The Democratic Republic of the Congo, a nation renowned globally for its extraordinary biodiversity and irreplaceable ecological treasures, has set into motion a controversial plan to open more than half of its total landmass to oil and gas exploration. This massive expansion places pristine tropical forests, protected national parks, and the fragile habitats of endangered wildlife—including mountain gorillas, eastern lowland gorillas, and bonobos—at unprecedented risk.
According to a comprehensive new report titled Forests to Frontlines: Oil Expansion Threats in the DRC, published by Earth Insight in partnership with local and international environmental organizations, the government has launched an aggressive auctioning round for 52 new oil blocks. This latest push comes on top of three blocks previously awarded, threatening roughly 64 percent of the country’s pristine forest cover.
The move has triggered immediate alarms among conservationists, scientists, and local communities, who warn that opening over 306 million acres of intact tropical forest and vital carbon sinks will have catastrophic consequences for both regional ecosystems and the global fight against climate change.
“Towering rainforest canopies, winding river systems, and vast carbon-rich peatlands make the Democratic Republic of Congo one of the most ecologically significant places on Earth,” Earth Insight noted in a press release detailing the findings of the report. Home to the second-largest tropical rainforest on the planet, the DRC harbors an astonishing wealth of biodiversity, including elephants, great apes, endemic birds, and thousands of plant species that thrive within its intact ecosystems. Furthermore, the country’s vast Cuvette Centrale peatlands store massive amounts of carbon, rendering them critical to regulating the global climate. The landscapes that form this rich mosaic of life are also an essential lifeline for millions of people, supporting local livelihoods, cultural identity, and long-term climate resilience.
Despite these invaluable ecological and social functions, the newly designated oil blocks overlap heavily with some of the most sensitive environments in Central Africa. According to the Earth Insight report, the proposed oil concessions intersect with 20.5 million acres of officially protected areas, 21.3 million acres of Key Biodiversity Areas, and a staggering 165.1 million acres of intact tropical forests.
Perhaps most concerning to environmental watchdogs is the direct threat posed to the Cuvette Centrale, the largest tropical peatland complex in the world. This colossal natural carbon sink stores roughly 30 gigatons of carbon, a vast reservoir that, if disturbed or degraded through industrial fossil fuel extraction, could release staggering quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, severely undermining global climate stabilization efforts.
The threat also extends directly to the nation’s newly established conservation initiatives. Roughly 72 percent of the recently formed Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor overlaps directly with the newly designated oil blocks. This severe spatial conflict not only jeopardizes the ecological integrity of the corridor but also undermines the government’s credibility and commitments when promoting such initiatives as legitimate regional climate solutions.
Beyond the severe environmental repercussions, the licensing round places millions of human lives and livelihoods in immediate jeopardy. It is estimated that the massive area being offered up for industrial auction is home to approximately 39 million people. This population includes numerous forest-based communities and Indigenous Peoples who rely entirely on the integrity of the tropical forests and river systems for their daily survival, traditional practices, and cultural continuity.
“Imagine: 39 million Congolese people… and 64% of our forests could be directly affected by the awarding of these oil blocks,” said Pascal Mirindi, campaign coordinator for the DRC-based group Notre Terre Sans Pétrole, in comments reported by The Guardian. “And all this while the government is promoting the Kivu-Kinshasa ecological corridor. Where is the logic? Where is the coherence? We are reminding our leaders that the Congolese people are the primary sovereign. We will not remain silent while certain people organise themselves to sell off our future.”
The current crisis represents a dramatic escalation from previous government actions. In 2022, the DRC administration launched a highly controversial auction for 30 oil and gas blocks, many of which also overlapped with protected zones, fragile peatlands, and Indigenous lands. The latest round vastly expands on that initiative, pushing fossil fuel exploration into deeper, more sensitive territories and dramatically widening the reach of oil concessions across more than half—53 percent—of the nation’s total land area.
Earth Insight emphasized that this broad expansion directly contradicts the DRC’s stated national and international commitments to biodiversity protection and climate action. “The DRC’s new oil licensing round calls into question the country’s stated commitment to environmental protection and social progress,” the organization stated. “Rather than steering away from fossil fuel expansion, the government has dramatically widened the reach of oil concessions, putting at risk the ecological integrity of the Congo Basin… threatening vast areas of ecological importance, disrupting local livelihoods, and threatening lands of cultural and spiritual significance, undermining the country’s potential for sustainable development.”
In response to these grave developments, the Forests to Frontlines report outlines explicit demands formulated in alignment with Congolese civil society. The report calls upon the government of the DRC and its international development partners to immediately cancel the 2025 licensing round and halt all future hydrocarbon expansion within the country’s borders.
Additionally, the report urges that the rights of local communities and Indigenous Peoples be fully respected, protected, and upheld. It insists that international donor support and financing must be strictly aligned with the nation’s existing legal and international commitments to biodiversity preservation, human rights, and climate mitigation. To ensure accountability, the report highlights the critical need for local communities and civil society organizations to be fully integrated into environmental governance, decision-making processes, and ongoing monitoring efforts, backed by guarantees of transparency and meaningful public participation.
“Oil and gas development in these fragile ecosystems would have devastating impacts on biodiversity, communities, land rights and the global fight against climate change,” said Anna Bebbington, an Earth Insight research manager, as reported by The Guardian.
The comprehensive threat report was produced through a collaborative partnership between Earth Insight, the DRC-based Coalition des Organisations de la Société Civile pour le Suivi des Reformes et de Action Publique (CORAP), Our Land Without Oil, and the Rainforest Foundation UK, reflecting a unified front of local and international organizations urging a reevaluation of the country’s energy and environmental trajectory.
