BAMEGOARD, Republic of Congo — Deep in the heart of a lush green forest, an excavator is hard at work, turning over the earth in search of gold. The surrounding landscape is devastated — centuries-old trees have been uprooted, and streams that were once drinkable are now vast, muddy stretches of uninviting water. We are near the village of Bamegoard (also spelled Bamegod) in the Sangha region of northern Republic of Congo. Aristide Elong, the administrative chief officer of the village, used to come to this forest to fish and collect drinking water. But today, that is no longer possible.

“There used to be forest here, but now the landscape is destroyed — there are no trees left. The river is just mud. How can we get the water back? We can’t drink it, and the fish can’t survive in water like this,” he says.

Over the past eight months, Mongabay has investigated the issuing of at least 79 semi-industrial gold mining and exploration permits in the Sangha region by Congolese Minister of Mines Pierre Oba over the last four years. In part one of this investigative report, we described significant environmental degradation and damage at sites we visited. This destruction is taking place in an area designated for a Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) program funded by the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF).

Forest destruction in the name of development

“REDD+ projects are designed to reduce deforestation. Since mining contributes to deforestation, these two activities are fundamentally incompatible,” explains Justin Landry Chekoua, an environmentalist and project manager for mines, biodiversity and energy at Forêts et Développement Rural (FODER) a non-profit ecological association in Cameroon. “Gold mining will severely limit the ability of surrounding ecosystems to sequester carbon. Instead, it will contribute to the emission of CO₂ and methane.”

But Arnaud Kibinza Kiesse, director of the REDD+ Sangha and Likouala program run by the Ministry of Forest Economy, says he believes the end justifies the means. “Let’s not kid ourselves,” he says. “We’re not a developed country; we’re still a long way from development, so our ambition is to develop.”

According to the Ecole Normale Supérieure in France, the concept of development encompasses all the technical, social, territorial, demographic and cultural transformations that occur as a result of the growth of material production or the improvement of human living conditions. “And development also means seeing how natural resources can contribute to a country’s development,” Kiesse says.

By definition, development is meant to benefit the people living in the Republic of Congo, but on the ground, the tangible benefits of development are hard to find. The country is the third-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, but the population survives on an average of less than $5 a day. Outside of the major cities, basic services are sparse, and most rural communities lack access to telephone networks, hospitals and schools.

Copince Ngoma, a member of the Bakouele Indigenous community, knows this all too well. He lives in Messock, in the Sangha region, in a mud house with his wife and five children. His home has neither running water nor electricity. He has hunted, fished, and gathered medicinal plants for his family in the forests surrounding his home his whole life. In this environment, access to forest resources is a matter of survival. But this traditional way of life has been disrupted by semi-industrial gold mining. Today, when he goes into the forest, he finds uninviting water with a brownish tint.

“We used to drink this water, but not anymore, because it’s become dirty. It wasn’t like this before,” Ngoma explains. With the destruction of water sources, plants and wildlife, the forest has been abandoned, and its resources are rapidly dwindling.

“We used to hunt gazelles, monkeys. … Now, to catch anything, you have to travel at least 20 kilometers [approximately 12 miles],” Ngoma says. “Before, I could go hunting and come back after a few hours with animals. Now, if I want to bring something back, I have to leave my wife alone for a day or two. We’re suffering. Since this morning, the children have eaten nothing but guavas — that’s not a meal.”

Development, offered as justification for the expansion of mining operations, is proving detrimental to local residents, who are supposed to be its primary beneficiaries.

Watch the video below (in French):

ROC’s ‘green’ diplomacy smokescreen

This is not the first time an industry meant to improve people’s lives in Congo has ended up making them worse off. The oil industry has been doing the same for decades, also contributing to pollution. The country is also grappling with major governance issues. Beyond the immense wealth amassed by the head of state, Denis Sassou Nguesso, who has led the country for almost 40 years, his daughter Julienne and son-in-law Paul Kionga have been implicated in a lucrative influence-peddling scheme involving oil company Perenco. Two of Sassou Nguesso’s other children, Denis-Christel and Claudia, are facing charges for money laundering and embezzlement of public funds.

The exploitation of natural resources does not seem to be slowing down, and now, the new target appears to be the carbon market.

Over the past decade, the environment has become a key pillar of Congolese diplomacy. Situated in the Congo Basin, the world’s largest carbon sink, absorbing 750 million metric tons of CO₂ annually, the Republic of Congo holds a strategic position. The country is also home to a gigantic peat bog that has sequestered billions of metric tons of carbon over thousands of years.

Recognizing its critical position in the global battle against climate change, Denis Sassou Nguesso has stepped up diplomatic efforts. These include hosting the Three Basins Summit in 2023 and organizing the International Conference on Afforestation and Reforestation in 2024. And it seems to be working. At COP28 in December 2024, the European Union, France and several private donors committed to establishing a $50 million “Partnership for Forest Ecosystems, Nature and Climate” in the Congo.

Joining the REDD+ process, with the aim of selling carbon credits in the future, is part of this strategy. For the ROC, it presents an opportunity to generate income without depleting its forest resources. To support this effort, the country has sought financial assistance from organizations like the United Nations and the World Bank, which also funds initiatives such as training for cacao farmers.

For Kiesse, the REDD+ Sangha and Likouala project director, the program is proving a success. “We have a good track record. On the ground, stakeholders have reduced greenhouse gas emissions. We have sold reductions and, in return, we will receive money corresponding to these reductions. This means the government, forestry companies, agro-industrial companies and local communities will all benefit from this funding,” he explains.

The ROC claims that its REDD+ program sequestered more than 1.5 million metric tons of carbon in 2020. These claims are currently being verified by Spanish auditing firm Aenor. If approved, the World Bank will purchase these carbon credits for the modest sum of $8.3 million . This transaction will effectively certify the carbon credits with the FCPF standard, granting the Congolese state recognition on the official carbon market.

However, leafing through the monitoring report used to prepare this assessment, it quickly becomes clear that the mining taking place in Sangha’s forests has been excluded from the calculation of carbon sequestration. CIFOR scientists estimate that 20% of annual greenhouse gas emissions are due to deforestation and forest degradation. Forest lost to mining, therefore, plays a critical role in the success of the REDD+ program.

The report mentions mining only once, acknowledging that since the 2018 deforestation assessment for the area, the impact of the mining sector “may have evolved.” The report’s authors say that the risk this poses is “considered medium.”

It remains to be seen how auditing firm Aenor will view this.

Toward mineral diplomacy

It is also concerning that permits to mine forests being protected as carbon sinks have been awarded to companies led by controversial figures. Among them is Li Hui, a prominent Chinese businesswoman with close ties to President Sassou Nguesso. According to Africa Intelligence, the Cantonese-born Li Hui represents the interests of Chinese groups such as Wing Wah Petrochemical Joint Stock Company (former operator of the Djeno Oil Terminal) and Dingsheng Group, both active in the Congolese oil industry. As managing director of Zhi Guo Pétrole, she recently made headlines for obtaining a mining permit near the edge of Conkouati-Douli National Park. Through the same company, she is reported to have acquired seven gold mining permits in the Sangha, representing more than 1,000 square kilometers (around 386 square miles) of land designated for conservation. But not all the area’s mines are being managed by Chinese companies.

Another controversial figure is Rwandan Yvonne Mubiligi, a woman with close ties to Rwandan President Paul Kagame. According to her profile on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Mubiligi serves as the country managing director for Macefield Ventures Congo Holding, the international subsidiary of Crystal Ventures, Rwanda’s largest investment company and a close ally of Paul Kagame’s party. Founded in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, Crystal Ventures is described by The Africa Report as the country’s economic arm, overseeing investments in sectors such as food and beverages, security services and aviation.

Macefield Ventures is reportedly active in Zimbabwe, the Central African Republic and Mozambique, with links to TotalEnergies’ troubled natural gas project on the Afungi Peninsula. Recently, Mubiligi signed an agreement with the ROC for the sale of 12,000 hectares (about 30,000 acres) of land to Rwanda. This deal has sparked controversy both among the local population, which relies on the land for subsistence, and in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, where the government is fighting a bitter conflict with the M23 militia, an armed group that the United Nations says is supported by Rwanda.

As managing director of Stonegenix Sas, Mubiligi is reported to have obtained three mining permits since the launch of the Sangha and Likouala REDD+ program.

A prominent academic and expert on Congolese politics told Mongabay that in addition to these two women, other mining permit holders in Sangha have strong ties to the Congolese government. He spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation from the government. And he is not alone; another contributor to this investigation also declined to be named, citing fears of “disappearing into thin air.”

Speaking out in Congo is dangerous. According to civil society groups, arrests of activists are commonplace. A climate of fear persists in a country that has been under the rule of Sassou Nguesso for nearly 40 years.

According to the academic we spoke with, Ramsès Ngakala is the son of Michel Ngakala and the brother of Karl Ngakala. Karl is reportedly an adviser to Denis-Christel Sassou Nguesso, the president’s son and managing director of the controversial Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo, which recently entered the carbon offset market. His father, Michel Ngakala, has a different background. Currently serving as the organizing secretary of President Sassou Nguesso’s Congolese Labor Party (PCT), Michel was a key figure during the country’s civil war in the 1990s. At that time, he commanded the PCT-affiliated Cobras militia. When the civil war ended with Sassou Nguesso’s return to power, the estimated death toll stood at 400,000, according to Eric Denécé, director of the French Intelligence Research Centre.

Other mining owners caught our attention. According to our sources, Rodrigue Fila might be related to Nicéphore Fylla de Saint Eudes, the current minister of industrial development. The Mines minister, Pierre Oba, appeared to have also awarded mining permits to members of his own family, Josué Sledge Oba and Cornelia Gladys Oba Samboh, according to the same sources.

These findings come as no surprise to Cherotti Blanchard Mavoungou, president of the ARPA2DH (or, by its full name, Association pour le respect du droit des populations autochtones, du développement durable et des droits de l’homme). He highlights similar practices in other parts of the country: “Many members of the government hold mining permits. It’s just a clan doing whatever they want with the country’s resources, while we’re left behind, struggling.”

These are the very same territories from which the government aims to earn a few million dollars, thanks to the sequestration of millions of metric tons of carbon in 2020.

Banner image : Aristide, the village secretary of Bamegoard, stands dismayed as he looks over what was once a forest. Trees and streams have disappeared, replaced by muddy puddles like the one seen behind him. Image by Elodie Toto for Mongabay.

Congo : la diplomatie du minerai remplace la diplomatie verte dans la Sangha

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