Additional Context: The "Forests for Future" project was implemented by the Rainforest Foundation UK along with six local partners. It pioneered the adoption of Forest Concessions for Local Communities in the DRC, a legal mechanism that links the formal recognition of local communities' rights to manage and benefit from their forest lands in exchange for long-term stewardship commitments in biodiversity and sustainable forest management. According to the Pulitzer Center, USAID funded one of only two projects specifically dedicated to community forests in the DRC, including through the Central African Regional Program for the Environment, or CARPE, the legislatively mandated fund supporting local and regional resource management capacity in the Congo Basin.

Devex Researcher Note: USAID was originally the largest funder of the project at $4 million pledged through September 2025. Upon termination, the implementing organization had only received $1.7 million of expected funds. Nonetheless, the project had succeeded in creating 17 community forests across Equateur, Maniema and North-Kivu provinces. It also introduced forest monitoring tools and created 49 informal producer associations receiving targeted agricultural support for sustainable production in the forests. The project has since moved "into a new phase beyond USAID funding," although the funding amount, and revised scope of the project going forward remains unclear.

Source: Pulitzer Center