Displaced Families Now Lead Conservation in DRC Forest

The families who lost their homes to conservation are now leading the way to save the forest.

Gangala Yafali Mangusa Jr. grew up hearing stories about how park rangers forced his community from their ancestral lands in the 1970s. Back then, the Democratic Republic of Congo created Maiko National Park to protect eastern lowland gorillas, forest elephants, and chimpanzees. Indigenous families who had lived off the forest for generations suddenly faced bans on hunting and entering their traditional territory.

Today, Mangusa leads the Bamasobha Local Community Forest Concession, managing 71,700 acres of rainforest in eastern DRC. His team patrols for illegal hunting, logging, and mining while helping communities live sustainably alongside the forest.

The shift happened when local communities gained control through a new management model. In 2023, the Bamasobha communities created zones that balance protecting wildlife with meeting human needs, supported by a local advocacy group focused on Indigenous rights.

The results speak louder than any government mandate ever did. Satellite data shows forest loss plummeted from 2,320 acres in 2024 to just 296 acres in 2025, an 87% drop in a single year.

The Ripple Effect

This success story is spreading across the DRC. The conservation group Strong Roots Congo is now developing a massive 2.5-million-acre biodiversity corridor between two protected areas, built entirely on dozens of community-led forest concessions like Bamasobha.

Forest governance researcher Olivier Ndoole Bahemuke sees these community concessions as healing historical wounds. When Indigenous people manage their own forests, he explains, they're reconnecting with ancestral wildlife protection practices rather than following external rules.

Challenges remain, including armed groups causing insecurity and outsiders entering protected zones to hunt. But communities that once fought conservation are now its strongest champions.

"Park rangers forbade people from entering the forest and eating meat, even though these Indigenous communities had been living off meat and fruit for generations," Mangusa said. Now his community proves protection works best when local people lead it.