The Congo Basin Fund will be launched on Wednesday 19 November 2025 in Belém, Brazil, where COP30 is being held. Launched by environmental civil society organizations, this fund aims to support local communities in protecting the forest and marine ecosystem.

"We must do this because it is the right thing to do, because doing so means supporting the communities that pay the highest price for deforestation and other consequences," says Maman Dorothée Lisenga, one of the indigenous women environmental activists from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This panel brings together leaders of local funds and key representatives working in the world's major forests—the Amazon, Congo, and Indonesia—to share concrete experiences of direct support for nature-based, community-led solutions whose primary goal is to keep the forest standing.

After the launch, several other community and environmental fund managers exchanged views with the stakeholders of these new funds. Maria Amália Souza, Founder and Director of Global Philanthropy Strategies, Fundo Casa Socioambiental, a fund dedicated to the Amazon rainforest, believes that this new fund must fight to ensure its success while maintaining the philosophy of local communities:

"It's like this front that we're going to there. Well, there's going to have to be re-accommodation of systems here, and that's what we're trying, embedding it, and just going and being places like this and bringing partners and creating direct voices."

With an annual absorption of around 1.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide, or around 4% of global emissions, Central Africa is one of the regions of the world with the most positive differential between carbon absorption and emissions, with a net flow of around 600 million tons of carbon dioxide.

The region has a sequestered carbon stock of approximately 60 billion tons, 30 billions of which are found in its peatlands, which represent the largest tropical peatland forest complex in the world. These forests are also the world's most efficient ecosystem for carbon capture.

Written by Akilimali Chomachoma in Belem, Brazil

A fire broke out in the "Blue Zone" pavilion of the COP30 venue in Belém, Brazil, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 20, 2025. If the area was closed in the afternoon, official sources said mum.The fire occurred in one of the pavilions in the Blue Zone, the restricted area where official negotiations between countries take place. The fire has been contained, and there are no reports of any injuries said the Brazilian authorities here at the site. In an official communication, the UN said that the situation is under control of Brazil government, and the local authorities will give an update at 4:00 PM local time."13 individuals were treated on site for smoke inhalation. Their condition is being monitored, and appropriate medical support has been provided" said local authorities in Belem.The organizer, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) confirmed in an email sent to participants that : "Following a comprehensive safety assessment, we confirm that the venue has been thoroughly inspected and deemed fully safe".The entire Blue Zone was temporarily closed for a safety assessment, causing a pause in the negotiations which were in their final stages. The Blue Zone was re-opened around 8:40 PM local time the same day for negotiations to resume, though the specific affected area remains isolated until the conference ends said UN source. Belém is the capital of the state of Pará, in the northern region of Brazil. It is a major gateway to the Amazon River, known for its rich history, unique culture influenced by indigenous, African, and European traditions, and distinctive cuisine. The choice serves to focus international attention on the rainforest's existential danger and Brazil's role in forest preservation and climate leadership. This location is also a symbolic contrast to previous host countries with fossil fuel-based economies. To be continued

Written by Akilimali Chomachoma

"Cheated! The rush for critical minerals in the DRC." This is the title of the report just published by the Oakland Institute, an independent American think tank that aims to contribute to major social, economic
and environmental issues. The Congolese press has produced articles on this report.

Actualite.cd begins with the context of the signing after the fall of the cities of Goma and Bukavu to M23 rebels supported by Rwanda.

"In the aftermath of the fall of Goma and Bukavu and after the failure of the Luanda process, the Washington agreement and the Doha process are the two complementary parts of major diplomatic initiatives aimed at ending the persistent conflicts in eastern DRC, particularly those involving Rwanda and armed groups such as the M23," according to this online newspaper.

"While US President Donald Trump hailed the 'peace' agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as the end of a deadly three-decade war, a new report from the Oakland Institute casts a shadow over this announcement," states the opinion news website.

"Entitled Shafted: The Scramble for Critical Minerals in the DRC, the document asserts that this diplomatic initiative primarily conceals a US strategy aimed at consolidating control over critical Congolese minerals,"
adds Opinion Infos.

For researchers at the Oakland Institute, this diplomatic agreement is not a step towards peace, but rather a "win-lose deal," according to the Kinshasa-based media outlet.

The report acknowledges that formalising trade through the Washington agreement "may reduce these losses", but stresses that "with its much larger mineral deposits, the DRC will continue to be the site of
extraction, with enormous social and environmental costs, while Rwanda will benefit from the processing and export of minerals around the world," according to DeskEco.com.

The report acknowledges that formalising trade through the Washington agreement "may reduce these losses", but stresses that "with its much larger mineral deposits, the DRC will continue to be the site of
extraction, with enormous social and environmental costs, while Rwanda will benefit from the processing and export of minerals around the world," according to DeskEco.com.

The report acknowledges that formalising trade through the Washington agreement "may reduce these losses", but stresses that "with its much larger mineral deposits, the DRC will continue to be the site of
extraction, with enormous social and environmental costs, while Rwanda will benefit from the processing and export of minerals around the world", according to DeskEco.com.

"According to the study, the United States turned a blind eye to massive exports of tantalum, a metal extracted from coltan, from Rwanda," reports lafortune.net, a media outlet focusing on economic trade issues. It goes on to add that "At its peak, more than half of US tantalum imports came from Rwanda,
despite its limited mining production."

Finances Entreprises focused directly on the plundering of Congolese mineral resources by Rwanda with the tacit agreement of the United States. "The analysis of historical coltan trade data presented in the report shows that the United States played a central role in laundering Congolese minerals smuggled by Rwanda. Total exports of tantalum (extracted from coltan) from Rwanda to the United States increased
15-fold between 2013 and 2018," the daily newspaper reports.

Written by Akilimali Chomachoma

Virunga National Park announced a new birth on Friday 23 October. During a monitoring patrol, the bio-monitoring assistant and his team observed a female from the Baraka family holding her newborn baby in her arms.

With this birth, the Baraka family now numbers 17 individuals. It is also the sixth birth recorded in this protected area this year, according to park officials.

According to park officials, it was during a routine patrol that an assistant responsible for monitoring primates observed a female from the Baraka family holding a newborn in her arms. The identity of the mother and the sex of the baby have not yet been confirmed, and observations are continuing to determine this information.

"The mother has not yet been identified since some members of the Baraka family are still unnamed, and the sex of the infant remains unknown. Observations will continue during upcoming visits to confirm the details of this birth and monitor the family" said the Virunga National Park.

Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Virunga National Park continues to face enormous challenges. Since 2022, clashes between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and AFC/M23 rebels have severely disrupted conservation activities.

Written by Akilimali Chomachoma

The Chief of Staff to the Head of State, Antony Kinzo, acting on the orders of President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, has instructed Deputy Prime Minister for the Interior Jacquemin Shabani Lukoo to impose a moratorium on all motions of no confidence or censure until the end of the war in the east of the country. This presidential decision has provoked strong reactions among Congolese politicians.

While the government justifies this measure as necessary to preserve the stability of institutions during a period of security crisis, several observers see it as an authoritarian move and a serious violation of the democratic principles enshrined in the Congolese Constitution.

"This measure aims to allow provincial governors to manage their entities without the constant fear of being removed from office," according to the office of the President of the Republic.

Political analysts believe that this decision reflects a fear of democratic debate and a desire on the part of the regime to protect certain public officials in the face of mounting criticism of the management of state affairs. For them, war cannot be used as a pretext to neutralize the control of the legislative branch, one of the pillars of any democracy.

"It's an indirect way of telling people not to touch the governors or scrutinize their management. Because even recommendations are prohibited. This is a new violation of the constitution, which established provincial assemblies as bodies to oversee the management of provincial governors," said a law researcher at the University of Kinshasa, speaking on condition of anonymity.

This moratorium comes after the dismissal of the governor of Tshopo province, Paulin Lendongolia Lebabonga, who is considered behind the scenes to be one of the President's protégés. On several occasions, provincial assemblies have dismissed other governors without Kinshasa taking any action.

Written by Akilimali Chomachoma

The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) announced that they had neutralised nine Mobondo militiamen and captured sixty others during a large-scale 72-hour search operation in the Kingakati group, east of Kinshasa.

According to Captain Antony Mualushayi, spokesperson for NGEMBA operations, the forces seized 22 weapons, including 15 AK-47 rifles and several machetes. The equipment is currently being inventoried by units on site, he added. The officer also specified that the two wounded soldiers are receiving appropriate care in military medical facilities.

Finally, the FARDC called on the Mobondo militiamen still on the run to surrender with their weapons "while they still have the opportunity" and thanked the people of Kinshasa, particularly those in the Kingakati group, for their support and cooperation, calling on them to continue to help so that the displaced persons can quickly return to their homes.

The Mobondo militias emerged from an armed community movement that appeared in 2022 in the provinces of Mai-Ndombe, Kwilu and Kwango, following land and ethnic disputes between the Yaka and Teke communities. Despite several calls for disarmament by the government, these groups continue to sow insecurity in certain rural areas, now spreading to the outskirts of Kinshasa.

Written by Akilimali Chomachoma

"Cheated! The rush for critical minerals in the DRC." This is the title of the report just published by the Oakland Institute, an independent American think tank that aims to contribute to major social, economic and environmental issues. The Congolese press has produced articles on this report.

Actualite.cd begins with the context of the signing after the fall of the cities of Goma and Bukavu to M23 rebels supported by Rwanda.

"In the aftermath of the fall of Goma and Bukavu and after the failure of the Luanda process, the Washington agreement and the Doha process are the two complementary parts of major diplomatic initiatives aimed at ending the persistent conflicts in eastern DRC, particularly those involving Rwanda and armed groups such as the M23," according to this online newspaper.

"While US President Donald Trump hailed the 'peace' agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as the end of a deadly three-decade war, a new report from the Oakland Institute casts a shadow over this announcement," states the opinion news website.

"Entitled Shafted: The Scramble for Critical Minerals in the DRC, the document asserts that this diplomatic initiative primarily conceals a US strategy aimed at consolidating control over critical Congolese minerals," adds Opinion Infos.

For researchers at the Oakland Institute, this diplomatic agreement is not a step towards peace, but rather a "win-lose deal," according to the Kinshasa-based media outlet.

The report acknowledges that formalising trade through the Washington agreement "may reduce these losses", but stresses that "with its much larger mineral deposits, the DRC will continue to be the site of extraction, with enormous social and environmental costs, while Rwanda will benefit from the processing and export of minerals around the world," according to DeskEco.com.

The report acknowledges that formalising trade through the Washington agreement "may reduce these losses", but stresses that "with its much larger mineral deposits, the DRC will continue to be the site of extraction, with enormous social and environmental costs, while Rwanda will benefit from the processing and export of minerals around the world," according to DeskEco.com.

The report acknowledges that formalising trade through the Washington agreement "may reduce these losses", but stresses that "with its much larger mineral deposits, the DRC will continue to be the site of extraction, with enormous social and environmental costs, while Rwanda will benefit from the processing and export of minerals around the world", according to DeskEco.com.

"According to the study, the United States turned a blind eye to massive exports of tantalum, a metal extracted from coltan, from Rwanda," reports lafortune.net, a media outlet focusing on economic trade issues. It goes on to add that "At its peak, more than half of US tantalum imports came from Rwanda, despite its limited mining production."

Finances Entreprises focused directly on the plundering of Congolese mineral resources by Rwanda with the tacit agreement of the United States. "The analysis of historical coltan trade data presented in the report shows that the United States played a central role in laundering Congolese minerals smuggled by Rwanda. Total exports of tantalum (extracted from coltan) from Rwanda to the United States increased 15-fold between 2013 and 2018," the daily newspaper reports.

Written by Akilimali Chomachoma

Virunga National Park announced a new birth on Friday 23 October. During a monitoring patrol, the bio-monitoring assistant and his team observed a female from the Baraka family holding her newborn baby in her arms.

With this birth, the Baraka family now numbers 17 individuals. It is also the sixth birth recorded in this protected area this year, according to park officials.

According to park officials, it was during a routine patrol that an assistant responsible for monitoring primates observed a female from the Baraka family holding a newborn in her arms. The identity of the mother and the sex of the baby have not yet been confirmed, and observations are continuing to determine this information.

"The mother has not yet been identified since some members of the Baraka family are still unnamed, and the sex of the infant remains unknown. Observations will continue during upcoming visits to confirm the details of this birth and monitor the family" said the Virunga National Park.

Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Virunga National Park continues to face enormous challenges. Since 2022, clashes between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and AFC/M23 rebels have severely disrupted conservation activities.

Written by Akilimali Chomachoma

The film Mikuba by Congolese director Petna Ndaliko was screened for the first time in the city of Kolwezi in the province of Lualaba in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This premiere launches several other film screenings, the next of which will take place in a mining square where the actors themselves will be present.

The first to view the film are political decision-makers in the mining sector and leaders of artisanal mining cooperatives.

Thousands of people work in small artisanal mines, digging to extract cobalt and copper in often dangerous conditions. The film depicts these miners' struggle for dignity and the pursuit of well-being.

"When we work, we cannot understand the issue, but with this film, we see it and it makes us think differently about how we can improve further," said one of the mine inspectors after the screening. 

Artisanal miners supply a significant portion of the cobalt mined in the country, estimated at between 20% and 30% according to a report by Afriwatch. 

The choice of the world's cobalt capital is not insignificant. Kolwezi is a major mining center in the DRC, known for its vast copper and cobalt deposits, which are exploited by both large industrial companies and thousands of artisanal miners.

Francis Kapund: "Thank you very much for the film, which shows our regret. We work hard, but no Congolese have contracts in the factories. May the political authorities break this system, because we are the ones who suffer."

Makuba is a film shot in the artisanal mining areas near Kolwezi. The film tells the story of miners who work in difficult conditions but end up being paid less than the price of their efforts, even though this underground wealth belongs to them. Petna Ndaliko immerses us not only in the present but also questions the local origins of mining before plunging viewers into a questioning of the future of the sector from a purely Congolese perspective. This 60-minute film was co-produced by the Basandja Coalition, a collective of community organizations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Written by Akilimali Chomachoma

The non-governmental organization Forum des Engagés pour le Développement Durable (FORED) has alerted the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the oil exploitation being carried out by Uganda on Lake Albert, located in the Albertin graben shared by the two countries.

According to John K. Lufukaribu Toly, Executive Director of FORED, multinational oil companies are moving ahead with the installation of oil infrastructures, in particular the drilling of wells in Uganda, without informing the Congolese government or the local communities in the DRC. The activist condemns these unilateral actions, which are jeopardizing the ecosystem of Lake Albert, the source of food for thousands of people.

 "Uganda wants to exploit the oil in and around Lake Albert. As we all know, there is no such thing as zero risk in oil production. Drilling already causes chemical pollution. Lake Albert is therefore threatened by these activities", he warns.

FORED is particularly concerned about the lack of clear mechanisms for establishing responsibility in the event of pollution, even though Lake Albert is a vital source of income for thousands of Congolese families.

 "Who will take responsibility if Lake Albert is polluted? The Ugandan government or the oil and gas companies?" asks John Lufukaribu.

In response to this threat, FORED is recommending awareness-raising campaigns aimed at local communities and is urging the Congolese government to negotiate clear guarantees in the event of pollution, particularly with the companies involved, such as the multinational Total Energies.

"There must be a clear mechanism of responsibility between governments, operating companies and local communities. If the ministry does not react, we will intensify our actions. The same warning letter has been sent to Uganda and to the operating companies and decentralized bodies", insists the activist.

According to satellite analyses by the NGO Earth Insight, quoted by the specialist media Mongabay Afrique, almost 22% of a feeder pipeline had already been built by June 2025, and 630 km² of vegetation had been cleared near the Murchison Falls national park in Uganda for the development of the project. The project includes a 1,443 km pipeline linking the Tilenga and Kingfisher oil fields in Uganda to the Tanzanian port of Tanga, giving the landlocked country access to the Indian Ocean.

It should be noted that the Ugandan government and Total Energies have already signed a host agreement for the EACOP on 11 September 2020, according to online media outlet Infonile. John Lufukaribu believes that these processes do not take sufficient account of the rights of local communities and are contributing to the loss of biodiversity in the region.

Environmental organizations in the DRC, such as the Fédération des comités de pêcheurs du lac Albert, are calling for the publication of independent, publicly accessible environmental and ecological impact studies to ensure the protection of this strategic resource.

Written by Victoire Katembo Mbuto