location: Democratic Republic Of Congo

location: Democratic Republic Of Congo

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Armed conflict, not Batwa people, at heart of Grauer’s gorillas’ past decline in DRC park
- The decline in critically endangered Grauer’s gorillas between 1994 and 2003 in the highland sector of Kahuzi-Biega National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo was due to the impacts of armed conflict, rather than the presence or absence of Indigenous communities, according to a new study.
- The finding, including recent analysis of forest loss in parts of the park where Indigenous Batwa people returned, challenges simple but competing narratives that the region’s Batwa people are either forest destroyers or forest guardians, say various primatologists.
- After the onset of the Rwandan genocide and Congo Wars, which drove an influx of refugees, poaching, hunting and mining in the region, estimates of Grauer’s gorillas dropped from about 258 to 130 individuals, only to rise again once the Second Congo War ended.
- Researchers and conservation authorities say conservation in Kahuzi-Biega National Park remains challenging, but that Indigenous people should be included in environmental stewardship.

Progress on rights complaint systems in Congo Basin but more needed, says group
- On November 27, the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) released a report on data it collected on human rights complaints procedures at 24 protected areas in four Congo Basin countries.
- The data showed that only around a third had active grievance and redress mechanisms (GRMs), and that most suffered from shortcomings related to financing, participation, design and transparency.
- Of parks with procedures for community members to make complaints about human rights abuses, fewer than half kept a public register of those complaints or their outcomes.
- Salonga National Park in the DRC, site of some of the worst abuses in recent memory, was said to have the most advanced complaints procedure, but RFUK said there was still room to improve.

Illegal gold mining drives deforestation in DRC reserve home to ‘African unicorn’
- The Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo protects vast tracks of primary Congo Basin rainforest, and is a stronghold for endangered species including the iconic okapi (Okapia johnstoni) and African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis).
- The reserve is also the home to Indigenous Mbuti and Efe forest peoples, who depend on forest resources.
- Deforestation in the reserve remained high in 2023, and continued to spread this year, according to satellite data from the Global Forest Watch platform.
- Illegal artisanal and semi-industrial gold mining within the reserve is driving deforestation, poaching and environmental destruction.

‘Historic’ decision for the Batwa & DRC gorilla park faces hurdles — and hope
- The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights determined that the eviction of thousands of Batwa from Kahuzi-Biega National Park in the 1970s was a human rights violation. However, months later, questions remain about whether and how the government will implement the commission’s 19 recommendations to address the situation.
- The return of Batwa to their ancestral lands in the park, paying them compensation and a public apology for all the Batwa suffered are among the key recommendations the Batwa and sources highlighted. Implementation would be challenging, but necessary from a human rights standpoint, they said, while breaking down the process.
- Researchers say there lacks evidence that modern-day Batwa are custodians of the forest and environmentalists highlight the need to build community-centered conservation projects that help Batwa live sustainably on their land in the park or find a balance that works for both the Batwa and park officials.
- The DRC and park officials have not yet commented on the possibility of implementation, but conservation authorities and the park’s partners and donors say they are taking steps to reconcile Indigenous rights and the protection of biodiversity.

DRC carbon credit projects surge amid lack of regulation
- Researchers say carbon credit projects involving private companies, NGOs and logging companies have proliferated in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- They’ve documented projects covering more than a quarter of the DRC’s nearly 200 million hectares (494 million acres) of forest.
- Preliminary findings suggest that the DRC lacks the governmental guardrails to ensure these projects are helping to avoid deforestation and that they are not harming communities.
- In late 2021, an India-based consultancy signed carbon credit project agreements with 25 communities in the DRC but provided little information about the projects. The company is reportedly no longer operating in the country.

Cobalt mining for green energy risks women’s reproductive health in DRC
- In the Democratic Republic of Congo, industrial and artisanal mining of cobalt and copper, essential for battery-powered technologies, poses risks to the reproductive health of women, preliminary research suggests.
- Sources in the Golf Musonoie region of Kolwezi, the “world’s cobalt capital,” highlight a rising number of cases involving birth defects , stillbirths, infant deaths shortly after birth, and infections.
- The scientific community doesn’t yet know to what extent the extraction process affects reproductive health, but suspects include the radioactive uranium found in ores, as well as the pollution from mining waste and chemicals in the water.
- This report was produced in partnership with the Environmental Reporting Collective, a network of newsrooms and journalists committed to cross-border investigations on environmental crimes. It is part of the collaboraive investigation: Greed of Green: The Dark Side of Green Energy.

Study finds bonobos more diverse, and more vulnerable, than previously thought
- Recently published research finds that bonobos show a much deeper degree of genetic diversity than previously thought, with the species split into three distinct subgroups that diverged tens of thousands of years ago.
- The study is based on a detailed analysis of the genomes of 30 wild-born captive bonobos, cross-referenced with more limited data from 136 wild bonobos.
- Separation into three genetically isolated groups means that each group is more vulnerable than a single unified population would be, and that loss of any of these groups would result in a significant loss of the species’ genetic diversity.

For DRC’s artisanal miners, promise of formalization has yielded little
- Artisanal mining represents 10-20% of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s copper and cobalt production.
- But artisanal miners in the DRC continue to be exposed to numerous health and safety risks, which one expert says could be greatly reduced with better information and training.
- In 2002, the government pledged to formalize the artisanal sector, with a view to its transition to semi-industrialization, but over 20 years later, little progress has been made.

DR Congo: environmental activist faces 5 years in prison
- An environmental rights defender in the Democratic Republic of Congo is facing five years in prison in connection with his fight against illegal logging.
- Yahya Mirambo Bin Lubangi has campaigned against the illegal logging of threatened species of rosewood; now, one of those alleged loggers has accused him of issuing death threats and damaging property.
- The administrator of the district where illegal logging has taken place expressed surprise at the lawsuit.
- Mirambo did not appear in court as scheduled on Oct. 18 due to illness.

WWF report offers glimmer of conservation hope — yet warns of a planet in peril
- WWF’s recent “Living Planet Report” offers a bit of hope, showing that mountain gorilla populations increased by 3% between 2010 and 2016.
- Conservation interventions such as dedicated management of protected areas, extensive engagement with communities surrounding parks, close monitoring of habituated gorilla groups and veterinary interventions where needed are thought to have contributed, WWF notes.
- Still, the report shows that wildlife populations across Africa have declined by 76% in the past 50 years.
- The peril of the planet is also linked to the fact that financing is inadequate, with public and private entities very often investing in activities that harm ecosystems and drive climate change.

‘Dream birds’ in the mist: First photo of ‘lost’ bird in DRC mountains
- The mountainous forests of the eastern DRC are home to a strikingly beautiful bird: the yellow-crested helmetshrike.
- The species was considered lost to science until late last year, when an expedition of U.S. and DRC scientists spotted flocks of the birds gliding through the forests of the Itombwe mountains and snapped the first photo.
- Their observations will help to fill in some key knowledge gaps on this little-known species, which faces threats from habitat destruction and climate change.

We know how many okapi live in zoos. In the wild? It’s complicated
- The okapi, an endangered species that looks like a cross between a large antelope and a zebra, but is most closely related to the giraffe, is found only in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo and is considered an important cultural icon.
- The elusive ungulate faces more threats today than a decade ago, which was the last time a conservation assessment for the population was carried out.
- Armed militia groups, illegal mining, and a new trade in okapi oil for medicinal use have kept the species under threat and prevented scientists from being able to properly assess its population status.
- With scientists lacking reliable population estimates, a specialist group is now working to produce an updated conservation assessment within the next year.

Ahead of COP16, groups warn of rights abuses linked to ‘30×30’ goal
- In October, Indigenous leaders, government representatives, scientists and activists will meet at COP16, the U.N. Biodiversity Conference, in Colombia, where discussions on plans to expand protected area coverage are expected to take center stage.
- The 30 by 30 goal, which calls for 30% of Earth’s land and sea to be conserved by 2030, continues to be criticized by several human rights organizations who say its lack of clarity on where and how to expand protected areas may result in human rights abuses and forced evictions.
- In a new report by the Oakland Institute, researchers highlighted some of the implications of protected area expansion on the Batwa Indigenous community in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including abuses by rangers and soldiers.
- Advocates say the COP16 discussions should include clear indicators to track respect of human rights and integrate locally led conservation initiatives that fit within the sociocultural context of each country, rather than top-down approaches.

US govt watchdog: Human rights still at risk in overseas conservation aid
- In July, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a review of human rights standards in conservation-related aid grants.
- The GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency attached to the U.S. Congress. The House Committee on Natural Resources asked it to review aid funding in the wake of a scandal over human rights abuses in the Congo Basin.
- The review looked at grants given out by the U.S. State Department, USAID, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conservationists in Africa, and included site visits to projects in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- The final report highlighted weaknesses in monitoring and self-reporting requirements for grantees and said there was a risk of abuses going unnoticed by U.S. government agencies.

The Itombwe owl: Two birds and an identity crisis
- The last sighting by scientists of the Itombwe owl, a species endemic to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, was in 1996.
- This was in Itombwe Nature Reserve, a protected area described by its director as “forgotten by a majority of organizations and people who support the conservation of biodiversity.”
- Being overlooked may have helped keep the reserve protected, with the forest remaining intact and satellite imagery showing no roads being carved inside it.
- Experts agree on the need for further expeditions to study the Itombwe owl, including settling the long-running debate over which genus of barn owl, Tyto or Phodilus, it belongs to.

Meet the Miombo, the largest forest you’ve never heard of
- The Miombo woodlands are a dry deciduous forest spanning 1.9 million square kilometers (726,000 square miles) across Central and Southern Africa.
- Rural communities across the region depend heavily on the woodlands for building materials as well as a large variety of non-timber forest products including fruits, honey, mushrooms, medicine and more; the Miombo is also a significant source of firewood and charcoal, with fuelwood making up three-quarters of energy-use in the region.
- Population growth, agricultural expansion and increasing demand for fuelwood are the primary drivers of deforestation in the Miombo.
- A new initiative spearheaded by the Republic of Mozambique’s President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi aims to reverse deforestation of the Miombo and promote sustainable resource development.

In the DRC, a government commission is taking funds owed to people relocated by mines
- In the DRC, people relocated from mining sites often demand fair compensation for the loss of their property, homes, and other possessions.
- Mining companies do not take responsibility for this process, yet they pay 10% of the compensation funds owed to relocated people into an account owned by a branch of the provincial government, the Relocation Commission, which goes to the commission’s operation.
- According to members of civil society, the commission’s involvement not only deprives relocated people of money but also leaves them without a means of appeal.
- According to Lualaba’s provincial Minister of Mines, Jacques Kaumba, every party should follow the mining code, which he said “is quite clear” and doesn’t permit this to happen.

DRC communities turn up heat on EU lenders funding palm oil giant PHC
- Communities living close to oil palm plantations run by PHC in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo are laying claim to just over 58,000 hectares (143,000 acres) of land, and are demanding access to the company’s land titles to determine the boundaries of its concessions.
- They accuse several European development banks, including Germany’s DEG, of having financially supported a PHC land grab in the DRC through $150 million in loans, in breach of their own loan agreement principles.
- Supported by a coalition of NGOs, an organization known as RIAO-RDC has written to a number of European Union governments calling for the suspension of the mediation process led by DEG’s Independent Complaints Mechanism (ICM).
- PHC, which is embroiled in a leadership battle among its shareholders, has also been accused of financial malpractice, environmental crimes and human rights violations on its plantations, including arbitrary arrests and the detention of workers by the police.

Study highlights environmental and economic benefits of agroforestry for DRC coffee crops
- Growing coffee in agroforestry systems in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) supports 19 times higher biodiversity and stores twice as much carbon compared with monoculture systems, while maintaining comparable yields.
- But sustainable coffee production in the DRC requires small-holder farmers’ buy-in, considering their immediate economic needs and the local context of extreme poverty.
- Sustainable agroforestry systems are profitable in the long term but face challenges in attracting investment. Experts say responsibility for sustainability should extend to consumers and coffee companies.
- Successful implementation of agroforestry depends on making it beneficial for local farmers, providing additional revenue streams and respecting local ownership and knowledge of the rainforest.

Disputed Manono lithium mining project in DRC sparks concern
- A lithium mining project in the DRC that was expected to begin in 2023 is still pending.
- The Congolese government and mineral exploration company AVZ Minerals are fighting over the rights to an ore concession awarded to the Chinese company Zijin Mining.
- Delays are lengthening for residents waiting for jobs, and the local population has not yet been informed of how lithium mining will impact their environment.

Herders caught between conflict and climate change in the northern Congo Basin
- Increasing numbers of Mbororo pastoralists and their cattle have settled in the northernmost provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo over the past two decades, fleeing conflict and seeking pasture for their livestock.
- In the DRC, like elsewhere, they have found themselves in conflict with local communities who accuse them of damaging farms and protected areas — and also allege the herders have violently attacked them.
- The tri-border area straddling the northern DRC, South Sudan and the Central African Republic has endured waves of armed conflict and banditry that strongly influence hostility toward perceived outsiders.
- Often lacking formal rights as they move and migrate across national boundaries, the Mbororo and other pastoralists across West and Central Africa are often regarded as outlaws by local communities and state authorities alike.

DRC’s golden-bellied mangabeys: A little-known but much-threatened monkey
- The Congo rainforest is home to one of Africa’s least-known and most threatened monkeys: the golden-bellied mangabey.
- Golden-bellied mangabeys form extraordinarily large troops of dozens of individuals, and field observations reveal a complex social structure reminiscent of that of humans.
- The species faces significant threats from habitat loss, hunting and illegal trade, with experts pushing for stronger legal protections, including an upgrade from CITES Appendix II to Appendix I listing.
- Conservation efforts are slowly gaining momentum, with priorities including law reform in the Democratic Republic of Congo, upgrading the CITES listing, and conducting comprehensive surveys to better understand the species’ distribution and ecology.

DRC conflict hinders search for Itombwe nightjar, but ‘lost’ bird may yet be found
- The Itombwe nightjar is a bird described from a single specimen in the Congo Basin nearly 70 years ago and not seen by science for at least the past decade.
- It’s in the top 10 of the global Search for Lost Birds, an initiative by a group of international conservation NGOs.
- Complicating its search is the fact that the region where the type specimen was collected is currently a conflict zone in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
- But there’s hope for the species: it may be far more widely distributed, with live sightings and recordings of its song made at the other end of the Congo Basin, in Cameroon and the Republic of Congo.

Africa’s great ape sanctuaries are feeling the heat from climate change
- While a growing body of research highlights the impacts of climate change on wild apes, sanctuaries caring for apes are also feeling the impacts of a warming world.
- Sanctuaries across Africa are affected by changing weather patterns, including both droughts and floods, increasing the challenges of caring for resident apes.
- Extreme weather also increases the likelihood of human-wildlife conflict in conservation areas, and makes daily life more difficult for sanctuary staff and their families and communities.

Study: A third of Africa’s great apes at risk from mining of transition metals
- Rising demand for the metals needed to power the global renewable energy transition potentially threatens more than a third of Africa’s great apes.
- Nearly 180,000 gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos face potential fallout from current and future mining projects for these transition metals, particularly in West Africa.
- Direct and indirect potential impacts from mining on apes include habitat destruction, health threats from light pollution and disease transmission, and safety risks from vehicle traffic.
- Transparent data sharing and a more robust mechanism to mitigate impacts before they materialize could go a long way to protect Africa’s great apes from becoming a casualty of climate action.

Camera-trap study brings the lesula, Congo’s cryptic monkey, into focus
- Only found in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the lesula monkey (Cercopithecus lomamiensis) was first described by scientists in 2012.
- A 2023 Animals study finds that the lesula is mostly terrestrial, unlike the other species of guenon monkeys in the region.
- The study also finds that the lesula is active during the day, has a seasonal reproductive cycle, and lives in family groups of up to 32 individuals, with males dispersing out to form bachelor groups.
- Researchers say the Tshuapa, Lomami and Lualaba Rivers Landscape, where the study was conducted, holds incredible primate diversity.

Green credentials of electric vehicles come under fire
- Electric vehicles are often presented as a key technology for drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions, thus helping curb climate change.
- But manufacturing electric cars requires the mining of critical minerals for batteries, like lithium and cobalt, that are largely sourced in developing countries. Local traditional and Indigenous communities say the mining is already harming their way of life, is polluting, and damaging biodiversity.
- The rush to embrace EVs, say scientists, runs the risk of trying to find a silver-bullet solution to one planetary boundary crisis (global warming) by violating other equally important existential boundaries, including biosphere integrity, land system change, freshwater use, and novel entity (air and water pollution).
- Analysts say a far better way to tackle the global environmental polycrisis is by reducing overall resource consumption. New technology is not enough, by itself. To make life on the planet truly sustainable, humanity must alter lifestyles, redesigning societies to use less, while preserving quality of life for all.

Impunity and pollution abound in DRC mining along the road to the energy transition
- In the DRC’s copper belt, pollution from the mining of cobalt and copper, critical minerals for the energy transition, is on the rise and polluters are ignoring their legal obligations to clean it up.
- Cases of pollution have caused deaths, health problems in babies, the destruction of crops, contaminated water and the relocation of homes or an entire village, residents and community organizations say.
- Mining is the economic lifeblood of the region and the state-owned mining company, Gécamines, is a shareholder in several other companies — some accused of these same rights abuses.
- Mongabay visited several villages in Lualaba province affected by pollution and human rights violations to assess the state of the unresolved damage — and whether companies are meeting their legal obligations.

DRC’s 1 billion trees program makes progress, but hurdles remain
- According to the FAO, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) loses 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) of forest cover every year due to shifting cultivation, mining and illegal and informal logging.
- As part of addressing this, a Congolese government program aspired to plant 1 billion trees between 2019 and 2023, aiming to strengthen climate resilience, alleviate poverty and protect biodiversity.
- Program officials say they achieved 90% of their target. A forestry specialist says that future reforestation efforts should include feasibility studies, informing tree species selection to maintain ecological balance.

Bonobos, the ‘hippy apes’, may not be as peaceful as once thought
- Bonobos have a reputation of being the hippies of the ape world, due to their propensity to “make love, not war.”
- But a new study reveals that bonobos, found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo, may not be as peaceful as once thought.
- Researchers discovered aggressive acts between bonobos from the same group exceeded those recorded among chimpanzees, and that aggressive male bonobos were more successful in mating.
- The study provides a more nuanced analysis of these endangered apes, but also highlights the need to protect them from hunting and habitat loss.

Tropical forest loss puts 2030 zero-deforestation target further out of reach
- The overall rate of primary forest loss across the tropics remained stubbornly high in 2023, putting the world well off track from its net-zero deforestation target by 2030, according to a new report from the World Resources Institute.
- The few bright spots were Brazil and Colombia, where changes in political leadership helped drive down deforestation rates in the Amazon.
- Elsewhere, however, several countries hit record-high rates of forest loss, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bolivia and Laos, driven largely by agriculture, mining and fires.
- The report authors call for “bold global mechanisms and unique local initiatives … to achieve enduring reductions in deforestation across all tropical front countries.”

Global cobalt rush drives toxic toll near DRC mines
- A new report highlights the social and environmental harms from cobalt mining in the DRC, driven by surging global demand for clean energy minerals.
- Researchers investigated five mines supplying major electric vehicle manufacturers and linked them to water contamination, health impacts and human rights abuses.
- Despite efforts to mitigate pollution, ongoing incidents and failure to meet clean water provision standards demand urgent action from companies and regulators, co-authors RAID and AFREWATCH say.

Under the shadow of war in the DRC, a mining company acts with impunity
- In Walikale, a territory located in the eastern DRC, Indigenous Twa people accuse the Canadian and South African-owned mining company Alphamin Bisie Mining SA of obtaining mining rights without consulting all the communities affected by the company’s activities.
- An analysis by Mongabay highlights several inconsistencies in the process of receiving mining and exploration permits that violate the law.
- For years, the Indigenous communities of Banamwesi and Motondo have been unsuccessfully calling on the mining company to recognize that it is occupying part of their community forests. In an exchange with Mongabay, Alphamin Bisie denies they are affected and says they will clarify these matters with the communities.
- In light of the conflict devasting the eastern DRC and government officials’ silence in addressing the communities’ situation, inhabitants and civil society representatives say the conflict is being used as a cover for the violations of the law taking place around them.

Togo monkey seizure turns spotlight on illicit wildlife trafficking from DR Congo
- In December, Togo seized 38 monkeys in transit to Thailand.
- Nearly 30 of the animals in the shipment had not been declared in the official documentation.
- The monkeys, many of which were in poor health, were repatriated to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Only 24 monkeys from the group survived, and these have been taken in by a Lubumbashi animal refuge.

2024 outlook for rainforests
- Last week, Mongabay published a recap of the major trends in the world’s tropical rainforests for 2023.
- Here’s a brief look at some of the key issues to monitor in 2024.
- These include: Brazil, elections in DRC and Indonesia, forest carbon markets, el Niño, global inflation and commodity prices, advancements in forest data, and progress on high level commitments.

Report: Rush for ‘clean energy’ minerals in Africa risks repeating harmful extractivist model
- The nonprofit Global Witness investigated lithium mining projects in Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Namibia, which appear to reproduce the same model of extractivism that has impoverished African countries for centuries.
- In March, residents of the Namibian town of Uis took to the streets to protest the activities of Chinese miner Xinfeng, alleging the company was carrying out large-scale industrial mining without the proper permits or social license.
- In Zimbabwe, activist Farai Maguwu from the Centre for Natural Resource Governance described a similar experience of exclusion and exploitation at Chinese miner Sinomine’s Bikita lithium operation, calling it “typical extractivism.”
- One of the ways to prevent exploitation is to shut out companies that “socialize the costs and privatize the profits,” Maguwu said, adding he remains hopeful that encouraging competition between companies from across the world is the way to ensure better outcomes for Zimbabweans.

Mongabay’s top 10 podcast episodes of 2023
- It was a packed year on Mongabay’s podcast calendar, with a new season of “Mongabay Explores” taking a deep dive into the Congo Basin.
- At the same time, the Mongabay Newscast continued publishing conversations with leading researchers, authors and activists, and it introduced a new co-host, Rachel Donald.
- Our top 10 list includes examinations of the Congo Basin’s cobalt mining industry, a conversation with a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, a botanist discussing the worrying decline of botany education, and a National Geographic photographer’s project highlighting the key role of traditional ecological knowledge for Indigenous communities and conservation.

COP28 cements goal to halt forest loss in 7 years, but where’s the money?
- While COP28 in Dubai included a goal to halt and reverse forest loss by the end of the decade, tropical forest nations say they are still not seeing the funding required to keep forests standing.
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo says it has not seen any of the $500 million pledged to it two years ago to protect the Congo Basin rainforest, the second-largest in the world.
- As forest nations wait for funding, some are controversially turning to untapped fossil fuel reservoirs underneath the forests.
- While carbon credits have come under fire this year, many at COP28 still say they see carbon credits as one way to bring in much needed funding to keep carbon and wildlife-rich forests standing.

In DRC, Virunga deforestation escalates as fighting sends refugees into park
- Virunga National Park has lost 964 hectares (2,382 acres) of forest over the last four months, according to forest monitoring platfrom Global Forest Watch. Twenty percent of these losses have been around informal refugee camps located near the Nyiragongo volcano.
- Fresh fighting between the government and an armed group called the March 23 Movement (M23) has driven nearly a million people from their homes.
- Now living in precarious camps in the park, these displaced people cut down trees for fuel to cook, boil water and make charcoal, NGO workers in the area say.

‘We won’t give up’: DRC’s Front Line Defenders award winner Olivier Ndoole Bahemuke
- Olivier Ndoole Bahemuke, Africa winner of the 2023 Front Line Defenders Award, is an environmental lawyer and community activist.
- He has spent 15 years working in defense of communities in and around Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Because of his activism in a region dominated by armed conflict and the illicit exploitation of natural resources, including gold and coltan, his life has been threatened on numerous occasions and he currently lives in exile.
- Defending the environment is becoming increasingly dangerous: Nearly half of the 194 human rights defenders killed in 2022 were environmental defenders.

Are flame retardants about to burn a hole in biodiversity? (commentary)
- Researchers recently mapped more than 150 species of wild animals across every continent contaminated with flame retardant chemicals.
- These chemicals are added to furniture, electronics and vehicles but routinely escape such products and are found in the blood of wildlife species such as baboons, chimpanzees, and red colobus monkeys with unknown effects, but in humans these exposures are associated with lower IQs, reduced fertility, and an elevated risk of cancer.
- “Even though we lack data on flame retardants in wildlife from most tropical areas with high levels of biodiversity, the findings from Uganda strongly suggest that wildlife in other tropical ecosystems are probably affected as well,” a new op-ed states in arguing for a rapid reduction in their use.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Oil firm Perenco eyes new blocks in DRC amid criticism of its track record
- Oil multinational Perenco has bid on two new oil blocks being auctioned off by the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Perenco operates the country’s only oil production facilities, at Muanda, near the mouth of the Congo River.
- Local and international critics accuse the oil company of polluting the environment, affecting fishing and farming, as well as residents’ health; the company denies this.

Mine in ‘world cobalt capital’ displaces locals and monks under questionable circumstances
- Local residents living in the DRC’s ‘cobalt capital of the world’ are being forced to relocate in order to make way for a mine owned by Chinese company COMMUS (Compagnie miniere de Musonie).
- The relocation process is being done under questionable circumstances, including providing compensation payments under the table which don’t always meet amounts needed to buy a decent home, contradictory statements, lack of consultation, and few traces of written documentation to fact-check claims made by local government officials, the mining company and displaced people.
- The demand for cobalt, a critical mineral for the clean energy transition, is expected to increase and lead to the eviction of communities who find themselves living above their deposits, say energy experts.
- The mining company’s lawyer says the relocation process is happening fairly, payments are calculated alongside officials and civil society groups, and the land and buildings, like schools, rather belong to the company’s owners.

‘It’s a real mess’: Mining and deforestation threaten unparalleled DRC wildlife haven
- The Okapi Wildlife Reserve in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo protects unique biodiversity, including approximately one-fifth of the global okapi population, the country’s largest forest elephant and chimpanzee populations and 17 primate species, and it safeguards forest access for the Indigenous Mbuti and Efe peoples.
- Deforestation in the reserve is accelerating, according to data from Global Forest Watch.
- Artisanal and semi-industrial mining is a grave threat to the reserve, leading to deforestation and pollution of waterways, particularly in the south of the reserve along the Ituri River and the National Road 4.
- A disagreement over the boundaries of the reserve between park authorities and the mining cadastre complicates law enforcement and requires resolution at the ministerial level.

DRC food sovereignty summit yields support for agroecology, local land rights
- The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (ASFA) recently held a meeting in Kinshasa to argue for the reorienting of food production around agroecology in the Congo Basin.
- Civil society groups, donors, government representatives and small-scale farmers gathered to exchange views on challenges and solutions to food security.
- Across Africa, agricultural policy is geared toward greater reliance on large-scale farms and mechanization, commercial seeds, pesticides and synthetic fertilizer.
- A declaration issued at the close of the summit instead called for investment in agroecological methods, as well as recognition of and protection for Indigenous and local peoples’ land rights.

New data show 10% increase in primary tropical forest loss in 2022
- Globally, the tropics lost 4.1 million hectares (10.1 million acres) of primary forest in 2022, 10% more than in 2021.
- These losses occurred despite the pledges of 145 countries at COP26 in 2021 to increase efforts to reduce deforestation and halt it by 2030; the new data, from the University of Maryland, puts the world far off track for meeting the goal of zero deforestation.
- According to Frances Seymour of World Resources Institute, there is an urgent need to increase financing for protecting and restoring forests.

Militarized conservation: Insecurity for some, security for others? (commentary)
- The militarization of conservation has been heavily criticized by critical social scientists, Indigenous rights activists and NGOs for resulting in human rights violations and the marginalization of Indigenous and local communities.
- In war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), field research and interviews by Dr Fergus O’Leary Simpson of University of Antwerp finds that many Indigenous and local people perceive armed park guards in Kahuzi-Biega National Park as a source of insecurity while others see them as a source of stability. The effects on broader conflict and instability are mixed.
- The authors of this op-ed, Dr Fergus O’Leary Simpson and Professor Lorenzo Pellegrini of Erasmus University Rotterdam, argue that militarized conservation presents the only viable means of conservation law enforcement in regions like the eastern DRC, where multiple armed actors violently compete for control of land and resources within protected areas.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Survival and economics complicate the DRC’s bushmeat and wild animal trade
- Hunting for bushmeat can impact the populations of rare and threatened wildlife in forests around the world.
- In the Democratic Republic of Congo, subsistence hunting is often intertwined with the trade of bushmeat and in some cases live animals to sate the demand from larger markets, which can increase the pressure on wildlife populations.
- The trade of bushmeat provides one of the few sources of income for hunters, porters and traders, as well as a source of protein for families, in the town of Lodja, which sits close to forests that are home to unique species.
- Activists in Lodja and the DRC are working to save live animals from entering the illicit trade of endangered species and encourage alternative sources of income to the commercial trade of wild meat and animals.

NGOs urge continued sanctions against DRC mining giant Dan Gertler
- Dan Gertler is an Israeli billionaire who acquired mining and oil licenses at knock-down prices from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government or state-owned mining companies, which he then sold to multinational companies and sometimes even back to the Congolese government itself, making huge profits.
- Gertler’s operations generated in only two years more than $1.36 billion of loss for the DRC, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
- In 2017, the United States sanctioned Gertler for corruption, banishing him from the U.S. dollar banking system.
- As a result of a memorandum of understanding between Gertler and the DRC government, Felix Tshisekedi, DRC president, officially requests an end to U.S. sanctions

Ground-nesting chimps hold lessons for conservation — and for human evolution
- Eastern chimpanzees in the northern Democratic Republic of Congo frequently build nests and sleep overnight on the ground even in areas where predators are present, a recent study finds.
- The ability of these relatively small-bodied apes to sleep on the ground without fire or fortifications suggests that other hominids, including early humans, could have moved from the safety of trees earlier than thought.
- The study also found that chimpanzees were not deterred from ground nesting when they shared space with humans — as long as those humans were not hunting.
- This, the researchers say, suggests chimpanzee conservation and human use of forests can coexist.

Camera trap images of rare gorillas with infants bring hope in DRC
- Camera traps in the Tayna Nature Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo have recorded two mother-infant pairs of eastern lowland gorillas, confirming the presence of healthy family groups in one of their last strongholds.
- This subspecies is critically endangered, with only 6,800 individuals left in the world, and is threatened by hunting, deforestation and mining activities
- Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education (GRACE) operates the world’s only sanctuary for rescued eastern lowland gorillas, and employs local communities in a key role in monitoring efforts in Tayna.

Will clean-energy minerals provoke a shift in how mining is done in Africa?
- Meeting the Paris climate goals to curb global warming could quadruple demand for metals like lithium, cobalt and nickel by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency. About a fifth of these critical reserves are found in Africa.
- With mining activity ramping up across Africa, civil society organizations are asking for concrete changes in how mining is done and whose needs it addresses.
- Many activists who work with communities in Africa fear that far from benefiting from their mineral wealth, countries that hold reserves for critical minerals will pay the steepest price for their extraction, a replication of the mining footprint without a transformation in the way mining is done.
- While most activists and observers agree about the need to pursue the highest environmental, social and governance standards, many CSOs say it doesn’t have to happen as part of a superpower-led geopolitical race but be part of a globally accepted framework.

DRC’s endangered bonobos face another threat to their survival: malaria
- Along with humans, great apes like gorillas and chimpanzees are known to get infected with malaria, but evidence about the parasite’s effects on bonobos has been scant.
- A recent study that analyzed the feces of bonobo across the species’ range found that one bonobo population showed evidence of both malaria infection and a genetic variation that would likely protect them against severe disease.
- This genetic variation was less common in other populations, suggesting that other bonobo groups could be in trouble if climate change brings malaria-carrying mosquitoes into their habitats.

Element Africa: Claims of mining encroachment in DRC and broken promises in SA
- Activists say Canada-registered miner Alphamin Bisie has been operating outside its concession in the DRC’s North Kivu province, and encroaching into community forests.
- Police in South Africa have arrested seven activists protesting against Anglo American Platinum for what they say is the mining giant’s failure to report back on its social and work commitments to the mining-affected community.
- Element Africa is Mongabay’s bi-weekly bulletin rounding up brief stories from the commodities industry in Africa.

Do elections spur deforestation? It’s complicated, new study finds
- More deforestation occurs in years with competitive elections than in non-competitive election years (i.e., those with a single candidate or a rigged vote), according to a study examining 55 countries in the tropics between 2001 and 2018.
- Competitive elections can be potential drivers of deforestation because politicians use land and resources to win over voters. While there are laws and regulations against monetary and real estate bribery, there often aren’t any against the exploitation of natural resources.
- Researchers were surprised to find that deforestation was higher during non-election years and competitive election years than during non-competitive election years. They suggest several reasons why, although this contradicts findings from past studies.
- To better protect forests, the authors recommend that integrity and transparency monitoring schemes in place to monitor elections include natural resource monitoring and that conservation organizations and the media be extra vigilant in the lead-up to competitive election years.

Forests & finance: A lawsuit, an import ban, and restoring Zambian forests
- Campaigners sue Ghana’s government to block mining of Atewa Forest biodiversity hotspot.
- Conservationists assist a forest reserve in Zambia to restore itself.
- Forest certification is expanding rapidly across the Congo Basin.
- EU bans imports of products linked to deforestation.

Element Africa: The platinum ‘bully’ and the secret oil deal
- South African authorities have extended the deadline for compensation talks over a platinum mine, after a no-show by the mining company that affected communities say is “run by bullies.”
- Also in South Africa, a community that only recently reclaimed land it was driven from during apartheid faces fresh eviction for a planned coal plant and steel mill.
- In the Democratic Republic of Congo, NGOs say a secret deal to allocate two of 30 oil blocks to a company with no industry experience should be grounds for suspending the whole auction.
- Element Africa is Mongabay’s bi-weekly bulletin rounding up brief stories about land rights & extractives in Africa.

Element Africa: Deadly violence and massive graft at Tanzania and DRC mines
- Environmental concerns are mounting as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company begins drilling for oil in a new field in the north of the country.
- Video testimony has emerged about alleged police killings of five villagers near Canadian miner Barrick Gold’s mine in Tanzania.
- A local official has absconded with $14.5 million in mining royalties intended to fund community development in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Lualaba province.
- Element Africa is Mongabay’s bi-weekly bulletin rounding up brief stories from the commodities industry in Africa.

Mongabay’s most impactful investigations of 2022
- Mongabay published more than a dozen in-depth investigations in 2022 to hold companies and governments accountable for their actions.
- The investigations ranged from the Amazon to the forests of Central Africa and the Pacific Ocean, covering numerous issues, from illegal logging to threats to environmental defenders and shark finning.
- In this article, Mongabay takes a look back at some of the most impactful investigations from 2022.

What happened in the world’s rainforests in 2022?
- There were some hopeful developments for tropical rainforest conservation in 2022.
- But the outlook for tropical forests nonetheless remains tenuous.
- The following is a look at some of the major tropical rainforest storylines and developments in 2022.

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