
The local communities of the Maringa-Lopori-Wamba (MLW) landscape in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) largely depend on the forest for their survival including agriculture, cultural value, and other non-timber forest products. However, the rights of these forest-dependent people to use the resources remain limited with little access to the exploitation of the forest, often hampered by complex regulations, thereby limiting the ability to benefit from the forestry operations.