In the Great Lakes region, the effects of climate change are no longer confined to scientific projections. They are already evident in the daily lives of rural communities, through unpredictable rainfall, droughts, floods, soil erosion and declining agricultural yields.

There are numerous examples in this region. In Kalehe, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), severe erosion and flooding have already swept away land, homes and members of local communities, with more than 5,000 people reported missing and 583 bodies discovered, buried in Bushushu and Nyamukubi in May 2023. In Kinshasa, heavy rains regularly cause flooding that affects homes and livelihoods. In rural areas, the unpredictability of the seasons further complicates agricultural activities.

For Olivier Ndoole, a public interest lawyer and coordinator of the Congolese Alert for the Environment and Human Rights (ACEDH), these phenomena show that climate change is now a reality experienced by local populations. “The effects on local communities clearly demonstrate that climate change is a reality,” he states.

In the DRC, the National Agency for Meteorology and Satellite Remote Sensing (METTELSAT) has also explained some of the disturbances observed during heavy rains in Kinshasa, referring in particular to a "female dry season".

For farmers, one of the main problems has become the unpredictability of the seasons. “Farmers used to have a certain grasp of the seasons,” explains Olivier Ndoole. However, he argues that traditional indicators no longer allow them to predict the arrival of the rainy or dry seasons with the same accuracy. This uncertainty directly affects food security in a region where many families depend on rain-fed agriculture.

In Burundi, the situation is no different. Émile Nduwimana, executive secretary of Action for Development and Regional Integration (ADIR), a member organisation of the Forus regional coalition in the region, REPONGAC, states that the communities supported by his organisation are facing prolonged droughts, erratic rainfall and flooding. This reality affects the entire African Great Lakes region.

Today, climate change is occurring against a backdrop where natural resources are already under severe strain. Deforestation linked to charcoal production, small-scale mining and demographic pressure are reducing the resources on which rural populations depend. In Burundi, the pressure on forests is particularly acute. Over 90% of households rely on wood for cooking, whilst this material remains widely used in construction and other sectors.

Deforestation is also affecting protected areas. Mount Heha, Burundi’s highest peak at 2,684 metres, is a case in point. A veritable water tower and national symbol, it plays a vital role in regulating the climate, protecting biodiversity and supplying water to surrounding communities. In 2024, Mount Heha was notably affected by a bushfire.

Local initiatives to the rescue

Faced with these challenges, certain initiatives seek to make communities not only beneficiaries, but also active participants in protecting their environment. The Burundian organisation FASHA runs awareness campaigns amongst local communities and offers alternatives to the use of timber. “Involving and empowering communities is the best strategy for protecting the environment, as they are the ones who know their surroundings best and who bear the brunt of the consequences in the event of destruction,” explains Patrice Sabuguheba, FASHA’s legal representative. He believes that local people must be directly involved in protecting the forests.

In particular, FASHA encourages the planting of agroforestry trees to enable local people to access wood without destroying the forests or jeopardising their crops. Plans are also underway to demarcate the Mount Heha Forest Reserve in order to strengthen its protection whilst allowing communities to derive some income from their involvement.

A similar initiative was trialled in the Bururi Forest Nature Reserve (RNFB) in southern Burundi. Between 2016 and 2018, the Project for the Sustainable Management of Coffee-Growing Areas (PADZOC) funded essential environmental management work in this 3,300-hectare reserve. This project involved the Batwa, an indigenous people living nearby, in the maintenance of the site.

The programme provided a daily wage combining immediate income with savings. This approach helped to reduce pressure on the ecosystem whilst providing a source of income for the local population. By offering energy and economic alternatives to more than 23,000 local residents, the project significantly reduced the illegal felling of firewood and charcoal production within the protected area. The ecosystem-based approach initiated by PADZOC served as a pilot project, thereby laying the foundations for the large-scale programmes to restore degraded landscapes subsequently rolled out in Burundi (such as the PRRPB, a project also funded by the World Bank).

For many observers, this experience demonstrates the value of solutions that combine environmental protection with improved living conditions. At the launch of the eighth operational phase of the Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme (SGP/GEF) on 5 August 2026 in Bujumbura, Verena Kasirye, Chargée d’Affaires at the German Embassy in Burundi, emphasised this aspect.

“Sustainable environmental protection necessarily requires the involvement of local communities and indigenous peoples,” she stated.

Environmental protection is a right and a duty

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, communities are also drawing up land-use and land-management plans to better address climate-related risks. ACEDH believes that this participation must also involve understanding and defending rights. In particular, the organisation supports fishing and farming communities in understanding their rights and in using legal mechanisms.

Barrister Olivier Ndoole believes that climate litigation can thus become a tool for protection and prevention. “Climate litigation” can be used to ensure rights are upheld and to prevent certain disasters, he emphasises.

The organisation also runs public education initiatives for fishing and farming communities. The aim is to strengthen their understanding of climate issues, but also to enable them to use legal mechanisms to defend their rights.

ACEDH also runs a legal clinic and has "green lawyers’" who provide legal and judicial assistance to local communities and environmental defenders. According to its coordinator, this assistance has, in particular, enabled certain communities to bring their disputes before the courts.

The organisation also states that it has supported climate and land rights defenders and activists who have been targeted by the security services, the courts or the public prosecutor’s office. Olivier Ndoole also cites legal actions concerning Virunga National Park and the protection of biodiversity.

Beyond litigation, he also mentions economic and energy initiatives developed with local stakeholders. In Goma, ACEDH has, in particular, worked alongside a cooperative called Siloé to support women engaged in commercial activities related to ‘Makala’ (charcoal). The aim was to facilitate their access to electricity and equipment enabling them to diversify their economic activities, thereby moving away from charcoal production.

For the organisation, these initiatives demonstrate that the response to climate change does not rely solely on raising awareness. It can also involve economic empowerment, access to energy, the protection of rights and community participation in the governance of natural resources.

The role of CSOs is indispensable

CSOs have a major role to play in seeking out these alternatives. Although this is not always the case, in most instances these initiatives do not receive sufficient funding, which limits their impact even though their implementation requires significant resources. Émile Nduwimana, Executive Secretary of Action for Development and Regional Integration (ADIR), notes that the main obstacles include a lack of sustainable funding, the limited technical capacity of local stakeholders, and various institutional constraints. In the sub-region, recurring insecurity in certain areas, particularly in the east of the DRC, also constitutes a major obstacle. Added to this is, at times, a lack of coordination between the various stakeholders in the environmental sector.

This sector is also marred by environmental injustices. ADIR observes several forms of injustice, notably the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, deforestation linked to charcoal production, and the environmental impacts of artisanal mining activities in the sub-region, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

However, to manage the tensions between economic development and environmental protection, ADIR promotes a balanced approach centred on sustainability, reconciling the economic needs of communities with the preservation of the natural environment. “We encourage sustainable economic alternatives, such as agroecology and eco-responsible income-generating activities. Furthermore, we facilitate dialogue between Stakeholders to find joint solutions that take everyone’s interests into account,” emphasises Emile.

He is pleased that ADIR’s interventions have, on occasion, helped to ensure that community concerns are better taken into account through local mediation. He cites the example of dialogues facilitated in Burundi between communities and local authorities, which have led to better regulation of natural resource exploitation and concrete commitments to limit certain harmful practices.

Whether it is ACEDH, FASHA or ADIR, the actions carried out by civil society in the African Great Lakes region demonstrate an encouraging trend: communities are ready to change their practices and attitudes in the face of environmental challenges. Increasingly aware of their role, they are becoming active players in protecting their natural resources and defending their right to a healthy environment.