Republic of the Congo

About 65% of the Republic of the Congo is covered in dense rainforest. It has a large area of forest (approximately 22 million hectares) and a low historical rate of deforestation, which is likely to increase significantly as industrial agriculture expands. The annual rate of deforestation for the period 2010-15 was 0.1%.
 

Drivers of deforestation and degradation

The main drivers of deforestation and forest degradation are:

• Agricultural expansion
• Firewood production
• Forest exploitation including illegal logging
• Urban growth

To address these drivers the Republic of the Congo plans to:

• Reinforce tenure security
• Sustainably manage its forest resources
• Improve agricultural production
• Improve the sustainability of firewood production whilst reducing demand for this fuel

 

REDD+ actors and activities

The National REDD+ Coordination (CN-REDD) is responsible for advancing, coordinating and implementing the REDD+ process at national level. It is part of the Ministry of Forest Economy and Sustainable Development (MEFDD).

The National REDD+ Committee (CONA-REDD) is a proposed multistakeholder body that will steer the REDD+ process and coordinate across sectors, including forestry, mining, agriculture and energy.

Civil society organisations and indigenous people's groups have established CACO-REDD+, a platform for coordinating their engagement in the REDD+ process.

The Republic of the Congo is a beneficiary of the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and is a partner country of UN-REDD. It is also involved in the Central African Forest Intitative (CAFI).
 

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Status of FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA)

The Republic of the Congo ratified its VPA with the EU in 2013. It is now implementing the agreement. For more information see the VPA website of the Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the Congo page on the EU FLEGT Facility's website.