The Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor was established in January 2025 as a flagship
conservation and sustainable development initiative spanning 544,270 km² from the eastern Kivu region to Kinshasa. Designed to protect primary forests, biodiversity, and community livelihoods, the Corridor was presented as a model for a green economy and inclusive development pathway.
However, only months after its creation, the DRC government announced the launch of new oil licensing covering 55 oil blocks across the country. Twenty-eight of these blocks overlap directly with the Green Corridor, placing 72% of its total area, approximately 39 million hectares, under potential oil development.
The spatial analysis reveals a profound conflict between conservation and extractive expansion within the Green Corridor. Specifically, mining permits alone overlap with 12.3 millions hectares, representing 23% of the corridor’s total area, placing 6% or 3.4 millions hectares of protected areas under critical threat. Combined with the extensive overlap of oil and gas blocks, these competing land uses create widespread conflicts between conservation objectives and extractive development. Critical carbon sinks, notably 12% of peatlands and intact forest landscapes, face critical levels of risk, while
31 million hectares of intact forest and 63% of community forests are highly exposed to these destructive extractive activities.
This brief raises profound contradictions between the Corridor’s conservation objectives and the expansion of extractive industries. Areas intended to serve as a model for sustainable development and community-led stewardship are now exposed to the risks associated with oil exploration and production, as well as mining activities that will result in deforestation and habitat fragmentation.
The brief also highlights concerns over governance, land-use planning, and the
long-term viability of the Corridor’s conservation objectives. To safeguard the integrity of the Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor and ensure that it delivers on its conservation, climate, and community development goals, urgent action is needed to halt the expansion of new extractive activities and strengthen primary forest protection, biodiversity conservation, and Indigenous peoples and local communities rights recognition.
The Kivu–Kinshasa Green Corridor: Red Flags And The Urgent Need For A Moratorium On New Extractive Projects
