KANYARUCHINYA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Amid a circle of spectators, a troupe of performers takes center stage. Songs resound, accompanied by the beat of drums and lively dances. A large banner carries a powerful message: “The future of our environment depends on our behavior today.”

The drumming soon gives way to a play performed in Swahili. We’re in Kanyaruchinya, in the Nyiragongo territory of North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Some 200,000 people have sought refuge in the southern part of the province, fleeing a conflict that has been raging since 2021.

“We work to raise awareness around Virunga National Park, particularly in displaced persons’ camps,” Ghislain Kabuyaya, a consultant with the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (known by its French acronym ICCN) and coordinator of these theatrical performances, tells Mongabay by phone. “We talk to them about the dangers of deforestation, and the risks of cutting down trees to make makala.”

In Lingala, one of the DRC’s official languages, makala means charcoal. In North Kivu, as in other parts of the continent, makala is made by small-scale producers using freshly cut trees, which are slowly charred for almost a week in makeshift ovens.

According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), energy derived from wood accounts for 93% of total energy consumption in the DRC, far ahead of petroleum products and electricity, which each account for 3.5%. This reliance is problematic, as producing charcoal requires extensive logging; it takes up to 10 kilos of wood to make just 1 kilo of charcoal.

Forest destruction worsened by armed groups

The situation is no different in North Kivu. According to a 2019 report published by CIRAD, the French government’s agricultural research and cooperation organization, some 99% of the population in the province’s major cities — Goma, Butembo and Beni — depend on wood for energy. In Goma alone, with its population of 1 million, CIRAD estimates that households consume an estimated 1.26 million metric tons of wood each year.

In 2016, an NGO called The Enough Project reported that 92% of the charcoal used in North Kivu comes from the Virunga region, both in and around the national park that’s renowned for its gorillas and chimpanzees. “Charcoal produced in the park is particularly sought after — rare, denser woods produce higher-quality charcoal that burns longer and can sell for up to 60% more than lower-quality alternatives,” the report states.

Between 2010 and 2020, the park lost 33,700 hectares (83,300 acres) of tree cover. While this can’t be attributed solely to charcoal production, The Enough Project estimates that the illegal charcoal trade within the park generates up to $35 million annually. The primary beneficiaries, according to the NGO, are armed groups — mainly the FDLR, or Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a Hutu rebel group — along with complicit members of the local population and authorities.

This region, destabilized by conflict since the Rwandan genocide in 1994, has seen escalating violence since 2021. M23, a pro-Tutsi group formed in 2012 that the UN claims has the support of the Rwandan armed forces, has seized large swaths of territory around Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu. The unrest caused by the group has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, driving them to seek refuge in Goma, increasing both the city’s population and its energy needs. M23 has also become involved in the illegal charcoal trade.

Research into this issue is limited, but in March 2024 the Pole Institute, a Goma-based think tank focused on East Africa’s Great Lakes region, released a study examining the various methods of money laundering used by armed groups in the area. The report reveals that illegally produced charcoal often enters the legal market with the help of complicit local officials. The proceeds enable rebel groups to purchase weapons and even invest in real estate.

Alternatives do exist

The DRC is home to 60% of the Congo Basin’s forests, the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest. However, according to Global Forest Watch, the country has lost 19 million hectares (47 million acres) of vegetation cover since 2001 — an area nearly twice the size of South Korea — resulting in 12.3 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions.

In 2012, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that nearly half of the DRC’s forest loss was due to charcoal production. With the population continuing to grow and without viable energy alternatives having been found, deforestation persists.

But efforts have been made to find alternatives; during the Belgian colonial period in the first half of the 20th century, the first plantations for firewood and charcoal were established.

A 2023 report by CIRAD estimates that around 15 firewood and charcoal plantation projects have been launched in the DRC since 1980. However, the report notes that “these plantations are still marginal, too young, and unable to meet current or future demand.”

In North Kivu, conservation NGO WWF began developing one such plantation in 2007, using eucalyptus and acacia trees. Yet, according to CIRAD, less than a third of the project has been completed. It cites “insufficient financial resources, lack of seeds and seedlings, land tenure problems, insecurity, and the low competitiveness of plantation-produced charcoal compared with that from natural forests.”

Alternatives to wood energy, such as gas and electricity, remain largely out of reach for most of the DRC population. In May 2023, the country’s electricity regulator, ARE, reported that only 6.67% of the population had access to electricity in the previous year, citing low production capacity and “inefficient institutions” as major obstacles.

Despite the Congo River providing 10% of the world’s freshwater reserves, only 2.4% of the country’s hydroelectric potential has been harnessed, according to the ARE. Development of alternative energy sources is focused elsewhere, however: New investors are increasingly turning to solar energy. Forecasts suggest that solar could account for “over 80% of the power installed” in the near future.

North Kivu reflects this trend. In 2017, a company called Nuru (“light” in Swahili, one of the DRC’s official languages) installed a 1.3 megawatt solar power facility in Goma, followed by another in Beni. These solar projects, combined with hydroelectric plants, have enabled six operators to supply power to the province. Among them are the national electricity company, SNEL, and Virunga Energies, which is linked to conservation efforts in the region.

Virunga Energies, a subsidiary of the Virunga Foundation that manages the national park, is the region’s largest supplier of electricity, primarily powered by its Matembé hydroelectric plant. The company serves 33,208 subscribers, including 23,105 in Goma — a tiny fraction of North Kivu’s official population of 6.6 million.

Lucien Kamala, a Goma resident and Extinction Rebellion activist, highlights a key reason for this: affordability. For many residents, the cost of signing up to an electricity provider remains prohibitive.

“When Virunga Energies was set up, it gave people hope,” Kamala says. “But electricity from Virunga is more expensive than that from SNEL, so many residents don’t use it.” As a result, much of the population continues to rely on charcoal.

“A bag of makala currently costs 50,000 Congolese francs,” Kamala says — around $18 for a family’s monthly makala needs. Before the war, he adds, it was between 30,000 and 35,000 francs, or $11-12; the Congolese franc has lost more than 40% of its value in the last five years.

“For a family with children, a TV, a fridge and a stove, their monthly electricity bill can reach $50 — about 135,000 Congolese francs. That is too expensive,” Kamala tells us. “I have electricity at home, but I only use it for the TV and fridge — not for cooking.”

The average person in the DRC earns roughly $500 per year. This means that a family’s annual electricity bill, based on Kamala’s estimates, exceeds their earnings. But beyond cost, another barrier further limits access to electricity for Goma residents.

“The Matembé plant produces around 10 to 11 MW, while SNEL delivers around 5 MW — but the city of Goma alone requires an average of 50 MW,” says Epraim Balole, director of Virunga Energies. The Matembé power plant not only supplies Goma, but also the Rutshuru and Nyiragongo territories. “It’s not enough, and our plant is already running at full capacity,” he says.

“In Goma, makala is essentially an open-access energy source; people go to the park, cut the wood, carbonize it, and the only production cost is the physical effort required to produce it. It’s inevitably cheaper than manufactured energy like ours,” Balole says in a tone of bitterness.

Energy policy against a backdrop of insecurity

The ongoing violence by armed groups has forced millions of civilians to flee their homes. While some are living in camps set up by NGOs, space is limited, leaving the majority in overcrowded, informal settlements made up of makeshift dwellings without access to electricity. Right now, some 2.7 million people in North Kivu are internally displaced.

“They are in such a degrading situation,” says Jean Gabriel Carvalho, an operations manager with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), an aid group. “In terms of need, the situation is critical. Unfortunately, Goma is almost suffocated, so all routes leading to other provinces are more or less cut off, because the M23 controls the area.”

As a result, displaced people are forced to rely on the limited wood available to them, which are often trees in Virunga National Park, despite its protected status. Since 2021, Global Forest Watch has documented a loss of 15,500 hectares (38,300 acres) of tree coverin this area alone, highlighting the environmental toll of the ongoing crisis.

The park’s director, Emmanuel de Mérode, is watching the situation unfold with growing concern. “There has, of course, been a massive increase in logging, but the survival of these populations depends on their access to firewood. This is a priority — it’s a humanitarian crisis,” he says.

Virunga National Park isn’t alone in facing these threats. Throughout the DRC, lack of access to energy is a pressing issue. And given the critical role of the DRC’s forests in global carbon sequestration, the resulting environmental damage carries consequences that extend far beyond the country, affecting the entire planet.

In response to its growing energy challenges, in 2022 the DRC adopted a national energy policy aimed at reducing the energy gap and curbing charcoal consumption. Key measures include REDD+ projects and the development of solar power plants across the country.

In North Kivu, a hydroelectric power plant is under construction at Rwanguba, 70 kilometers (43 miles) from Goma, to boost electricity production. Additionally, in February, the government approved the extraction of methane from Lake Kivu, which could provide another fuel source for electricity generation once it begins.

However, ongoing security concerns are hindering progress and preventing the implementation of these national policies, while the forest around Goma continues to shrink.

This story was first published here in French on Oct. 29.

Banner image: Charcoal production using an improved kiln in Tshopo province, neighboring North Kivu. Armed groups around Virunga use the sale of charcoal to finance their activities. Image by Axel Fassio/CIFOR-ICRAF via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

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