Institutional Mechanisms for REDD+ - Case Studies Working Paper

2.0 DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF THE
CONGO
2.1 INTRODUCTION
STUDY OVERVIEW:
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) case study provides an overview of emerging strategies and
concepts relating to REDD+ benefit sharing that are currently being discussed by stakeholders and
policy-makers at the national level (Section 2.2). It then presents experiences with two cases:
� The Ibi-Bateke project, registered with the Clean Development Mechanism: This project
results from an investment by a private company, NOVACEL. This afforestation project
generates revenues through the sale of agro-forestry products and soon carbon credits. A
share of these revenues is invested in local community welfare and development .
� Social agreements concluded between logging companies and nearby communities: The
framework for these agreements was recently established by the DRC government and is
being tested in one province of DRC.
This study draws insights from interviews and visits conducted between March and May 2011 in
Kinshasa and in province Orientale, and from a literature review.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) encompasses 61 percent of the Congo Basin‘s dense forests and
has the highest net deforestation rate in the sub-region (de Wasseige, [ed.], 2009). In partnership with major
international financial institutions and bilateral donors, the country has made significant progress since 2002
to update its forestry legislation and to regulate industrial-scale logging. The DRC‘s government, through the
Ministry of the Environment, Natural Resources and Tourism (MECNT), has consistently showed interest in
REDD+ and is playing a leadership role within the sub-region, in particular through the Conférence des Ministres
des Forêts d’Afrique Centrale (Central African Forest Commission [COMIFAC]). 57
As a result, DRC is perceived as a strategic country to test and implement REDD+. The country received
significant support to develop a REDD+ plan and strategy, 58 and its REDD+ National Coordination team
includes international experts who have helped to fill the capacity gap within the DRC government on the
technicalities of REDD+ institutional design.
57 COMIFAC is a sub-regional institution created by the Paris Treaty in 1999 to harmonize forest policies between Congo Basin countries (DRC,
Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, and Chad). See www.comifac.org for more information.
58 The DRC government receives support from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), The United Nations Program on REDD+ (UN-
REDD), and the Forest Investment Program (FIP). In addition, the Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF) is financing several REDD+ pilot projects.
PRRGP INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR REDD: CASE STUDIES – WORKING PAPER 21