Kinshasa, 6 October 2026 – The Ministry of Environment, Sustainable Development and the New Climate Economy (MEDD-NEC in its French acronym ) organises the launch workshop for the development of the National Implementation Plan for the Intergovernmental Land Tenure Commitment (ILTC)* in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The workshop is being held with technical and financial support from the Royal Norwegian Embassy and the CAFI Secretariat.

54 Million Hectares by 2030

At COP30 in Belém, the DRC committed to securing approximately 54 million hectares of land for the benefit of local communities and Indigenous Pygmy peoples by 2030. This commitment forms part of the ILTC under the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP).

The DRC has already recognised approximately 5 million hectares as Local Community Forest Concessions (LCFCs). However, the ITLC commitment  commitment now needs an operational roadmap to turn this commitment into reality. The purpose of the study now launched on 6 October is therefore to develop a costed, spatially explicit, and legally grounded National ILTC-DRC Plan for 2026-2030. The objective is to consolidate, coordinate and scale up existing achievements, rather than create a parallel mechanism.

Building on Strong Foundations

The DRC already has a substantial reform agenda in place, much of which has been supported by CAFI through projects of the DRC National REDD Fund (FONAREDD) and accelerated through a dedicated project to support the achievements of milestones under the DRC CAFI Letter of Intent. 

At policy level, these achievements include the National Land Policy, the revised Land Law (promulgated on 31 December 2025), the development and piloting of the Land Information System (SIF in French), the Land-Use Planning Law, the 2022 Law on Indigenous Pygmy Peoples and the National Forest Policy.

On the ground, by the end of 2025, CAFI-supported projects had contributed, among other results, to the completion of 5 Provincial Land-use Plans and over 1,000 local land-use plans, as well as the official recognition of more than 600,000 hectares of Local Community Forest Concessions, representing nearly 10% of all LCFC areas in the DRC.

Pressure on customary lands is nonetheless increasing as a result of global demand for critical minerals, the global “30×30” conservation target, the new carbon market legal framework, and major infrastructure corridors. The challenge is therefore not a lack of legislation, but rather coordination across sectors. The National ILTC-DRC Plan will serve as a tool for coordination and arbitration.

A consultative process

The workshop on 6 October builds on a consultation process that has been underway for several months:

1. Belém, November 2025: Launch of the ILTC at COP30, where the DRC, with CAFI’s technical support, made its commitment to secure 54 million hectares.
2. Kinshasa, 21 May 2026: A multi-stakeholder consultation on the land rights of local communities and Indigenous Peoples, organized under the FCLP at the Residence of the Norwegian Ambassador. The event brought together government representatives, civil society, technical and financial partners, local communities and Indigenous Peoples and highlighted several key messages: forest protection cannot be effective without the meaningful participation of the people who live in and depend on forest ; environmental policies can only succeed sustainably if communities’ land rights are clearly recognized and effectively protected; greater transparency, participation and coordination is needed among stakeholders; financing mechanisms need be accessible to communities.

What the Workshop is Set to Deliver

Convening sectoral ministries, public institutions, technical and financial partners, organizations representing local communities and Indigenous Pygmy peoples, including Indigenous women’s organizations, civil society, customary authorities and academia, the workshop aims to:

• Officially launch the process under the leadership of the Ministry of Environment
• Present the study inception note and gather stakeholder feedback before the diagnostic phase
• Discuss initial options for the Plan’s architecture, structured around four pillars:
  • 1) legal framework, regulatory texts and community safeguards
  • 2) on-the-ground tenure security : participatory mapping, zoning,
  • 3) governance and capacity-building, including the role of women
  • 4) financing, monitoring and accountability, with indicators aligned with the FAO- FCLP indicators
• Agree on next steps, including the establishment of a steering committee, designation of ministerial focal points, and access to geospatial data.