A new tree planting drive aims to restore the Lake Albert Basin in Mahagi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Vision Collective pour le Changement Intégral (VCCI) has joined forces with Environmental Defenders (ED) to lead this community-driven campaign.
The campaign launched on Saturday, May 31, 2025, ahead of World Environment Day on June 5. As one of ED’s grantees in the DRC, VCCI is mobilizing local communities to plant native trees. The goals are to fight deforestation, restore ecosystems, and secure livelihoods around the lake.
Why the Lake Albert Basin needs restoration
The Lake Albert Basin straddles the border between Uganda and the DRC. It is an ecological and economic powerhouse of the African Great Lakes region. Lake Albert covers about 5,300 square kilometers and is part of the wider Albertine Graben. Its waters hold dozens of fish species that feed millions of people.
The basin sits where the East African Rift meets the Congo Basin. This makes it vital for biodiversity, climate regulation, and livelihoods. Rivers such as the Semliki and the Victoria Nile feed the lake. Together, they sustain fisheries, wetlands, and forests. The wider landscape is home to many mammals, birds, reptiles, and endemic plants, including in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park and the DRC’s Virunga National Park.
However, the basin faces severe threats. Rapid population growth, unregulated fishing, and clearing for farms and fuelwood are damaging it. Pollution from towns and mining, along with climate change, has degraded water quality and fueled conflict over resources.
Oil projects near the lake’s eastern shore, including the Tilenga and Kingfisher fields, add further risk. They threaten fragile ecosystems, water sources, and communities through possible oil spills, erosion, and displacement. In Mahagi territory, these pressures show up as declining fisheries, shrinking forests, and falling incomes. Small-scale fishers, farmers, and women are hit hardest.
A plan to plant 500,000 native trees
In response, VCCI and Environmental Defenders launched large-scale tree planting campaigns. Supported by ED grants, the work aims to restore degraded land, stabilize the local climate, and protect the lake. These efforts are not only environmental. They also defend human rights and livelihoods.
With strong backing from ED, VCCI plans to plant 500,000 native tree seedlings across Mahagi territory in 2025 alone. The species were chosen to strengthen local biodiversity, provide wildlife habitat, and protect the water catchments that feed Lake Albert. By planting along riverbanks, wetlands, and degraded land, VCCI and ED are restoring natural buffers. These filter pollutants, regulate water flow, and reduce flood risk.
The tree planting drive is also about empowering communities. Farmers, fishers, and women’s groups are taking ownership of the restoration. They combine traditional knowledge with modern conservation practices.
Over 1,000 people join the launch in Mukambu
The launch in Mukambu chiefdom, Mahagi territory, drew more than 1,000 people. This lakeshore community lives in the shadow of major oil developments in Uganda, including Tilenga, Kingfisher, and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). It also hosts many people displaced by violence in nearby Djugu.
In recent years, Mukambu has faced rising temperatures, declining rainfall, and ongoing deforestation. Humanitarian agencies have focused on urgent needs. Yet long-term environmental restoration had been missing until now.
VCCI is a grassroots movement backed by Environmental Defenders. It brings together more than 5,000 farmers, landowners, women, and young people from Mukambu and nearby chiefdoms such as Wagungu, Angal, and War Palara. With ED’s support, VCCI has set up 50 community branches and seed banks. Its nurseries are producing more than 200,000 native seedlings, such as African mahogany and shea. It also runs waste recycling and environmental education projects.
Voices from the tree planting launch
The launch took place in the courtyard of the AIC Chawa Church. Local authorities, community leaders, and partners all spoke in support of the tree planting drive.
David Unencan, Executive Director of VCCI, opened the event. The project, he explained, aims to give free native seedlings to farmers who protect the environment. Thanks to nursery kits from Environmental Defenders, VCCI has raised 25,599 seedlings. Unencan also urged residents to support the project, recalling the loss of forests such as the Benna forest in Mukambu chiefdom.
Ukethwengu Jean Lambert, interim chief of Mukambu chiefdom, praised VCCI and pledged to join it personally. Mr. Vercam, head of the chiefdom’s environmental service, offered to monitor the growth of the seedlings. He stressed that trees support good health and provide shade.
The vicar of the Catholic parish of Angumu warned about the threat of desertification. His parish, he said, had banned cutting trees around the convent. In addition, he called on authorities to require the reforestation of all hills in Mukambu chiefdom.
Youth, schools, and partners back the tree planting drive
Benjamin, president of the chiefdom’s youth, urged young people to plant many kinds of trees. Parents, he said, should give their children land for tree planting. Moreover, he proposed that VCCI reforest the chiefdom’s pastures, a request the interim chief granted at once.
Luka Uyergiu Kakuku, chief of staff of the Mahagi 4 education sub-division, asked VCCI to provide seedlings to all schools in his area.
Uguti Upar Justin, coordinator of the Terra Agricultural Cooperative and a member of Environmental Defenders, praised VCCI’s fast progress in registering members. Beneficiaries, he said, must water their seedlings and use organic fertilizer. At the same time, he warned that the project would not continue in communities that keep setting bushfires.
Samuel Jaryekonga Warom, Communications Director of Environmental Defenders in the Congo Basin, presented ED’s mission. In his remarks, he explained that ED protects nature and defends the rights of Indigenous peoples and smallholder farmers. He also mentioned ED’s environmental journalism grants for Congolese and Ugandan journalists.
To close, agronomist Genrwoth Richard handed the first seedling, a Beyo tree, to David Unencan. Unencan then passed it to the chief of Mukambu chiefdom, who planted it in the church courtyard. The AIC pastor then blessed the project with a prayer.
Environmental and economic benefits of tree planting
The tree planting drive will stabilize soils, restore water cycles, filter pollutants before they reach Lake Albert, and create wildlife habitat. For communities, it brings jobs, from nursery workers to environmental educators. It also boosts incomes for women and young people who grow seedlings and farm sustainably.
Environmental Defenders provides financial, technical, and advocacy support to VCCI. Together, they offer a model of resilience that tackles urgent environmental problems and lays the groundwork for sustainable development and climate adaptation. This initiative is a call to action for communities in Mahagi, for policymakers in Kinshasa, and for global partners.
Mukambu’s campaign shows that even in regions facing conflict, displacement, and climate stress, communities can take charge of their natural resources. Healthy ecosystems are the foundation of peace, prosperity, and human rights. As the saying goes: if not us, then who? If not now, then when? Read about women planting the Lendu Plateau back to life.
About Environmental Defenders (ED)
Environmental Defenders is a regional environmental justice and conservation organization working in Uganda and the DRC. Its mission is to protect and restore natural ecosystems while defending the rights of the people and wildlife that depend on them. Through environmental education, community empowerment, advocacy, and conservation projects, ED promotes sustainable development, biodiversity, and social justice.
About Vision Collective pour le Changement Intégral (VCCI)
VCCI is a grassroots organization in Mahagi territory, DRC. It unites more than 5,000 farmers, landowners, women, and young people from several chiefdoms. Established with support from Environmental Defenders, VCCI runs tree planting campaigns, seed banking, waste recycling, environmental education, and livelihood projects. With more than 50 active community branches, it is restoring ecosystems and empowering communities as stewards of the land.