Mining in the community forest of Bamasova, North Kivu. Photo: Jonas Chirico
The United Nations called it historic: an agreement that will give legal documents to local communities in Haut-Katanga province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and help them benefit from forest resources.
The state government's decision to transfer over 200,000 hectares of forest to local communities in 2021 was part of the Community Forest Transfer Programme. At the time, the deals were seen as a solution to restore degraded forest ecosystems.
This is “a major breakthrough for community forests,” declared the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which implemented the project. “Forests are subject to multiple pressures, particularly deforestation, which is one of the main drivers of climate change. Therefore, the Community Management of Miombo Forests in Southeastern Katanga province aims to reduce carbon emissions caused by the destruction and degradation of Miombo forests.”
According to article 22 of the DRC's Forest Code, “local communities may, upon request, acquire part or all of the protected forest land which they normally own according to custom.” The transfer is given free of charge.
According to environmental activist Stephane Banza, around 30 logging permit applications have been submitted to the governor of Haut-Katanga under the deal, and 20 of them have resulted in the creation of community forests.
“We have been promoting forest law to communities living in and around the forests. We have shown them the procedures required to obtain forest concessions. We have also provided environmental education to communities and helped them draft simple management plans for their forest concessions,” Banza added.
He is a member of the NGO Action for the Protection of Nature and Indigenous Peoples of Katanga and a spokesman for the Dynamic of Indigenous Peoples Group (DGPA).
Mining Company
The delivery of official documents to local communities three years ago was seen as a guarantee that their forest concessions would not be taken away in the future.
But now these forests are being targeted by mining companies, some of which are applying for exploration permits and others for mining licenses, and local communities, who are poor and divided, are struggling to resist this threat to their forests.
Permits for mineral exploration and extraction are issued by the Mining Registry in and around local community forest concessions. This is done around the concession areas of Kete-Kaisara, Mwase, Kalunda-Kisununu and Kibuye. Most of these forests are located in the territory of Kipushi, about 70 km from Lubumbashi city, the capital of Haut-Katanga province.
Obtaining a mining permit is the first administrative prerequisite for a company to start mining operations. Many permits indicate that the company wants to mine cobalt and its derivatives, an energy conversion mineral used in batteries and electric vehicles.
According to mining registry data, some of the mining permits around the community concession area have been recently cancelled due to expiration or because the companies had not paid taxes to the Congolese government. These include permits belonging to STR Mining SPRL, Katanga Mega Mining, E29 Resources SARL, Samta Natural Resources Congo SAS and Virginika Mining.
Meanwhile, several exploration permits still exist in these same areas, including those granted to Societe des Mines du Congo SAS, Palmeres SARL, Congo Mineral Resources Company SAS and Nehema Copper SARLU. In addition, some exploration permits have been transitioned from exploration permits to mining permits.
Armed soldiers
Residents of Mwase village said they had seen land surveyors near their land before but did not know which company they worked for. “We didn't want to ask where they were coming from because they were accompanied by armed soldiers,” said Jean-Paul Kasongo, whose daily routine is cutting wood for charcoal production around his land.
According to Professor Jonathan Muledi, a professor at the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Lubumbashi and member of the Miombo Forest Observatory, mineral extraction should not give the impression that mining law takes precedence over forestry law.
“Forest ecosystems must not be sacrificed for mining, whose destructive impacts have been clearly demonstrated in Haut-Katanga and Lualaba provinces,” he asserted.
Lack of unity
Residents of Kete-Kaisara Communal Forest Area make a living by growing maize, sweet potatoes, beans and cassava, hunting, producing charcoal and collecting non-timber forest products such as caterpillars, fruits and mushrooms. To reach the village, east of the city of Lubumbashi, people must ride a bicycle or motorbike, competing with pedestrians on the footpaths leading to the village.
There are no roads, sanitation, schools, running water or mobile phone coverage – just one school with primary school children – in a village with such little infrastructure that Kete-Kaisara is one of the most isolated places in the Kipushi region of Haut-Katanga province.
Kete Kaisara is the largest community forest concession, covering over 27,000 hectares. It is located in Bukanda district, Kasongo region, and is made up of about 20 villages. Each village is represented by a “chief” who agreed to be part of the forest concession from the start.
Kete village chief Kaisara Mabwe Robert, head of the Kete-Kaisara Community Forest Area, said it was difficult to bring together the various village chiefs who donated land for the creation of the local community forest area to work on a common project.
“Some landowners who agreed to be part of the forest concession continue to sell their forests to forestry companies but such decisions come under the purview of the management committee. I call them to meetings but many do not attend and it is not possible to take a decision until more people attend the meetings,” he said.
“Evaluation meetings are supposed to be held twice a month, but no one attends. The ones who continue to sell the forest are habitual absentees who are pursuing their own selfish interests, rather than those of the whole community,” the village mayor told Oxpeckers.
Forest Management Area
It is important to note that there are three distinct management zones in local community forest concessions: development, utilization and conservation.FAO hoped that through the implementation of management plans, local communities would implement a sustainable management system in their forest concessions and at the same time use the income generated from the utilization of natural resources to improve their living conditions.
According to the management plans of these concessions, felling of trees or any other activities are prohibited within the protected areas.
The Ketekaisala Management Committee has repeatedly asked the sector authorities to allow it to harvest timber within the development zone to increase the value of its mining concessions, but to no avail. What is shocking to the committee is the ease with which such permits can be obtained by individuals operating with the authorities' approval.
Additionally, in Haut-Katanga province, logging of endangered redwood trees has been officially moratorium since 2017. “The moratorium only applies to the general public,” says DGPA's Banza. “Where does all the redwood timber we see in Lubumbashi and exported abroad come from?”
Didier Macal, a local environmental journalist, said the moratorium on redwood felling had led to two bypasses: “Firstly, many Chinese companies started working behind the scenes with local companies from Katanga. Secondly, Congolese companies, who received permission from the government in Kinshasa, started to work in the area.” [the DRC capital] “No other companies are entering this space,” he said, including senior government officials.
Negotiation Process
In both the Kete Kaisara and Kurunda forest concession areas, some local residents said they would not oppose the granting of mining concessions as long as they were involved throughout the negotiation process.
“If mining companies come to our area, they will end our isolation. We have no hospitals, schools or drinking water. But they must not come into our community forest protection areas,” said Robert Kaisara, head of Kete Kaisara village.
An email sent to FAO's public affairs office seeking comment on the situation remained unanswered at the time of going to press, and attempts to contact the organization's office in the Central African Republic were unsuccessful.
A recent investigation by Oxpeckers revealed how mining companies hoping to cash in on the global demand for cobalt are destroying protected nature reserves in the Democratic Republic of Congo (see “New Energy” Rush is Stripping DRC of Its Natural Resources). The DRC holds an estimated 50% of the world's cobalt reserves and supplies more than 70% of the world's demand for the mineral.
In response, the US non-profit organization C4ADS called on the DRC's Ministry of Mines to enact stricter regulations on mines operated by foreign companies near protected and conservation areas to protect the important biodiversity they house and limit the spread of illegal activities among nearby communities.
Meanwhile, environmental activist Stephen Banza suggested that community forest concessions need clearly marked boundaries, and that local land use and management policies must take community forest concessions into account to avoid overlaps with mining concessions.
Jonas Chirico is an investigative journalist based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, specialising in environmental, agricultural and water topics. This investigation is part of the Oxpeckers #PowerTracker series “The Human Cost of Energy in Africa” Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS).
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