Uncovering forest loss in gorilla park six months after M23 offensive in the DRC
Six months ago, the M23 rebel group seized Goma, one of the largest cities in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the time since, local activists and…
Democratic Republic Of Congo News
Signs of hope for rescued gorillas rewilded in DRC, but security concerns linger
Isangi, Lulingu, Mapendo and Ndjingala: these are the names of four Grauer’s gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri) that conservationists reintroduced to the wild in October 2024. After years in a sanctuary,…
Pandemic-era slump in ivory and pangolin scale trafficking persists, report finds
A recent report surveying seizures of pangolin scales and elephant ivory over the past decade has found a sharp decline following the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from media reports, public…
‘Culture & nature are one’: Interview with Mudja Chief Bitini Ndiyanabo Kanane
Virunga is Africa’s first national park, created by Belgian royal decree in 1925. Named for the mountains that straddle the borders between modern-day Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Rwanda,…
Tropical forest loss hit new heights in 2024; fire a major driver in Latin America
Tropical forest loss skyrocketed in 2024, with vast swaths of primary forest consumed by fire, according to new satellite data from the University of Maryland’s Global Land Analysis and Discovery…
Soldiers raid village as tensions flare over DRC’s Kamoa mine expansion
LUBUMBASHI, Democratic Republic of Congo — At 4 a.m. on April 27, soldiers shattered the peace of a village in a mining region the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Lualaba province.…
13 years after deadly attack, an okapi returns to Epulu in DRC reserve
In February 2025, rangers at Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in partnership with the Okapi Conservation Project, successfully brought an okapi to Epulu, site of the…
Poaching intensifies in M23-occupied areas of Virunga National Park
The intensifying security crisis in parts of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the years is undermining wildlife protection in Virunga National Park, say officials and local residents.…
Through colonization, conflicts and conservation: 100 years of Virunga National Park
“For me, the 100th anniversary of Virunga National Park is the fruit of resistance. A peaceful resistance led by local activists [and] environmentalists,” says François Kamaté, environmental activist and founder…
DRC conflict so far ‘devastating’ to Indigenous lands & people: Interview with Samuel Ade Ndasi
The resumption of hostilities since the M23 (March 23 Movement) rebel group resurged and captured territories in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2021 has had a devastating…
The environmental toll of the M23 conflict in eastern DRC (Analysis)
The resurgence of the M23 (March 23 movement) rebel group has once again drawn global attention to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The humanitarian crisis—millions displaced, thousands…
EU parliament calls for end to Rwanda mineral pact over DRC conflict links
On Feb. 13, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to suspend a cooperation agreement with Rwanda on a trio of minerals critical to the clean energy transition, citing their links to…
DRC government directive triggers panic in ape sanctuaries amid ongoing conflict
For primate sanctuaries in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the year 2025 has begun with panic, worry and uncertainty as they are caught between the ongoing armed conflict in the…
Indigenous people cut down trees as solar energy remains inaccessible and costly in DRC
LUBUMBASHI — When night falls in the Batwa village of Lukwangulo, only the local chief’s house is illuminated. In this village in the southeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s…
Environmental & rights activists flee and hide as M23 captures DRC’s cities
“Since Goma fell, I've lived in fear. I don't dare leave my house.” These are the words of Justin Shamutwa Masumbuko, general coordinator of the Indigenous rights NGO ADELIPO-Congo. For…
Amid bombs and chaos, Goma’s displaced residents share their fears and hopes
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo — “I fled the fighting in Bweremana between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo [FARDC] and the M23 armed group. I saw…
The key factors fueling conflict in eastern DRC
The past three years have been turbulent for the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a region that has experienced prolonged conflict for many years. The recent advancement of M23, a…
How illicit mining fuels violence in eastern DRC: Interview with Jean-Pierre Okenda
On Jan. 28, the Rwanda-backed rebel group M23 captured Goma, capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral-rich North Kivu province. The fall of Goma marks a shocking chapter…
In DRC bid to grow more food, smallholders are overshadowed by industrial farming
BUDJALA, Democratic Republic of Congo — “We are in a province with an agropastoral vocation,” says Jean Guillaume Ngbanga Masolo, provincial inspector for agriculture in South Ubangi province. From his…
New campaign seeks swifter justice for slain South African wildlife ranger
In July 2022, Anton Mzimba, the head ranger at Timbavati Private Nature Reserve in South Africa, was killed outside his home by two men, allegedly in connection with his rhino…
The year in tropical rainforests: 2024
The year 2024 saw significant developments in tropical rainforest conservation, deforestation, and degradation. While progress in some regions provided glimmers of hope, systemic challenges and emerging threats highlighted the fragility…
Armed conflict, not Batwa people, at heart of Grauer’s gorillas’ past decline in DRC park
A new study has concluded that the decline in Grauer’s gorillas in a sector of their main stronghold in the Democratic Republic of Congo was the result of the impacts…
Progress on rights complaint systems in Congo Basin but more needed, says group
Conservation groups have made progress setting up complaints systems in protected areas in the Congo Basin, but there’s still a ways to go, the Rainforest Foundation UK says in a…
Illegal gold mining drives deforestation in DRC reserve home to ‘African unicorn’
Illegal mining inside the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to spread, satellite data show, driving environmental devastation. Deforestation stayed at a near-record high…
‘Historic’ decision for the Batwa & DRC gorilla park faces hurdles — and hope
In a historic 2022 ruling, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights found that the forced eviction of the Indigenous Batwa community from the Kahuzi-Biega National Park was a…
DRC carbon credit projects surge amid lack of regulation
Carbon markets are among the proposed solutions for financing the protection of forests that sequester carbon and hold biodiversity. In the Democratic Republic of Congo alone, carbon credit projects cover…
Cobalt mining for green energy risks women’s reproductive health in DRC
LUBUMBASHI, Democratic Republic of Congo — Our investigation begins at the Trinité Medical Center, less than 20 kilometers, or 12 miles, from the city of Kolwezi, in the south of…
Study finds bonobos more diverse, and more vulnerable, than previously thought
Bonobos, human’s closest relatives, are classified as an endangered species. Groundbreaking research suggests their vulnerability might be even more severe than previously thought. In a first-of-its-kind study published in Current…
For DRC’s artisanal miners, promise of formalization has yielded little
Some 200,000 people work in artisanal copper and cobalt mining the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Katanga region. Most of them scrape a livelihood from the soil with manual tools, often…
DR Congo: environmental activist faces 5 years in prison
LUBUMBASHI, Democratic Republic of Congo — An environmental activist in the Democratic Republic of Congo faces five years in prison over allegations that he threatened a logger allegedly engaged in…
WWF report offers glimmer of conservation hope — yet warns of a planet in peril
With recent conservation efforts and the involvement of Indigenous peoples and local communities in managing protected areas, forest elephant populations are on the verge of stabilizing,in at least one national…
‘Dream birds’ in the mist: First photo of ‘lost’ bird in DRC mountains
Michael Harvey recalls the moment he first saw a flock of yellow-crested helmetshrikes flitting through a cloud forest in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: the first confirmed sighting by…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Narco airstrips beset Indigenous communities in Peruvian Amazon
- 15 illegal narco-trafficking airstrips found near Peru Indigenous communities
- Satellite data show bursts of deforestation continue in Indonesian national park
- Fires rip through Indigenous territories in Brazilian Amazon
Oceans
- Global tracking study reveals marine megafauna hotspots lie largely unprotected
- First-ever assessment highlights threats to Atlantic cold-water corals
- Major coral loss in Vietnam’s first marine protected area: Study
- When heat waves hit, clownfish shrink to survive, study finds
Amazon Conservation
- ‘World’s largest’ carbon credit deal in the Amazon faces bumpy road ahead
- New conservation model calls for protecting Amazon for its archaeological riches
- Brazil dredges Amazon rivers to ease drought isolation, raising environmental concerns
- ‘We need white men on our side to save the Amazon from destruction,’ 92-year-old Indigenous Chief Raoni says
Land rights and extractives
- Indigenous Amazonians win landmark ruling against mercury pollution in Colombia
- Indigenous Bajo suffer child deaths & toxic sludge amid green energy push
- ‘Colombia’s Amazon peoples provide solutions’: Interview with José Homero Mutumbajoy
- Should mining companies consider no-go zones where isolated Indigenous peoples live? (Commentary)
Endangered Environmentalists
- Environmental & rights activists flee and hide as M23 captures DRC’s cities
- Environmental journalist in Cambodia shot and killed by suspected logger
- Vietnam sentences yet another energy expert over renewables research
- Mother Nature Cambodia activists sentenced to prison — again
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- On a Borneo mountainside, Indigenous Dayak women hold fire and defend forest
- Fenced in by Sulawesi national park, Indigenous women make forestry breakout
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
Conservation Effectiveness
- How effective is the EU’s marquee policy to reduce the illegal timber trade?
- How sharing and learning from failures can transform conservation (commentary)
- Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?
- Failure in conservation projects: Everyone experiences it, few record it
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- An ‘ocean grab’ for a property megaproject leaves Jakarta fishers grounded
- Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
