Indigenous Peoples gather in Brazzaville to influence the next steps for the protection of their land and resource rights

On 20^th December 2025, a group of Indigenous Peoples from the Sangha Department in the Republic of Congo presented their key demands for the content of a new Decree on the land and resource rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

The Decree, which is currently in the process of being adopted, will be the first piece of detailed legislation in the country which protects Indigenous Peoples’ land rights, and is the final implementation decree to be adopted under the 2011 Law on the Rights of Indigenous Populations.  

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The Declaration presented by Indigenous Peoples to the Directorate General for the Promotion of Indigenous Peoples responsible for overseeing the drafting of the decree, made the following key demands:  

• Our lands should be recognised and protected 

• Free, prior and informed consent is compulsory 

• We affirm our rights and sovereignty over our natural resources 

• Our traditional methods of land use should be recognised 

• We should be in charge of the processes which concern us 

• Our lands should be protected against evictions and land grabbing 

• The rights of Indigenous Peoples in situations of displacement should also be recognised 

• Situations of cohabitation with other communities need to be properly taken into consideration 

• The process of recognising Indigenous Peoples lands should be free of charge 

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A call was also made for the state, civil society and United Nations actors to support the implementation of the decree, once adopted, in respect for their rights, dignity and self-determination.  

Read the text of the Declaration here. (French only)

Another concern of Indigenous Peoples was that they themselves should undertake the mapping of their own lands.  

Our lands and forests must be mapped, our sacred sites must be clearly demarcated and identified. We wanted to map our forests ourselves because our wealth and customs reside there, and we do not accept that a third party should have easy access to our places of ritual and worship."

Denis Ndinga

Following the presentation of the Indigenous Declaration, the Indigenous delegation participated in the final official workshop to validate the decree. This workshop is the final public step to be taken in drafting the decree. Following this it will be reviewed and harmonised by a technical committee. The validation workshop recommended that the government harmonize this document with existing laws and regulations that guarantee the principle of Indigenous Peoples' Customary Land Tenure (CLI) and the customary property rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

FPP has been providing technical support to its local and national partner organisations, CECD and OCDH respectively, throughout the process of drafting the decree, to ensure that the rights of Indigenous Peoples are fully reflected in its content, and to ensure Indigenous Peoples’ meaningful participation in the national process.