A multi-stakeholder working session was held with leading environmental organizations including GeoFirst, ANAPAT, RNB, RFN, and PIDEP, alongside the IRI DRC facilitation team.
The meeting aimed to strengthen cooperation between civil society and interfaith networks to promote inclusive forest governance. Discussions underscored the importance of integrating spiritual and moral perspectives into environmental action, inspired by Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’.
Participants identified priority reforms for joint advocacy – land and forest reforms, regulation of mining and oil activities, implementation of the Indigenous Peoples Law, and the clarification of the green corridors project, particularly in Moanda, where oil extraction has caused serious ecological damage.
Concerns were raised over policymakers’ limited understanding of environmental issues, leading to a recommendation for capacity building among parliamentarians. The group also emphasized the need to collect data from grassroots Indigenous organizations, promote gender-sensitive and inclusive actions, and foster alliances for sustainable forest management.
