DR Congo’s vast ‘Green Corridor’ plan faces human rights and environmental concerns

Climate Rights International warns that oil exploration, mining and land disputes could undermine a major conservation and development initiative stretching across the country.

A major conservation and economic development initiative in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) faces calls for stronger environmental safeguards and protection for local communities, amid concerns that oil exploration, mining, and large-scale commercial activities could undermine its ambitions.

Climate Rights International (CRI) says in a new report that the government must ensure projects under the proposed Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor protect the country's forests, respect land rights, and meet climate commitments.

The organisation calls for a permanent ban on new logging concessions, a ban on oil and gas exploration and extraction, and restrictions on destructive mining within the corridor.

It also wants the government to protect environmental activists and ensure that communities are not forcibly displaced in the name of development.

Announced in 2025 by President Felix Tshisekedi, the Green Corridor is one of Africa's most ambitious conservation and economic development initiatives.

Stretching approximately 2,400km from North Kivu in eastern DR Congo to the capital, Kinshasa, in the west, the proposed corridor covers an area roughly the size of France and is home to about 25 million people.

It sits within the Congo Basin, which contains the world's largest net carbon sink and some of its most threatened tropical forests.

The government and its international partners say the initiative will combine nature conservation with economic development, creating jobs while protecting ecosystems that play a critical role in regulating the global climate.

But CRI says enforceable protections must match the scale of the ambition.

"The Green Corridor is an ambitious initiative filled with opportunity and risk," said Fabien Offner, a researcher at Climate Rights International.

"It could be the engine for economic growth, modernisation and the protection of the DRC's critical forests and peatlands. Yet current plans do not prohibit major resource extraction and do not cancel planned large-scale extractive activities," Fabien added.

He said authorities should introduce legislation that explicitly prohibits destructive mining, oil and gas drilling, and logging within the corridor.

One of the report's clearest contradictions concerns the government's plans to open oil blocks for exploration.

In May 2025, just four months after President Tshisekedi announced the Green Corridor, the authorities opened 52 oil blocks for bidding, adding to three previously awarded. According to CRI, 28 of the 55 blocks overlap with 72% of the proposed Green Corridor.

The move has attracted strong opposition from environmental organisations, particularly the coalition Our Land Without Oil, which brings together more than 100 Congolese and international organisations.

The coalition has described the decision as incompatible with the country's ambition to position itself as a climate solution country.

For CRI, the issue goes beyond the potential environmental consequences of oil extraction.

The organisation warns that expanding extractive industries could intensify pressure on communities whose livelihoods depend on land and natural resources.

It also highlights the risks of large-scale agricultural investments.

Agro-industrial activities in the DRC have been linked to human rights abuses, including excessive force against activists and environmental defenders.

Those who investigate or expose the effects of extractive industries, the report says, continue to face killings, violence, threats and strategic lawsuits intended to silence public criticism.

The organisation is particularly concerned about forced evictions and the loss of community land as investors are attracted by tax and customs incentives introduced to support the Green Corridor.

Mining presents another challenge. CRI says the authorities appear determined to advance new mining projects within or close to the corridor, despite the sector's record of corruption, the involvement of armed groups in some provinces and serious human rights violations.

These include excessive use of force and environmental pollution, with potentially severe public health consequences.

The organisation argues that economic activities planned under the initiative, including transport infrastructure and renewable energy, must undergo transparent, independent environmental and social impact assessments.

It says such assessments must involve meaningful consultation with affected communities.

"The DRC's ambition to play the role of a 'solution country' for the climate is laudable, but it will only be taken seriously if the authorities make the protection of land and environmental defenders their highest priority and hold violators accountable," Mr Fabien said.

The Green Corridor's promoters have identified community consent as a central principle of the initiative. However, CRI questions whether that commitment will translate into practice.

It points to the country's record of failing to properly implement Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), a principle requiring communities to receive information and give their consent before projects affecting their land and resources proceed.

The organisation says previous projects in the DRC have shown how easily these safeguards can be ignored or circumvented. Without stronger enforcement, it fears the Green Corridor could repeat the same mistakes.

The government is relying heavily on the Virunga Foundation's experience, which has built an international reputation for combining conservation, community protection and economic development.

The foundation is expected to play a central role in implementing the corridor through a public-private partnership with the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN).

The intention is to expand the conservation and development model associated with Virunga National Park to a much larger geographical area.

The initiative's economic ambitions are substantial. Its proposed green economy is built around four sectors, renewable energy, industrial processing of agricultural products, transport and carbon finance.

The Virunga Foundation estimates that the projects could generate 500,000 jobs by 2030. However, CRI warns that replicating the Virunga model at this scale requires careful scrutiny.

Operations in Virunga and other protected areas have themselves attracted criticism, particularly over allegations of abuses by eco-guards against local communities.

The guards, who also face attacks from armed groups, are expected to play an important role in protecting the corridor.

Under the proposed model, Forward Operating Bases would support agricultural processing and conservation activities, secured by eco-guards and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The plan envisages replicating these facilities 19 times across the corridor and deploying an additional 760 eco-guards.

CRI says it must examine the human rights implications of this approach before expanding it. Questions also remain about the ICCN's ability to provide effective oversight.

Civil society representatives have raised concerns about the institute's capacity to supervise the Virunga Foundation, particularly because it already struggles to manage protected areas covering nearly 15% of the country.

The report also notes that the institute is partly financially dependent on the foundation, raising questions about its independence.

Questions over oversight and accountability

Beyond environmental and human rights concerns, CRI says the governance arrangements for the Green Corridor remain insufficiently clear.

It questions the extent of civil society participation, the division of responsibilities among implementing institutions and the mechanisms through which donors and other partners will be held accountable.

The concerns come as international financial support gathers momentum. The European Union has pledged at least €78.6m to the initiative under its Global Gateway programme, describing its involvement as one of its most ambitious initiatives.

But CRI says the financial commitments have not been matched by sufficiently clear benchmarks and independent accountability arrangements.

The organisation has welcomed the establishment of an Independent Civil Society Committee for the Participatory Governance of the Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor and the publication of a Governance Charter. However, it says the committee's actual influence remains to be tested.

The corridor's pilot phase, scheduled to run from 2025 to 2028, is expected to provide an early indication of whether the governance arrangements can ensure meaningful public participation and independent scrutiny.

The DRC has also taken steps to strengthen its legal framework for land protection. These include a law amending the general regime governing property, land tenure, real estate and securities, adopted in December 2025, and the country's first land-use planning law, promulgated in July 2025.

CRI says these measures could provide a foundation for better protection against land dispossession, particularly where powerful commercial interests are involved. But legislation alone may not be enough without effective enforcement.

For Mr Fabien, the Green Corridor's success will ultimately depend on whether the government can translate its conservation promises into practical protections for the people and ecosystems the initiative is meant to serve.

"Discussions with Congolese and members of civil society, interviews with stakeholders, and a review of documents available about the Green Corridor create both hope and concern," he said.

He argued that an initiative of this scale, intended to protect forests of global importance while improving food security and stability in the DRC, requires transparency, inclusion, and strong, independent oversight.

"No matter how good the intentions, it is essential to establish a governance structure that includes an independent oversight body with genuine authority that includes Congolese civil society, affected communities, provincial authorities and relevant ministries," he said.

For a country seeking to turn its extraordinary natural wealth into an engine of sustainable development, the challenge is not to establish a vast conservation corridor. It is to ensure that the pursuit of economic growth does not come at the expense of the people, land and forests the project promises to protect.