{"id":59337,"date":"2025-10-15T09:22:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T09:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/?p=59337"},"modified":"2025-10-16T10:36:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T10:36:32","slug":"1000-voices-for-the-forest-mbandaka-celebrates-international-day-of-indigenous-peoples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/blog\/59337\/1000-voices-for-the-forest-mbandaka-celebrates-international-day-of-indigenous-peoples\/","title":{"rendered":"1,000 voices for the forest: Mbandaka celebrates International Day of Indigenous Peoples"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-query posts-list p4-query-loop is-custom-layout-list is-layout-flow wp-block-query-is-layout-flow\"><ul class=\"wp-block-post-template is-layout-flow wp-block-post-template-is-layout-flow\"><li class=\"wp-block-post post-58711 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-inspirethemovement tag-forests tag-greenpeaceafrica tag-drc p4-page-type-press\">\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\"><figure class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/press\/58711\/travel-diary-from-the-heart-of-the-congo-basin-voices-and-hopes-of-indigenous-peoples\/\" target=\"_self\"  ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/08\/6c937047-voices-and-hopes-of-indigenous-peoples.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image wp-stateless-item\" alt=\"Travel diary from the heart of the Congo Basin: voices and hopes of indigenous peoples\" style=\"object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/08\/6c937047-voices-and-hopes-of-indigenous-peoples.jpg 960w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/08\/6c937047-voices-and-hopes-of-indigenous-peoples-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/08\/6c937047-voices-and-hopes-of-indigenous-peoples-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/08\/6c937047-voices-and-hopes-of-indigenous-peoples-453x340.jpg 453w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" data-image-size=\"post-thumbnail\" data-stateless-media-bucket=\"planet4-africa-stateless\" data-stateless-media-name=\"2025\/08\/6c937047-voices-and-hopes-of-indigenous-peoples.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flex wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\"><div class=\"wp-block-post-terms\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/category\/issues\/inspirethemovement\/\">Inspire the Movement<\/a><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"taxonomy-post_tag wp-block-post-terms\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/tag\/forests\/\" rel=\"tag\">Forests<\/a><span class=\"wp-block-post-terms__separator\"> <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/tag\/greenpeaceafrica\/\" rel=\"tag\">GreenpeaceAfrica<\/a><span class=\"wp-block-post-terms__separator\"> <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/tag\/drc\/\" rel=\"tag\">DRC<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-post-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/press\/58711\/travel-diary-from-the-heart-of-the-congo-basin-voices-and-hopes-of-indigenous-peoples\/\" target=\"_self\" >Travel diary from the heart of the Congo Basin: voices and hopes of indigenous peoples<\/a><\/h3>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-excerpt__excerpt\">In August 2025, Greenpeace Africa led an exceptional expedition to the heart of the Congo Basin, to the villages of Lokolama and Penz\u00e9l\u00e9, as well as to Mbandaka, in Equateur Province. <\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group posts-list-meta is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><span class='article-list-item-author'>Raphael Mavambu<\/span>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2025-08-26T05:03:08+00:00\">26 August 2025<\/time><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons carousel-controls is-horizontal is-content-justification-space-between is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-044bd602 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button carousel-control-prev\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\">Previous Carousel Slide<\/button><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button carousel-control-next\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\">Next Carousel Slide<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/68a5a78e-image-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-59339\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/68a5a78e-image-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/68a5a78e-image-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/68a5a78e-image-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/68a5a78e-image-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/68a5a78e-image-510x287.jpeg 510w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/68a5a78e-image.jpeg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n<p>On <strong>August 8<\/strong>, 2025, the city of Mbandaka vibrated to the rhythms of drums, songs, and dances to celebrate the <strong>31st International Day of Indigenous Peoples<\/strong>. More than <strong>1,000 students, 100 indigenous representatives, local authorities, members of civil society, and the Climate Justice Movement (CJM)<\/strong> gathered at the University of Mbandaka for a historic day that was both festive and full of demands.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/dbbdc1a8-image-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-59341\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/dbbdc1a8-image-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/dbbdc1a8-image-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/dbbdc1a8-image-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/dbbdc1a8-image-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/dbbdc1a8-image-510x287.jpeg 510w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/dbbdc1a8-image.jpeg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A colorful celebration<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n<p>The day was marked by a diversity of artistic and cultural expressions: traditional songs, dances, poems, and skits performed by young people created a vibrant atmosphere, imbued with pride and solidarity. These performances highlighted the<strong> strength and resilience of indigenous peoples<\/strong>, the true guardians of the forests of the Congo Basin.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/3ac79320-image-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-59343\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/3ac79320-image-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/3ac79320-image-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/3ac79320-image-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/3ac79320-image-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/3ac79320-image-510x287.jpeg 510w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/3ac79320-image.jpeg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>When people speak out<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n<p>Beyond the festivities, this day was an opportunity for indigenous peoples <strong>to voice their demands<\/strong>. In a solemn declaration presented to the Mayor of Mbandaka, they reiterated their three priority demands:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Legal recognition of their status and effective protection of their land and forest rights;<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Direct, fair, and equitable access to climate finance;<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The institutionalization of a regional Congo Basin Day.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>\u201cWe are the first guardians of the forest. Without us, there are no sustainable solutions. It is time for our rights to be respected,\u201d said an indigenous representative before a moved and attentive audience.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/6cc051d7-image-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-59345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/6cc051d7-image-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/6cc051d7-image-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/6cc051d7-image-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/6cc051d7-image-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/6cc051d7-image-510x287.jpeg 510w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/6cc051d7-image.jpeg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Citizen mobilization for the Congo Basin<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n<p>The celebration also served as a springboard for the \u201c<strong>Respect the Congo Basin<\/strong>\u201d campaign. Thanks to Greenpeace Africa volunteers, <strong>751 signatures<\/strong> were collected on site in support of this petition. This is a strong sign that the local population is mobilizing to defend its natural and cultural heritage.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/2a9e94b4-image-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-59347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/2a9e94b4-image-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/2a9e94b4-image-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/2a9e94b4-image-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/2a9e94b4-image-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/2a9e94b4-image-510x287.jpeg 510w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/2a9e94b4-image.jpeg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A step on the road to COP30<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n<p>This large-scale event showed that the defense of forests and the rights of indigenous peoples is now a <strong>cause shared<\/strong> by Congolese youth, communities, and civil society. With <strong>COP30<\/strong> approaching, Mbandaka sent a clear message to the world: indigenous peoples must be at the center of climate decisions.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/ec5b531f-image-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-59349\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/ec5b531f-image-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/ec5b531f-image-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/ec5b531f-image-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/ec5b531f-image-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/ec5b531f-image-510x287.jpeg 510w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-africa-stateless\/2025\/10\/ec5b531f-image.jpeg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than 1,000 students, 100 indigenous representatives, local authorities, members of civil society, and the Climate Justice Movement (CJM) gathered at the University of Mbandaka for a historic day that was both festive and full of demands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":59339,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[24,46,47],"p4-page-type":[126],"class_list":["post-59337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspirethemovement","tag-forests","tag-greenpeaceafrica","tag-drc","p4-page-type-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59337"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59351,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59337\/revisions\/59351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59337"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=59337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}