are searching for the minerals powering the high-tech, weapons and clean energy industries.
- Community forest concessions offer communities land titles in perpetuity and have environmental management plans led by Indigenous and local communities with the support of environmental NGOs and donors.
- But these concessions are not a perfect solution against deforestation or eviction for mining, as communities often complain companies still obtain mining licenses on secured lands even without receiving consent or reaching benefit-sharing agreements. The concessions also suffer from a lack of funding to support all their environmental efforts.

Twin infant mountain gorillas born in DRC
The birth of twin mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is raising hopes for the survival of one of the world’s most threatened great apes. “For me, it is a huge sign of hope and a great way to start the new year,” Katie Fawcett, science director with the DRC-based Gorilla Rehabilitation […]
The year in rainforests 2025: Deforestation fell; the risks did not
- This analysis explores key storylines, examining the political, environmental, and economic dynamics shaping tropical rainforests in 2025, with attention to how policy, markets, and climate stress increasingly interact rather than operate in isolation.
- Across major forest regions, deforestation slowed in some places but degradation, fire, conflict, and legacy damage continued to erode forest health, often in ways that standard metrics fail to capture.
- Global responses remained uneven: conservation finance shifted toward fiscal and market-based tools, climate diplomacy deferred hard decisions, and enforcement outcomes depended heavily on institutional capacity and credibility rather than formal commitments alone.
- Taken together, the year showed that forest outcomes now hinge less on single interventions than on whether governments and institutions can sustain continuity—of funding, governance, science, and oversight—under mounting environmental and political strain.

Protected areas in Africa are vital but local perceptions vary (commentary)
- Protected areas are cornerstones of global biodiversity conservation strategy, yet their social impacts remain contentious.
- A recent study conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in collaboration with Middlebury College examined perceptions of these areas among thousands of local residents living near five forested regions of Central Africa and Madagascar.
- “Conservation practice needs to take seriously how the people living near protected areas perceive those areas, and what benefits and harms they associate with them, in their full unevenness and complexity,” the authors of a new op-ed say.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

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