2024 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"

The east of the Democratic Republic of Congo is a densely populated area. To protect the forests, communities have resolved to reforest the areas around nature reserves. The people of Nyiragongo make their living from exploiting forest resources and slash-and-burn agriculture, and this is causing the degradation and deforestation of large areas of forest to spread. The fight against this deforestation is being waged by raising community awareness of the importance of forests and of climate change on the planet, and large-scale training courses and workshops are being held for these communities. 

The project to restore the ecosystems around the PNVI is an initiative designed by GMT ASBL for the women of Nyiragongo territory. The initiative involves training women in good soil restoration practices through reforestation of areas degraded by human activities. This is why some of the people living along the shores of the PNVI are involved in the destruction of protected areas. It's worth pointing out that this area is experiencing a demographic increase, one of the factors that can influence the dependence of these populations on the abusive exploitation of the park's natural resources. To counter this, we have initiated this project to involve women in reforestation and soil restoration activities. As a women's organisation, GMT ASBL is trying to propose an approach based on four conservation pillars:

a. Raising the awareness of the women of Nyiragongo to the plundering of natural resources during the recurring wars in the region;

b. Enabling the women of Nyiragongo to participate in the conservation of biodiversity, by creating forest reserves that form an ecological corridor between the national parks of DR Congo, and promoting the socio-economic development of the local populations;

c. The mission is to protect endemic species in danger of extinction, and more particularly the tree species that are the natural habitat of the gorillas and other animals in the PNVI;

d. This dynamic enables women to participate in the management and decision-making of their natural resources, by adopting reforestation and forest conservation as a basis for sustainable development for human well-being. As a result, 100 women have been trained.