FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 17, 2025
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IUCN Congress Votes to Safeguard Congo Basin from Critical Tipping Point
Historic Vote Supports Keeping at least 74% of Forests Intact and Blocking the Continued Expansion of Extractive Industries
Abu Dhabi, UAE – October, 17th — Members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) — a network of governments, NGOs, and scientists from over 160 countries — voted to adopt an emergency motion focused on averting irreversible ecological damage and tipping points in the Congo Basin, the world's second-largest rainforest and a vital carbon sink.
The motion, advanced by over 30 organizations from Africa, Latin America and North America, calls for maintaining at least 74% forest intactness to prevent irreversible disruption of the region’s hydrological and climate-regulating systems. Scientific evidence shows that Congo Basin forests recycle half of their own rainfall, and that falling below the 74% intactness threshold could trigger a self-reinforcing drying cycle leading to forest dieback, peatland collapse, massive carbon release, and biodiversity loss.
The motion also urges a geographical exclusion of all extractive industries in intact and high-integrity areas of the Congo Basin. With Africa losing 3.9 million hectares of forest annually, the stakes for nature, climate and the millions who depend on these ecosystems have never been higher.
The motion, now adopted as an IUCN Resolution, responds to new and urgent developments that emerged after the original motion’s deadline, underscoring the need to affirm and address the escalating tipping point risks in the Congo Basin, where threats have intensified dramatically.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the government recently announced 52 new oil blocks covering approximately 124 million hectares, including 8.3 million hectares of protected areas, 8.6 million hectares of Key Biodiversity Areas, 64% of the country's intact forests, and nearly the entire mapped peatland system. These concessions affect an estimated 39 million people.
In the Republic of Congo, two oil exploration blocks now overlap more than half of Conkouati-Douli National Park's terrestrial area and nearly 90% of its wetlands, threatening 900 Western Lowland Gorillas, 7,000 Common Chimpanzees, 900 African Forest Elephants, and approximately 7,000 people who depend on the park for their livelihoods. These examples illustrate the accelerating expansion of extractive industry pressures across the Congo Basin, compounding existing logging, agricultural, and mining impacts, and heightening the risk of irreversible ecosystem collapse. Currently, only 14% of dense humid forests in Central Africa have protected area status, far below what's needed to prevent tipping points.
The motion further requests the IUCN Director General to urgently convene a Congo Basin Tipping Point Assessment Task Force to rapidly assess climatic and ecological thresholds, identify hotspots of risk from oil, gas, mining, and industrial logging, and deliver an interim science-based report with recommendations by the end of 2026. The motion recognizes that Indigenous Peoples and local communities are the primary stewards of Congo Basin forests and peatlands, and that their customary rights, governance systems, and knowledge are essential to preventing ecological damage. Read the full motion here.
The vote follows the successful Amazon Tipping Point Resolution (WCC-2020-Res-129) which passed at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in 2021, and just weeks ago, Resolution 068 (WCC-2025-Res-068) Emergency Action to Restore 80% of Ecological Integrity in Amazonia by 2030, which calls for urgent measures to prevent cascading tipping points with global consequences for biodiversity and climate stability.
"For too long, extractive industries have advanced without meaningful consultation with local and Indigenous communities who depend on these forests. This motion affirms that protecting the Congo Basin requires centering community voices, ensuring that those who have protected these ecosystems for generations have the resources and recognition to continue doing so," said Harrison Ajebe Nnoko, Executive President (CEO), AJESH.
"I applaud the IUCN Members Assembly’s decision because it moves beyond recognizing the problem to establishing concrete mechanisms for continued protection of the Congo Basin. The Task Force will assess ecological thresholds, map extractive industry risks, and deliver actionable recommendations by 2026. We cannot afford to wait four more years for the next Congress when the window to prevent these tipping points is closing now," said Dr. Emmanuel Nuesiri, Chair, IUCN CEESP Natural Resource Governance Framework, Contributing Author Science Panel of the Congo Basin Report.
“The adoption of this historic motion, now an IUCN resolution, shines a spotlight on the tipping-point crisis unfolding in the Congo Basin and challenges all actors, including governments, financial institutions, and industries, to move beyond business as usual. It calls for a decisive pivot toward innovative, rights-based, and science-driven solutions that protect forests, uphold community rights, and safeguard our shared future. Now, we must turn this resolution into action—moving swiftly toward implementation to ensure real impact on the ground,” said Florencia Librizzi, Deputy Director of Earth Insight.
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Earth Insight builds critical transparency tools and momentum for restricting fossil fuel, mining, and other industrial expansion threats to key ecosystems and Indigenous and local communities. Our research, communications, and engagement work is central to supporting policy interventions that key political and financial actors can make to protect critical ecosystems as a vital step towards addressing both the biodiversity and climate crises.
About AJESH
AJESH is a Civil Society Organisation that operates in Cameroon, Ghana, Tanzania and the USA. It is recognized as an apolitical and non-profit making organization. Our mission is to empower, nurture, and promote a healthy and sustainable society free from poverty and injustice while living in harmony with nature.