Prevention and Management of Forest Conflicts in Congolese Law

The Democratic Republic of Congo has committed to forestry reform by drafting Law No. 011/2002 of August 29, 2002, establishing the Forest Code, with a view to enabling forests to fulfill their three essential functions: ecological, economic, and social. To this end, the State grants concessions for the exploitation of forest areas. The Alibuku forest concession was granted to COTREFOR on the basis of a supply guarantee without conducting a preliminary survey to determine the areas occupied by villagers. As a result, some villages found themselves within the boundaries of the concession. When the supply guarantee was converted into a forest concession contract, the error was not corrected by the public inquiry provided for in Article 84 of the Forestry Act. Added to this are conflicts related to communities’ failure to respect boundaries and non-compliance with the terms of the specifications. To resolve these forestry disputes, Ministerial Decree No. 103/CAB/MIN/ECN-T/15/JEB/09 of June 16, 2009, on the organization and functioning of the forestry dispute settlement commission, was published.