"We don't have life if we don't have water security, and without water security, we don't have food security." Dr Steve Boyes

Since 2021, the Democratic Republic of Congo has experienced tensions caused by the arrival of several foreign operators who exploit mineral resources semi-industrially in and around protected waterways and protected areas.
Several forest areas have been destroyed for mining purposes, including constructing roads to mining sites, often without notice. As most community members stated during the visits, mining operations will likely affect these populations by seeing their fields destroyed and their rivers polluted: "Our ancestors lived here, and they left us this forest so that we can manage it as a good father.”
In the chiefdom of Mari-Minza, in the northeast of the province of Haut-Uélé, a local activist estimates that 25 fields were destroyed between July 2021 and April 2022. Several cases of congenital malformations have been reported in the province of Lualaba, in the southeast of the country, due to pollution of rivers, and several forest areas have been devastated. A resident of Goma, a city of more than 2 million people, said: "The operators have an area like the city of Goma, with the ability to cut down trees at incredible speed. The Congo Basin is known for its extraordinary capacity to absorb carbon dioxide, thanks to its forests.

The mining history of the Democratic Republic of Congo is a tapestry woven with threads of colonialism, conflict, and resource extraction. The lure of subsoil riches attracted Western powers during the colonial era, and today, voracious industrial countries continue to shape the region's destiny.

This project is a meeting with communities in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo impacted by the semi-industrial exploitation of gold. In recent years, the world has needed more natural resources to increase its economic and political power and to build beautiful cities as tourist attractions. Local communities have been deprived of this luxury as they see their environment transformed and their lives impacted by climate change.