DRC : Indicators

There is no national land tenure policy. A general law on land and property dates from 1973 and was amended in 1980, but has not been reviewed since.

In the area of natural resources, several different laws are currently in force including the Forest Code, the Mining Code, general legislation on mines and hydrocarbons (i.e. oil and gas) and the law on conservation of nature. All of these laws contradict each other depending on whether they are granting rights to mining, forestry, oil and gas, agriculture, or protected areas. Conflicts have often arisen, for example in the granting of prospecting rights in oil blocks in Virunga National Park, mining plots in Protected Reserves, and hunting grounds throughout the provinces of the DRC. Experience confirms that these laws do not tie in together and they need to be urgently reviewed. A review committee for the land and property law exists on paper but does not function in practice.

The Forest Code divides the forests into three main categories: established, permanent production, and protected. This division poses a number of problems, notably because it involves a certain confusion between the concept of zoning and the adjudication of forests. The Congolese authorities and some international partners (including the World Bank, GIZ and US Forest Service) are in the process of finalising the terms of reference and the details of the implementation of the process of macro-zoning, and of preparing a guide on micro-zoning. It is essential that land and property planning and zoning processes take into account the customary uses of forests as well as the traditional systems of access, property and control that are still in force today in the Congo’s forests.