Towards an Inclusive Approach to Forest Management: Highlight of the Perception and Participation of Local Communities in the Management of miombo Woodlands around Lubumbashi (Haut-Katanga, D.R. Congo)

Abstract

The misappropriation of sustainable forest programs by local communities and the under-utilization of their knowledge are major impediments to the mitigation of deforestation. Within this context, participation has become a principle used in almost all interventions. It is important to evaluate the practices in this area to ensure better involvement of local communities. This survey examined the perception and participation of local communities in the management of miombo woodlands, based on semi-structured questionnaire surveys involving 945 households in 5 villages in the Lubumbashi rural area. The results reveal that local communities perceive soil fertility loss and deforestation as major environmental challenges in their area. This perception remains largely influenced by their socio-demographic factors such as respondents’ age, seniority in the villages, and level of education. To mitigate deforestation, the rare actions of provincial public services and non-governmental organizations are focused on the sustainable exploitation of miombo woodlands through the development of simple management plans, reforestation, and forest control. These activities are sparse and poorly inclusive of scientific findings and the priorities of local communities. These justify poor community participation, particularly in the actions of provincial public services. For a better appropriation of sustainable forest management plans and to reinforce miombo woodlands’ resilience to anthropogenic pressures, based on these findings, we recommend a concerted and inclusive approach to forest planning.

Full text

Citation: N’tambwe Nghonda, D.-d.;
Muteya, H.K.; Kashiki, B.K.W.N.;
Sambiéni, K.R.; Malaisse, F.; Sikuzani,
Y.U.; Kalenga, W.M.; Bogaert, J.
Towards an Inclusive Approach to
Forest Management: Highlight of the
Perception and Participation of Local
Communities in the Management of
miombo Woodlands around
Lubumbashi (Haut-Katanga, D.R.
Congo). Forests 2023,14, 687.
https://doi.org/10.3390/f14040687
Academic Editors: Ting Ma and
Baorong Huang
Received: 3 March 2023
Revised: 22 March 2023
Accepted: 24 March 2023
Published: 27 March 2023
Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
Article
Towards an Inclusive Approach to Forest Management:
Highlight of the Perception and Participation of Local
Communities in the Management of miombo Woodlands
around Lubumbashi (Haut-Katanga, D.R. Congo)
Dieu-donnéN’tambwe Nghonda 1,2, * , Héritier Khoji Muteya 1,2, Bill Kasongo Wa Ngoy Kashiki 1,
Kouagou Raoul Sambiéni 3,4 , François Malaisse 2, Yannick Useni Sikuzani 1, Wilfried Masengo Kalenga 1
and Jan Bogaert 2
1Unité Écologie, Restauration Écologique et Paysage, Facultédes Sciences Agronomiques,
Universitéde Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi P.O. Box 1825, Democratic Republic of the Congo
2Axe Biodiversitéet Paysage, Universitéde Liège—Gembloux Agro-BioTech, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
3Ecole Régionale Postuniversitaire d’Aménagement et de Gestion Intégrée des Forêts et Territoires
Tropicaux (ERAIFT), Kinshasa P.O. Box 15373, Democratic Republic of the Congo
4Facultéd’Architecture, Universitéde Lubumbashi,
Lubumbashi P.O. Box 1825, Democratic Republic of the Congo
*Correspondence: nghondan@unilu.ac.cd; Tel.: +243-97-25-700-26
Abstract:
The misappropriation of sustainable forest programs by local communities and the under-
utilization of their knowledge are major impediments to the mitigation of deforestation. Within this
context, participation has become a principle used in almost all interventions. It is important to
evaluate the practices in this area to ensure better involvement of local communities. This survey
examined the perception and participation of local communities in the management of miombo
woodlands, based on semi-structured questionnaire surveys involving 945 households in 5 villages
in the Lubumbashi rural area. The results reveal that local communities perceive soil fertility loss
and deforestation as major environmental challenges in their area. This perception remains largely
influenced by their socio-demographic factors such as respondents’ age, seniority in the villages, and
level of education. To mitigate deforestation, the rare actions of provincial public services and non-
governmental organizations are focused on the sustainable exploitation of miombo woodlands through
the development of simple management plans, reforestation, and forest control. These activities
are sparse and poorly inclusive of scientific findings and the priorities of local communities. These
justify poor community participation, particularly in the actions of provincial public services. For
a better appropriation of sustainable forest management plans and to reinforce miombo woodlands’
resilience to anthropogenic pressures, based on these findings, we recommend a concerted and
inclusive approach to forest planning.
Keywords:
perception; forest policy; miombo woodland; deforestation; public administration; devel-
opment agency; participatory management
1. Introduction
Forests are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet [
1
]. As such, they pro-
vide many ecosystem services, including climate regulation, provision of timber, fuelwood,
and various non-timber forest products [
2
]. With the global human population increasing
from 1.86 billion in 1920 to eight billion in 2022, the demand for various forest products
is mounting anthropogenic pressure on forest resources, leading to deforestation [
3
]. De-
forestation has been counted among the critical environmental issues in recent decades,
attracting the attention of both scientists and policymakers [4].
Forests 2023,14, 687. https://doi.org/10.3390/f14040687 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forests

Forests 2023,14, 687 2 of 21
Indeed, forests that occupied four billion hectares [
3
], or nearly 30% of the Earth’s
land surface, recorded a loss of 178 million hectares between 2015 and 2020 [
5
]. The highest
forest cover losses are observed in Southeast Asia (
−
4.5 million ha per year) and Central
Africa (
−
6.9 million ha per year) [
6
]. Regarding Central Africa, out of a forest area of nearly
300 million hectares [
7
], an annual loss of 1.79 million hectares was noted between 2015 and
2020 in the Congo Basin [
8
], mainly due to inadequate forest governance [
9
]. This form of
governance is embodied by governments’ persistent centralization of responsibilities, and
inadequate and poorly enforced laws [
10
]. This results in the unsustainable exploitation of
forest resources, deforestation, and forest degradation [9].
The need for improved forest governance remains urgent in countries such as the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), given its highest annual deforestation rate in the
Congo Basin, 0.26% between 2005 and 2010 [
11
], in conjunction with weak environmental
law enforcement [
12
]. The southeastern region of DRC, where the miombo woodlands
remain the most represented forest type [
13
], does not escape this reality. Miombo woodlands
are a type of open forest characterized by the predominance of plant species belonging to
the genera Brachystegia,Julbernardia, and Isoberlinia [
14
]. They covered more than 70% of
the Katangese territory in 2000, declined to nearly 43% in 2010 [
15
], and are predicted to
disappear in the vicinities of large human settlements by 2090 [
16
]. Yet, miombo woodlands,
which support the survival of more than two million people in Haut-Katanga [
13
], are
considered an important carbon reservoir and prioritized for conservation due to high
floristic diversity and endemism [17].
With a population that doubles every 15 years, Lubumbashi, the capital city of Haut-
Katanga Province, currently has nearly three million inhabitants [
18
]. This amplifies
fuelwood demands [
19
] due to limited household access to hydroelectricity [
20
]. Therefore,
the authors of [
19
] demonstrated that 96% of households in this city use charcoal, the
monthly amount of which was estimated at 800 tons. Consequently, wood is exploited in
an unsustainable way in the miombo woodland over an increasingly large area [
14
], leading
to deforestation [
10
,
16
,
21
]. This deforestation not only threatens the livelihoods of the
population relying on miombo woodlands [
22
] but also undermines DRC’s commitment to
the Aichi Biodiversity Targets adopted in 2010 [23].
In the rural area of Lubumbashi, the State, which concentrates power and approves all
decisions often unilaterally [
20
], is the main stakeholder in miombo woodland management.
Its failure to manage the forest has, in recent decades, prompted many Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) and other private partners to be involved in forest management.
This results in an arena where different stakeholders participate in decision-making on
the sustainable management and use of miombo woodlands [
24
]. While participatory
forest management considers local communities at the center of all actions [
25
], the strong
power centralization leads to the non-appropriation of this process by local communities
in the rural area of Lubumbashi [
26
,
27
] due, namely, to the non-inclusion of indigenous
knowledge [10,28].
However, in the rural area of Lubumbashi, as elsewhere in the DRC, local communities
are rarely implicated in the decision-making process about forest management plans and
are generally only encouraged to participate in the implementation phase of these plans.
This “up-down” forestry policy leads to misunderstandings and undermines the initiatives
of NGOs and public services. In addition, this system has already shown its inadequacies in
several developing countries, particularly in Africa [
29
]. Nevertheless, the participation of
local communities in the initial phases of identifying problems about forest resources and
in defining the axes of sustainable forest management programs in accordance with their
perception (bottom-up) would reverse the trend. It would motivate these local communities
to participate in such programs. Yet, this perception of local communities on environmental
problems and the availability of forest resources would be a prerequisite to better guide
management and restoration measures [30–32].
Several surveys have already been conducted on the perception of environmental
problems and the participation of local communities in forest management in Africa
[33–35]
,

Forests 2023,14, 687 3 of 21
in the DRC [
36
–
38
], and in the miombo ecoregion [
10
,
39
,
40
]. However, these works have
addressed without further exploration the question leading to understanding why local
communities have low ownership of forest management programs. In addition, local com-
munities’ perception of environmental issues and their participation in miombo woodland
management remains largely uninformed in the Lubumbashi rural area [
14
,
41
]. The present
survey highlights the link between the incorporation of local communities’ environmental
perceptions in the forest management plans, their participation in the activities, and their
ownership of the sustainable management programs in the Lubumbashi rural area.
Therefore, this study characterizes local communities’ perceptions of miombo wood-
land management in the rural area of Lubumbashi. It tests the hypothesis that (i) local
communities perceive deforestation as one of the main environmental problems due to
their high level of dependence on forest resources. This perception varies according to the
villages covered by the present study; (ii) regardless of the activity, older people with a
high level of education would perceive environmental problems more accurately because
of their repeated contact with the forest and clear understanding of local contexts; (iii) due
to the lack of concerted and inclusive planning, the actions of provincial public services
and NGOs would be organized with little participation of local communities, particularly
women and young people with lower levels of education, because of their social exclusion
and own resignation. The investigations were undertaken in the Lubumbashi rural area,
extending over a radius of ±80 km around this city, for a period between 2000 and 2022.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
This study was conducted in the rural area of Lubumbashi (Figure 1), in the Haut-
Katanga province, in the southeastern DRC.
Forests 2023, 14, x 3 of 22
these local communities to participate in such programs. Yet, this perception of local com-
munities on environmental problems and the availability of forest resources would be a
prerequisite to beer guide management and restoration measures [30–32].
Several surveys have already been conducted on the perception of environmental
problems and the participation of local communities in forest management in Africa [33–
35], in the DRC [36–38], and in the miombo ecoregion [10,39,40]. However, these works
have addressed without further exploration the question leading to understanding why
local communities have low ownership of forest management programs. In addition, local
communities’ perception of environmental issues and their participation in miombo wood-
land management remains largely uninformed in the Lubumbashi rural area [14,41]. The
present survey highlights the link between the incorporation of local communities’ envi-
ronmental perceptions in the forest management plans, their participation in the activities,
and their ownership of the sustainable management programs in the Lubumbashi rural
area.
Therefore, this study characterizes local communities’ perceptions of miombo wood-
land management in the rural area of Lubumbashi. It tests the hypothesis that (i) local
communities perceive deforestation as one of the main environmental problems due to
their high level of dependence on forest resources. This perception varies according to the
villages covered by the present study; (ii) regardless of the activity, older people with a
high level of education would perceive environmental problems more accurately because
of their repeated contact with the forest and clear understanding of local contexts; (iii) due
to the lack of concerted and inclusive planning, the actions of provincial public services
and NGOs would be organized with lile participation of local communities, particularly
women and young people with lower levels of education, because of their social exclusion
and own resignation. The investigations were undertaken in the Lubumbashi rural area,
extending over a radius of ±80 km around this city, for a period between 2000 and 2022.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
This study was conducted in the rural area of Lubumbashi (Figure 1), in the Haut-
Katanga province, in the southeastern DRC.
Figure 1. Location of Lubumbashi (the gray polygon) and its rural area (the white area around Lu-
bumbashi) in Haut-Katanga province, D.R. Congo. The black dots surrounded by a halo refer to the
villages covered by this study within a radius of 80 km from the city of Lubumbashi.
Figure 1.
Location of Lubumbashi (the gray polygon) and its rural area (the white area around
Lubumbashi) in Haut-Katanga province, D.R. Congo. The black dots surrounded by a halo refer to
the villages covered by this study within a radius of 80 km from the city of Lubumbashi.
The area has a Cw type climate, according to Köppen’s classification, characterized by
the alternation of a rainy season (November to March) and a dry season (May to Septem-
ber), separated by two transition months (April and October) [
14
,
42
]. While the average
annual temperature in the second half of the 20th century has been about 20
◦
C, ongoing
warming has been documented [
42
]. Total annual precipitation is nearly 1270 mm, with a
steadily decreasing number of rainy days since the early 2000s [
43
]. Miombo woodlands,

Forests 2023,14, 687 4 of 21
generally established on ferralsols [
44
,
45
], are the pristine vegetation of the rural area of
Lubumbashi [
14
], where they are undergoing fragmentation [
46
]. The population in the
Lubumbashi rural area is predominantly poor, living on less than USD 1.25 [
47
] and having
subsistence agriculture, charcoal production, (illegal) wood exploitation, small (informal)
trade, and artisanal mining as their survival activities [13,48,49].
2.2. Methods
2.2.1. Village Selection and Sampling
Five villages (Lwisha, Maksem, Mwawa, Nsela, and Texas) were selected within an
80-km
radius of Lubumbashi. Following a pre-survey of the main charcoal storage sites
in the Lubumbashi (peri-)urban area, these villages are among the most cited charcoal
production sites. In addition, these villages are accessible and connected to other surround-
ing villages. Due to the lack of a population census for more than five decades, there are
no official and recent population statistics in DRC, particularly in Lubumbashi rural area.
Thus, the surveyed sample was calculated from the total number of households constituting
the different villages (Table 1). In these villages, the sample size of the selected house-
holds was determined via the Raosoft.com tool, using the Bernoulli sampling equation [
38
]
(Equation (1)
). A total of 945 households in the five villages were selected. It should be
noted that the household refers to all the occupants of a single dwelling, without these
people necessarily being related to each other [50].
n=Z2×p×(1 −p)×N/Z2×p×(1 −p)+(N−1) ×ET2, (1)
where nis the required sample size (calculated separately for each village); Zis the con-
fidence interval (Z= 1.96 for
α
= 0.05); pis the estimated proportion of the population
with the characteristic of interest (the value of 50% was chosen for this study); Nis the
population size (the number of households in this study); and ET is the acceptable margin
of error.
Table 1.
Geographic location, demographics, sample size, and structures (NGOs and provincial
public services) involved in forest management within the selected villages.
Villages Geographical
Coordinates *
Total Number
of Households Sample NGOs Provincial
Services
Lwisha
11
◦
10
0
S; 27
◦
01
0
E
2670 336 a, b d, e, g
Maksem
11
◦
19
0
S; 27
◦
50
0
E
356 186 - d, e, f, g
Mwawa
12
◦
03
0
S; 27
◦
35
0
E
163 115 a, b, c d
Nsela
11
◦
20
0
S; 27
◦
36
0
E
192 129 - d, e, f
Texas
11
◦
39
0
S; 27
◦
46
0
E
333 179 a d
Total 3714 945
* The geographic coordinates of the villages presented in this table were taken from the traditional rulers’
houses. NGOs: Non-Governmental Organizations; a: APRONAPAKAT (Action for the Protection of Nature and
Indigenous Peoples of Katanga); b: BUCODED (Sustainable Development Consulting Office); c: VPPEE (Vision
for the Protection of the Environment and the Ecosystem); d: Provincial Environmental Coordination, Ministry of
Environment and Sustainable Development; e: National Forestry Fund Agency, Ministry of Environment and
Sustainable Development; f: Provincial Division of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture; g: Provincial Division of
Energy, Ministry of Energy and Water Resources; -: lack of NGOs/public services in the villages.
2.2.2. Data Collection
Preliminary investigations consisted of a literature search on environmental issues
within the Katangese Copperbelt between the years 2000 and 2022 [
14
,
51
–
53
]. This lit-
erature review was conducted through search engines (Scopus, ResearchGate, google
scholar, DOAJ) using keywords (Katangese Copperbelt, Lubumbashi, miombo woodland,
environmental problems, deforestation, trace metal elements, pollution) and Boolean opera-
tors [
54
]. Subsequently, the interviews, guided by semi-structured questionnaires (Provide
as Supplementary Material), were conducted according to the objectives of the survey [
55
],
targeting a total of 945 randomly selected and consenting households [
56
]. Data on the

Forests 2023,14, 687 5 of 21
socio-demographic profile of the respondents (gender, age, stay length in the villages,
level of education, professional activities), providing information on both the character-
istics of the individuals surveyed and their ability to provide convincing answers to the
questionnaire, were collected. The respondents were grouped into three age brackets
(Young:
18–35 years old
, Adult: 36–60, and Old:
≥
61) and stay length in villages (0–5 years,
6–10 years
, and >10 years) [
57
]. For the level of education, respondents were classified
into 4 groups: uneducated (did not study), primary school level (had primary education),
secondary school level (had secondary education), and university level (had university
education). Questions were designed to collect data on respondents’ perceptions of en-
vironmental problems, the management of miombo woodlands, and local communities’
involvement in this management. This information on the activities of NGOs and provincial
public services was collected from local communities to compensate for the low availability
of information from NGOs and provincial public services. All these data were collected
using the Kobotoolbox V1.30.1 application. Environmental issues refer to a fact having a
negative impact on natural resources and on the global environment, while forest manage-
ment consists in actions carried out by the provincial public services and the NGOs for the
sustainability of the forest resources. Finally, focus groups followed by direct observations
were organized in the 5 villages with several participants, whose numbers varied between
9 and 12 [
58
] to verify the veracity of the information from individual interviews and to
inventory the activities carried out by provincial public services and NGOs in favor of
forest management. Triangulation of information with the literature review results was
also done to verify the veracity of the information from individual interviews. All these
surveys were conducted between 13 February and 15 March 2022.
2.2.3. Data Analysis
The qualitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (relative frequencies).
To highlight the difference between the proportion of environmental issues perceived by
local communities, a non-parametric Friedman test was conducted. This test allows several
matched samples, to determine if the values of the variables are significantly different [
59
].
The post-hoc pairwise comparison test was conducted to prioritize villages and perceived
environmental problems. A statistical significance level of 0.05 was used for these com-
parisons [
60
]. These inferential tests were conducted using the rstatix package of R 4.1.0
software. To establish the relationship between the perception of the heads of households
and the elements of their socio-demographic profile, a multiple correspondence factor
analysis (MCA) [
31
] was performed. In addition, this factor analysis was performed to
highlight the profile of respondents participating in the activities of NGOs/provincial
public services. The proximity of the variables indicates their correspondence. This factor
analysis was conducted using JMP 15.2 PRO software. The Jaccard Index [
61
] (Equation (2))
was calculated, using Past version 4.05 software, to highlight the similarity between the
environmental problems identified in the literature according to the two approaches used
(Empirical Research and Individual Interviews). On the other hand, this index was calcu-
lated to highlight the level of similarity between the environmental problems identified in
the literature, those perceived by the respondents, and the activities of the NGOs/provincial
public services.
J=a/a+b+c, (2)
where Jis the Jaccard index; and in the case of this study, ais the number of problems
covered by the actions of the two NGOs and/or provincial public services; band care the
number of issues covered by the activities of one of the two NGOs and/or provincial public
services, concerned.
3. Results
3.1. Sociodemographic Profile of Heads of Households
Most of the respondents were men in terms of age categories, and more than 90% were
young and adult. In addition, nearly
3
4
of the heads of households live in the villages for

Forests 2023,14, 687 6 of 21
10 years or less, with a low level of education (uneducated or primary school). Agriculture,
combined with charcoal production, is the main source of income for most of the households
surveyed. In terms of variability of respondents across villages, Lwisha and Nsela villages
recorded many women, while older respondents (
≥
61 years old) were least represented
in all villages. The different villages were dominated by respondents which spent less
than 5 years in the village. The respondents with a university level are only represented in
Lwisha, Mwawa, and Nsela (Table 2).
Table 2.
Socio-demographic characteristics of heads of households in different villages in the rural
area of Lubumbashi.
Elements of the
Socio-Demographic
Profile
Villages Average
Percentage
Lwisha *
n= 336
Maksem
n= 186
Mwawa
n= 115
Nsela
n= 129
Texas
n= 179
Gender (%)
Woman 50.9 37.6 47.8 52.7 44.1 46.9
Male 49.1 62.4 52.2 47.3 55.9 53.1
Age range (%)
Young 33.6 57.5 48.7 47.3 36.9 42.7
Adult 58.1 40.9 47.0 48.1 58.1 52.0
Old 8.3 1.6 4.4 4.7 5.0 5.4
Time spent in the villages (%)
0–5 years 44.4 48.9 34.8 57.4 42.5 45.6
5–10 years 26.2 21.5 19.1 31.0 21.8 23.9
>10 years 29.5 29.6 46.1 11.6 35.8 30.5
Level of education (%)
Uneducated 14.3 24.2 19.1 37.2 26.3 24.2
Primary school 35.4 39.3 47.8 30.2 43.0 39.1
Secondary school 47.9 36.7 29.6 31.0 30.7 35.2
University level 2.4 0.0 3.5 1.6 0.0 1.5
Main activities (%)
Cultivator 92.0 92.5 93.9 78.3 97.8 91.5
Charcoal producer 5.4 6.5 3.5 19.4 0.6 6.4
Art Sculptor 2.4 1.1 0.0 1.6 1.1 1.5
Logger of timber 0.0 0.0 2.6 0.8 0.0 0.4
NTFP Collector 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.2
* n: sample size; NTFP: non-timber forest products.
3.2. Main Environmental Problems as Found in the Literature and Perceived by the
Local Communities
3.2.1. Literature Review from 2000 to 2022 in the Katangan Copperbelt
The bibliographic review identified 120 documents written based on empirical research
(including 90 scientific publications, 15 book chapters, and 16 reports) and 35 written
through individual interviews (including 25 peer-reviewed articles, four book chapters,
and three reports). This total of 155 documents is distributed among 121 different authors,
99 of whom conducted empirical research. Regardless of the research approach, this
literature review notes that most publications within the Katangan Copperbelt focus on
environmental issues related to deforestation and forest degradation, as well as trace
metal pollution of soils and water. Air pollution is the least researched issue by empirical
investigations, while biological erosion and invasion are the least addressed problems in
interview-based surveys (Table 3). Jaccard similarity between the problems identified by
the two research approaches is 87.5%.

Forests 2023,14, 687 7 of 21
Table 3. Environmental problems identified by the literature review on the Katangan Copperbelt.
Key Issues (%)
Approaches Used
Empirical Research
*n= 120
Individual Interviews
n= 35
Deforestation and forest degradation 44.2 37.1
Trace metals in soil 28.3 20.0
Water pollution 8.3 14.3
Climate change 6.7 5.7
Soil fertility loss 5.8 8.6
Biological erosion 5.0 2.9
Air pollution 1.7 8.6
Biological invasion - 2.9
Total 100.0 100.0
*n: sample size; -: no publication found.
3.2.2. Perception of Environmental Problems by Local Communities in the Rural Area
of Lubumbashi
More than half of the respondents have identified the problems of soil fertility loss and
deforestation as the main environmental problems in their area. On the other hand, climate
change was identified by only about 15% of the heads of households surveyed, compared
to nearly 5% for water pollution. The Friedman statistical test reveals significant differences
in perceived problems (p< 0.05). The pairwise comparison shows that soil fertility loss
and deforestation are perceived similarly (p> 0.05) and more than the rest of the problems.
Similarly, this comparison shows that the level of perception of environmental problems
remains similar between villages (p< 0.05; Table 4).
Table 4.
Main environmental problems perceived in the different villages of the Lubumbashi ru-
ral area.
Environmental
Problems (%) *
Villages
Signif.
Lwisha
n= 336
Maksem
n= 186
Mwawa
n= 115
Nsela
n= 129
Texas
n= 179
Soil fertility loss 43.2 21.0 55.7 47.3 43.0 a
Deforestation 22.9 34.4 8.7 13.2 31.3 a
Climate change 6.9 15.1 13.1 18.6 10.1 ab
Water pollution 7.7 2.7 0.0 5.4 0.6 b
Signif. a a a a a -
* The sum of the frequencies does not reach 100% because the category “no perceived problem” has been removed
from the table. n: sample size; Signif.: letters indicating significant differences between perceived environmental
problems and between villages.
3.3. Sociodemographic Determinants of Local Communities’ Perception of Environmental Problems
Soil fertility loss was cited mostly by adult women, who often grow crops, with a low
level of education (uneducated and primary school level). Deforestation was mentioned
more by adult men with a secondary level of education. In addition, respondents with a
university level, charcoal producers, timber harvesters, NTFP collectors, and sculptors have
shown a tendency to have a less focused perception of environmental problems than other
categories of respondents. Finally, young respondents and those who have been in the
villages for less than 10 years summarize their perception of environmental problems only
in terms of climate change, but the majority did not mention any environmental problem
(Figure 2).

Forests 2023,14, 687 8 of 21
Forests 2023, 14, x 8 of 22
3.3. Sociodemographic Determinants of Local Communities’ Perception of Environmental Prob-
lems
Soil fertility loss was cited mostly by adult women, who often grow crops, with a low
level of education (uneducated and primary school level). Deforestation was mentioned
more by adult men with a secondary level of education. In addition, respondents with a
university level, charcoal producers, timber harvesters, NTFP collectors, and sculptors
have shown a tendency to have a less focused perception of environmental problems than
other categories of respondents. Finally, young respondents and those who have been in
the villages for less than 10 years summarize their perception of environmental problems
only in terms of climate change, but the majority did not mention any environmental
problem (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Determinants of local communities’ perception of environmental problems in the different
villages of the rural area of Lubumbashi, depicted in a plan consisting of the first two dimensions
summarizing 78.6% of the information following a multiple correspondence factor analysis. F: Fe-
male; M: Male; Yo: Young (18–35 years); Ad: Adult (36–60 years); Ol: Old (61 years and older); 0–5,
5–10, >10: seniority between 0–5 years, 5–10 years, 10 years and older, respectively; UN: Uneducated;
PL: primary school level; SL: secondary school level; UL: University level; FA: Farmer; CP: Charcoal
producer; TL: Timber logger; NT: NTFP collector; AS: Art sculptor; SF: Soil fertility loss; DE: Defor-
estation; CC: Climate change; RP: Water pollution; NP: No perceived environmental problem.
Figure 2.
Determinants of local communities’ perception of environmental problems in the different
villages of the rural area of Lubumbashi, depicted in a plan consisting of the first two dimensions
summarizing 78.6% of the information following a multiple correspondence factor analysis. F:
Female; M: Male; Yo: Young (18–35 years); Ad: Adult (36–60 years); Ol: Old (61 years and older);
0–5, 5–10, >10: seniority between 0–5 years, 5–10 years, 10 years and older, respectively; UN:
Uneducated; PL: primary school level; SL: secondary school level; UL: University level; FA: Farmer; CP:
Charcoal producer; TL: Timber logger; NT: NTFP collector; AS: Art sculptor; SF: Soil fertility loss; DE:
Deforestation; CC: Climate change; RP: Water pollution; NP: No perceived environmental problem.
3.4. Perceived Actions of NGOs/Provincial Public Services and Participation of Local Communities
3.4.1. Actions of ONGs and Provincial Public Services as Perceived by Local Communities
According to the respondents, the actions of the NGOs can be summarized as training
and sensitization of local communities for the sustainable exploitation of miombo woodlands,
distribution of seedlings (e.g., Acacia auriculiformis A.Cunn. ex Benth., Psidium guajava L.,
Persea americana Mill., Moringa oleifera Lam., Pinus sp., and Citrus spp.) for homestead
gardens, as well as reforestation activities. Specifically, nearly
3
4
of respondents noted the
actions of the NGO APRONAPAKAT in terms of reforestation, collection of seeds (of tree
species such as Afzelia quanzensis Welw., Albizia adianthifolia (Schumach.) W.F.Wight, Albizia
antunesiana Harms, Brachystegia spicifornis Benth, Julbernardia paniculata (Benth.) Troupin,
Julbernardia globuflora (Benth.) Troupin) and the implantation of nurseries. Eighteen hun-
dred Albizia lebbeck seedlings and nearly seven hundred and fifty Leucaena leucocephala
seedlings were found in a nursery in preparation for reforestation in the Mwawa forest
concession. Nearly 20% of respondents claimed that this NGO had distributed seedlings
of Acacia auriculiformis A.Cunn. ex Benth. for the hut garden in Texas village. Regarding
the NGOs BUCODED and VPPEE, more than 80% of respondents perceive actions related

Forests 2023,14, 687 9 of 21
to the drafting of simple management plans for the benefit of the Forest Concessions of
the Local Communities of Lwisha and Mwawa, respectively. However, the local commu-
nities perceive that the actions of provincial public services are limited to training and
sensitization of local communities on the sustainable exploitation of miombo woodland and
the collection of taxes. More than
3
4
of the respondents confirmed that the Environmental
services and the National Forestry Fund carry out their actions in training and sensitization
on sustainable exploitation, tax collection, and distribution of seedlings (A.auriculiformis
and Pinus sp.) to the communities. The Environment and Energy services are involved in
forest control and tax collection, respectively, while the agriculture department is involved
only in training and sensitization of local communities (Table 5).
Table 5.
Actions of NGOs and provincial public services, as perceived by local communities in the
different villages of the rural area of Lubumbashi.
Actions Taken
Citation Frequencies (%) *
NGOs Provincial Public Services
APRONAPAKAT
n= 630
BUCODED
n= 451
VPPEE
n= 115
Envir.
n= 945
FFN
n= 651
Agri.
n= 315
Energ.
n= 522
Forest control - - - 14.7 - - -
Distribution of seedlings
17.1 - - 4.8 33.3 - -
Elaboration of the SMP - 28.4 41.7 - - - -
Training and
sensitization 8.6 58.5 44.3 2.9 13.5 46.3 -
Installation of nurseries 6.2 - - - - - -
Tax collection - - - 76.9 53.2 - 92.1
Reforestation 38.8 - - - - - -
Seeds harvesting 24.2 - - - - - -
* The values correspond to the proportions (%) of heads of households surveyed who perceived the actions. The
proportions of respondents who did not perceive the actions of NGOs and provincial public services are not
presented in this table. APRONAPAKAT: Action for the Protection of Nature and Indigenous Peoples of Katanga;
BUCODED: Sustainable Development Consulting Office; VPPEE: Vision for the Protection of the Environment
and the Ecosystem; Envir.: Provincial Coordination of Environment, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable
Development; FFN: National Forestry Fund Agency, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development;
Agri.: Provincial Division of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture; Energ.: Provincial Division of Energy, Ministry
of Energy and Hydraulic Resources; SMP: Simple Management Plan; n: sample size, calculated according
to the villages of intervention of the provincial public services and the NGOs; -: lack of action by relevant
NGOs/public services.
3.4.2. Similarity between the Actions of NGOs/Provincial Public Services, the Problems
Identified in the Literature, and the Perception of Local Communities
Local communities’ perceptions of environmental issues are about half as similar
as those identified in the literature review for the Katangan Copperbelt. The overall
actions of NGOs and provincial public services remain almost similar, addressing only a
small proportion of the issues identified in the literature review and by the respondents.
Moreover, these actions remain related to deforestation, climate change, and biological
erosion, as detailed in Table 6.

Forests 2023,14, 687 10 of 21
Table 6.
Suitability of the actions of the NGOs/provincial public services to the problems identified
in the literature and by the local communities.
Problems Identified
in the Literature *
Problems Cited by
Local
Communities
NGOs Provincial Public Services
APRONAPAKAT BUCODED VPPEE ENV. FFN AGRI ENERG.
Deforestation and
forest degradation Deforestation 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 3, 4 3, 4 1, 2, 4 2, 4 - -
Trace metals in soil - - - - - - - -
Water pollution Water pollution - - - - - - -
Climate change Climate change 2, 4 3, 4 3, 4 1, 2, 4 2, 4 - -
Soil fertility loss Soil fertility loss - - - - - 4 -
Biological erosion - 2, 4 3, 4 3, 4 1, 2, 4 2, 4 - -
Air pollution - 2 - - 2 2 - -
Biological invasion - - - - - - - -
- - - - - 8 8 - 8
* The values in the table represent the actions of the NGOs/public services. 1: Forest control; 2: Distribution of
seedlings; 3: Elaboration of Simple Management Plans; 4: Training and sensitization; 5: Installation of nurseries;
6: Reforestation; 7: Seed harvesting; 8: Tax collection. Blank spaces in the table indicate no actions. NGOs:
Non-Governmental Organizations; APRONAPAKAT: Action for the Protection of Nature and Indigenous Peoples
of Katanga; BUCODED: Sustainable Development Consulting Office; VPPEE: Vision for the Protection of the
Environment and the Ecosystem; Envir.: Provincial Coordination of the Environment, Ministry of Environment and
Sustainable Development; FFN: National Forestry Fund, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development;
Agri.: Provincial Division of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture; Energ.: Provincial Division of Energy, Ministry
of Energy and Hydraulic Resources; -: lack of actions or environmental problems corresponding to the perception
of Local communities or NGOs/provincial public services actions.
While there is a similarity of more than 75% between the areas of action of the different
NGOs carrying out environmental actions, the different actions of the provincial public
services are only about 20% similar to each other. On the other hand, the actions of the
NGOs are almost 80% similar to those of the provincial public environmental service and
the National Forestry Fund. Although the environmental problems perceived by local
people only meet those in the literature at 50%, the areas of action of the NGOs and the
provincial public services only cover less than 50% of the environmental problems identified
in the literature. Finally, the results show that the actions of NGOs and provincial public
services only weakly (40%) meet the problems identified by local communities (Table 7).
Table 7.
Jaccard similarity index calculated between the literature, the perception of local communi-
ties, and the actions of NGOs and provincial public services.
Litt. * APRONAPAKAT BUCODED VPPEE ENV. FFN AGRI ENERG.
APRONAPAKAT
0.50
BUCODED 0.38 0.75
VPPEE 0.38 0.75 1.00
Envir. 0.44 0.80 0.60 0.60
FFN 0.44 0.80 0.60 0.60 1.00
Agri 0.13 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Energ. 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.20 0.20 0.00
LC 0.50 0.33 0.40 0.40 0.29 0.29 0.25 0.00
* Litt.: Literature; APRONAPAKAT: Action for the Protection of Nature and Indigenous Peoples of Katanga;
BUCODED: Sustainable Development Consulting Office; VPPEE: Vision for the Protection of the Environment
and the Ecosystem; Envir.: Provincial Coordination of Environment, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable
Development; FFN: National Forestry Fund Agency, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development;
Agri.: Provincial Division of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture; Energ.: Provincial Division of Energy, Ministry
of Energy and Hydraulic Resources; SMP: Simple Management Plan; n: sample size, calculated according to the
villages of intervention of the provincial public services and the NGOs; LC: Local Communities.
3.4.3. Participation of Local Communities in the Actions of NGOs and Provincial
Public Services
The participation of local community members in the activities of provincial public
services and NGOs does not exceed
1
4
of the respondents surveyed, with slightly high
participation in the actions of NGOs. In the case of APRONAPAKAT, most respondents

Forests 2023,14, 687 11 of 21
stated that they had participated in the distribution of seedlings, the harvesting of seeds,
and the installation of nurseries. The participation of respondents in the actions of the
NGOs BUCODED and VPPEE is noted during activities related to the development of the
simple management plan. Regarding the provincial public services, respondents stated
that they have participated more in activities related to training and sensitization among
local communities and the distribution of seedlings. The low level of participation in the
activities of the provincial public services and NGOs is justified by the unavailability of
the respondents surveyed or their exclusion by these structures. In particular, the low
participation of local communities in the activities of the provincial public services is
justified mainly by a lack of interest (Table 8).
Table 8.
Participation of the local communities in the actions carried out by the NGOs and the
provincial public services, in the different villages of the rural area of Lubumbashi.
Actions Taken *
NGOs Provincial Public Services
APRONAPAKAT
n= 630
BUCODED
n= 451
VPPEE
n= 115
ENV.
n= 945
FFN
n= 651
AGRI.
n= 315
ENERG.
n= 522
Participation of local communities in the actions (%)
Forest control - - - 0.0 - - -
Seedling distribution 7.8 - - - 7.2 - -
Elaboration of the GMP - 14.9 21.7 - - - -
Training and sensitization 1.2 7.0 6.2 1.9 2.8 4.8 -
Setting up of the plant
nurseries 5.1 - - - - - -
Tax collection - - - 0.0 0.0 - 0.0
Reforestation 4.4 - - - - - -
Harvesting the seeds 6.0 - - - - - -
Factors explaining the low participation of some respondents in the actions (%)
Lack of information 8.4 7.1 5.2 3.7 - - -
Lack of special interest 9.3 16.2 15.7 - - 29.8 -
Exclusion in actions 13.5 18.4 10.4 11.0 9.7 - -
No empowerment - - - 74.6 71.3 - 74.9
Little availability 35.7 33.5 40.9 - - 83.2 19.2
Loss of time 14.2 16.0 13.9 9.6 10.8 35.9 13.8
* The values correspond to the proportion (%) of respondents (not) involved in these activities. APRONAPAKAT
:
Action for the Protection of Nature and Indigenous Peoples of Katanga; BUCODED: Sustainable Development
Consulting Office; VPPEE: Vision for the Protection of the Environment and the Ecosystem; ENV.: Provincial
Coordination of the Environment, Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development; FFN: National
Forestry Fund, Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development; AGRI.: Provincial Division of Agricul-
ture, Ministry of Agriculture; SMP: Simple Management Plan; ENERG.: Provincial Division of Energy, Ministry
of Energy and Hydraulic Resources; n: sample size, calculated according to the villages of intervention of the
NGOs and provincial public services;
-
: no action and no participation in the actions of the corresponding
NGOs/provincial public services.
The various activities organized by the NGOs/provincial public services are more
likely to be attended by adult and aged men, with secondary school and university levels,
who have been in the village for more than 10 years, and whose main activities are sub-
sistence farming, charcoal production, logging for timber and art sculpting. On the other
hand, women, and youth with low levels of education (uneducated and primary school
level), less than 10 years spent in the village, and NTFP collectors have low participation in
these activities (Figure 3).

Forests 2023,14, 687 12 of 21
Forests 2023, 14, x 13 of 22
Figure 3. Sociodemographic profile of the actors participating in the different activities organized
by the NGOs/provincial public services (PS), in a plan made up of the first two dimensions summa-
rizing 75% of the information following a multiple correspondences factorial analysis. F: Female; M:
Male; Yo: Young (18–35 years old); Ad: Adult (36–60 years old); Ol: Old (61 years and older); 0–5, 5–
10, >10: seniority between 0–5 years, 5–10 years, 10 years and older, respectively; UN: Uneducated;
PL: primary school level; SL: secondary school level; UL: university level; FA: Farmer; CP: Charcoal
producer; TL: Timber logger; NT: NTFP collector; AS: Art sculptor; APRONAPAKAT: Action for the
Protection of Nature and Indigenous Peoples of Katanga; BUCODED: Sustainable Development
Consulting Office; VPPEE: Vision for the Protection of the Environment and the Ecosystem; ENV.:
Provincial Coordination of the Environment, Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Devel-
opment; FFN: National Forestry Fund Agency, Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Devel-
opment; AGRI.: Provincial Division of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture; ENERG.: Provincial Di-
vision of Energy, Ministry of Energy and Hydraulic Resources; DS: Distribution of seedlings for hut
gardens; TS: Training and sensitization; SN: Installation and maintaining the nursery; NP: Not par-
ticipating; SMP: Activities related to the simple management plan; RE: Reforestation; HS: Harvest-
ing of seeds of native forest species.
4. Discussion
4.1. Methods Used in This Survey and Limitations of the Findings
The semi-structured interview was conducted in this study using Bernoulli sampling.
However, there are several interview techniques (structured and unstructured) and sam-
pling methods that can be used in the social sciences: random area limitations sampling,
strata sampling, and quota sampling [62]. The different combinations of these interview
techniques and sampling methods would not necessarily produce results similar to the
present study, despite using them on the same survey questionnaire and with the same
individuals. While the choice of the technique and sampling method used in the present
study would be justified appropriately by leing the interviewer guide the interview ac-
cording to the objectives set (avoiding response slippage and unspoken words) but still
leaving the latitude for the interviewee to express themselves freely [63] and to remain
empirical and logical in sampling, the use of other interview techniques and sampling
Figure 3.
Sociodemographic profile of the actors participating in the different activities organized by
the NGOs/provincial public services (PS), in a plan made up of the first two dimensions summarizing
75% of the information following a multiple correspondences factorial analysis. F: Female; M: Male;
Yo: Young (18–35 years old); Ad: Adult (36–60 years old); Ol: Old (61 years and older); 0–5, 5–10, >10:
seniority between 0–5 years, 5–10 years, 10 years and older, respectively; UN: Uneducated; PL: pri-
mary school level; SL: secondary school level; UL: university level; FA: Farmer; CP: Charcoal producer;
TL: Timber logger; NT: NTFP collector; AS: Art sculptor; APRONAPAKAT: Action for the Protection
of Nature and Indigenous Peoples of Katanga; BUCODED: Sustainable Development Consulting
Office; VPPEE: Vision for the Protection of the Environment and the Ecosystem; ENV.: Provincial
Coordination of the Environment, Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development; FFN:
National Forestry Fund Agency, Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development; AGRI.:
Provincial Division of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture; ENERG.: Provincial Division of Energy,
Ministry of Energy and Hydraulic Resources; DS: Distribution of seedlings for hut gardens; TS:
Training and sensitization; SN: Installation and maintaining the nursery; NP: Not participating; SMP:
Activities related to the simple management plan; RE: Reforestation; HS: Harvesting of seeds of
native forest species.
4. Discussion
4.1. Methods Used in This Survey and Limitations of the Findings
The semi-structured interview was conducted in this study using Bernoulli sampling.
However, there are several interview techniques (structured and unstructured) and sam-
pling methods that can be used in the social sciences: random area limitations sampling,
strata sampling, and quota sampling [
62
]. The different combinations of these interview
techniques and sampling methods would not necessarily produce results similar to the
present study, despite using them on the same survey questionnaire and with the same indi-
viduals. While the choice of the technique and sampling method used in the present study
would be justified appropriately by letting the interviewer guide the interview according
to the objectives set (avoiding response slippage and unspoken words) but still leaving the
latitude for the interviewee to express themselves freely [
63
] and to remain empirical and

Forests 2023,14, 687 13 of 21
logical in sampling, the use of other interview techniques and sampling methods requires
detailed knowledge of the population from which the sample would be tired [56].
Furthermore, the numbers of respondents per village are more than sufficient to gen-
eralize the results to the sampled populations. Indeed, the authors of [
56
,
64
] propose a
sample size of 30–40 respondents that would be sufficient to generate acceptable statistics,
particularly in the absence of reliable demographic statistics that could be used to tire
out the population sample. Nevertheless, despite the focus groups and triangulations
conducted during the present study to validate the results, further triangulations between
the responses of the heads of households surveyed and those of the provincial services and
NGOs would be an important contribution to the present results. The present study’s find-
ings could be generalized to other villages around Lubumbashi since the local communities
in the Lubumbashi rural area are almost ethnically the same and have nearly the same
socio-demographic profile. Furthermore, the applicability of the results and conclusions of
this paper in other areas will be determined by the conformity of the conditions related
to the state of the forest resources, the management system, and the socio-demographic
profile of the stakeholders in this study area.
4.2. Environmental Issues in the Rural Lubumbashi: Hierarchy, Magnitude, and Veracity of
Information Sources
Deforestation and pollution by trace metals are the two major environmental issues
identified in the literature. Pollution results from mining activities and is responsible for
environmental degradation, especially habitat fragmentation in the rural area of Lubum-
bashi [
65
,
66
] and in Zambia [
12
]. In addition, the literature has highlighted a gradual
disappearance of woody species on soils containing high concentrations of trace metal
elements, which may also justify tree cover loss. Mining activities thus lead to deforestation
in an (in)direct way, justifying the feedback of two processes, as perceived by the popu-
lation. Furthermore, perceived by local communities as a major environmental problem
independently of the villages, the soil fertility loss because of agriculture-driven defor-
estation [
67
] or charcoal production [
19
], is justified by the disruption of the soil’s supply
of mineral elements by the litter of miombo woodland species [
68
]. For this reason, it is
recognized that one of the most critical anthropogenic impacts in the study area is found to
be the removal of the original vegetation cover, accompanied by its replacement by another
land use category [
16
,
49
,
69
,
70
]. Ref. [
46
] also pointed out that the significantly accelerated
deforestation in recent decades is a consequence of, among other things, the high demand
for dendroenergy. Yet, for local communities living under otherwise deleterious economic
conditions, charcoal production constitutes an opportunity to increase income through
the exploitation of miombo woodland, whose patch abundance is constantly regressing
over short distances to the city [
13
], including around the villages surveyed as part of this
study. Indeed, charcoal production allows rural households to make available financial
resources complementary to agricultural activities [
71
], justifying the link between these
two activities in the rural area of Lubumbashi.
On the other hand, local communities have reported only half of the environmental
issues identified by the literature review. This result is justified by the fact that most local
community members have a low level of education, limiting their integration into labor
markets, and are involved in shifting cultivation and charcoal production, thus perceiving
the related problems more clearly than other environmental issues. Indeed, nearly 70%
of RDC’s rural population has a low education level [
72
]. In addition, in the context of a
tight labor market, agriculture and the exploitation of forest resources become alternative
sources of households’ income and subsistence, with little concern for the sustainability of
resources [
20
,
73
]. The hypothesis that local communities perceive deforestation as one of
the main environmental problems is confirmed by this finding.

Forests 2023,14, 687 14 of 21
4.3. Determinants of Community Members’ Perception of Environmental Problems and
Participation in Forest Management Activities
The perception of environmental problems is strongly linked with households’ profiles.
This is particularly true for gender due to the social division of labor [
71
,
74
]. Indeed, the
fact that soil fertility loss is perceived by women and deforestation by men corroborates
Ref. [
74
] findings that an individual’s gender determines the types of activities to be carried
out in society in sub-Saharan Africa. Certainly, men tend to generally engage in work that
increasingly requires muscular strength, such as land clearing and/or charcoal produc-
tion [
75
,
76
]. For The influence of age and seniority on the perception of environmental
problems is because processes such as deforestation and soil fertility loss require relatively
long spatiotemporal observation. Ref. [
26
] demonstrated that in DRC, local community
members’ perception of environmental problems increases with age and seniority in the
villages. While the perception of deforestation increases with the respondents’ education
level (mostly men), an opposite trend is observed regarding soil fertility loss. In fact,
educated heads of households, who are mostly men, have more knowledge about current
environmental issues, thus corroborating the findings of Ref. [
50
] in DRC. In addition, in
Congolese rural areas, women remain marginalized in terms of access to certain rights
such as basic education, and are thus dedicated to domestic activities, farming, and NTFP
collection [
72
]. These results confirm that older people with a high level of education would
perceive environmental problems more accurately.
4.4. Actions of Provincial Public Services and NGOs and Participation of Local Communities
Provincial public services and NGOs are taking a series of actions to promote the
sustainable use of miombo woodlands. However, their actions remain insufficient regarding
the magnitude of the environmental problems identified in the literature review and are of
less priority levels for local communities in the rural area of Lubumbashi. Although the
choice of areas of action and the implementation of activities by provincial public services
and NGOs may be the result of their original missions, the low availability of sufficiently
qualified human resources and financial resources, resulting in low organizational capac-
ity [
10
,
77
]. Indeed, the Congolese government, the main source of funding for provincial
public services, allocates little financial resources of its budget to forestry management
(less than 1%) and agriculture (less than 3%). To compensate for this, provincial public
services make tax collection their priority [
78
] to make up for low operating costs [
20
]
and alleviate the underpayment of the personnel. The results of this study converge with
those obtained by the authors of [
10
,
79
], suggesting that in the miombo ecoregion, public
services and NGOs only direct their activities according to existing capacities and means.
In addition, reforestation programs in the rural area of Lubumbashi use nearly 70% of
native tree species, ensuring that the structure, functioning, and composition of the miombo
woodlands are maintained [
80
]. However, the 30% of exotic species used by provincial
public services and NGOs for reforestation constitute a threat to the native miombo trees [
81
],
namely through the alteration of its functions and by inducing biodiversity loss [18,80].
In addition, the results highlighted the low participation of local communities (par-
ticularly women and youth with low levels of education) in the activities of NGOs and
provincial public services. Indeed, women and youth are the most marginalized classes
in some rural societies, such as in rural Lubumbashi [
72
]. Despite the social division of
labor, these classes are subject to prohibitions that can go as far as excluding them from
participating in meetings in the same way as older men [
72
,
82
]. Furthermore, nearly
3
4
of the
population living in rural areas has a low level of education in DRC [
72
,
83
]; their exclusion
and lack of availability for activities organized by NGOs and provincial public services
would justify the low participation noted by the results of this study. Non-accountability;
non-compliance with legal texts; divergence of opinions; exclusion and marginalization of
local communities would induce their low participation in the sustainable management of
miombo woodlands [
27
]. In fact, local communities are wary of NGOs, they report to be
more interested in obtaining short-term results to secure funds from external donors and

Forests 2023,14, 687 15 of 21
to legitimize their position as “spokespersons” for the local community [
84
]. On the other
hand, the weaknesses of inherent to the government and the multiplicity of taxes weighing
on the income of poor farmers [
85
], would favor a negative connotation on provincial public
services in the mindset of the surrounding community of miombo woodlands. Overall, our
results stress the poor participation of local communities in forest management due to the
strong centralization of power by provincial public services and NGOs, low consultation,
and non-inclusiveness of actors, as per the results of many studies conducted in Central
Africa [
29
,
86
,
87
], in other regions of the DRC [
78
,
88
] and in the miombo ecoregion [
10
,
27
,
79
].
This result confirms that the actions of provincial public services and NGOs would be
organized with low participation from local communities.
4.5. Implications of the Results for Sustainable Management of miombo Woodlands
Subsistence agriculture and charcoal production are two anthropogenic activities
contributing largely to deforestation in rural Lubumbashi [
13
], one consequence of which
is soil fertility loss. Eleanor et al., [
89
] demonstrated that forest cover, through its litter
and symbiotic relationships, improves the physical, chemical, and biological properties
of the soil, making it attractive to farmers. In this context, agroforestry is a solution to
contribute to restore the fertility of cultivable land by limiting the itinerancy experienced by
farmers in the region [
90
], which will certainly contribute to reduce the anthropic pressure
on the forest resources of the region [
91
]. For example, the Mampu agroforestry system
on the Bateke Plateau of DRC can be expected to yield an average of 1.5 tons of charcoal,
1.25 tons of cassava, 70 kg tons of maize, and 0.75 kg of honey, per hectare, which is much
higher than the average production of degraded fallows in the region [
92
]. However, the
adoption of this new approach by local communities living in the miombo woodland area
would be hindered by constraints related to the level of education of local community
members (most of whom have a low level of education) and those related to the social
distribution of tasks (most of which are carried out by women and children) [
74
]. Cases
of difficulties in adopting new farming practices due to low levels of education and the
social division of labor have been documented in Morocco and northwest Benin [
93
,
94
].
To do this, awareness-raising regarding the improvement of the level of education and
the improvement of the perception of gender should be put in place, with the support of
provincial public services and NGOs.
In the rural area of Lubumbashi, community forestry is also emerging as a new op-
portunity for forest management by local communities on which their survival depends.
Indeed, in two case studies in Kongo Central, DRC, local forest management lead by local
rulers or lineage leaders has shown its limitations, while the practice of rapid return to
forest (for agriculture or charcoal exploitation) hinders the possibility of regeneration of
most local species [
95
]. This trend has also been observed in the rural area of Lubum-
bashi [
20
]. It is in this context that community forestry appears as a solution to mitigate
deforestation, especially since it is a form of forest management and exploitation in which
local communities elaborate together and apply rules of access and use of the forest and
participate in its exploitation [
96
]. However, to make this approach sustainable, it is crucial
to support communities in managing and allocating revenues from these products [97].
Furthermore, NGOs and provincial public services should reorient and intensify ac-
tions based on the problems of the region, as identified by local communities and literature
review, to foster local community participation and ownership. This requires the promotion
of concerted and inclusive planning, involving local communities and other stakehold-
ers [
38
], including the miners. However, in the context of low local community participation
in forest management planning and programs, due to the forestry policy inadequacy and
poor accountability [
9
,
10
], e-participation rise as an alternative. This e-participation pro-
vides several advantages: connecting individuals with each other, governance processes,
and their decision makers; stimulating participatory governance; and promoting trans-
parency by making data available to the public [
98
]. However, while this participation
system has advantages in developed countries, its applicability in developing countries,

Forests 2023,14, 687 16 of 21
particularly in Africa, would have organizational and technological limitations [
99
,
100
]
such as access to the network internet. Similar findings of difficulties with e-participation
by populations were noted in Cameroon [101].
Nevertheless, for a sustainable solution, local communities should have access to
microcredit to engage in other income-generating activities and thus reduce pressure
on forest resources [
102
]. However, the system of supervision of local communities by
NGOs and provincial public services, which otherwise organize their activities according
to intermittent funding from external donors and the Congolese government, would
be weakened. This may jeopardize the sustainability and continuity of sustainable and
participatory management actions [103].
5. Conclusions
This study assessed the perception of local communities on the management of miombo
woodlands in the rural area of Lubumbashi, through surveys of 945 heads of households.
The results show that local communities perceive soil fertility loss and deforestation as
major environmental problems due to their heavy dependence on forest resources. Indeed,
these major environmental problems result from anthropogenic activities, mainly shifting
agriculture and charcoal production, commonly practiced in the Lubumbashi rural area.
In addition, regardless of the activity, adult males with a high level of education perceive
environmental problems more accurately because of their repeated intrusion into the forest
and awareness of current environmental issues. This result is certainly derived from the
social division of labor and schooling by gender in Lubumbashi rural area especially and as
is usually in the African rural areas. Finally, due to the lack of inclusion of local communities’
perception in the forest management programs, these results reveal poor participation of
local communities in the activities of provincial public services and NGOs, especially since
these activities remain a low priority and do not correspond to the expectations of these
communities.
Therefore, the actions to be carried out must result from concerted and inclusive
planning, for their better appropriation and the sustainable management and resilience of
miombo woodlands to anthropic pressures.
Supplementary Materials:
The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https:
//www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/f14040687/s1.
Author Contributions:
Writing—original draft, D.-d.N.N.; writing—review, H.K.M.; B.K.W.N.K.,
K.R.S. and F.M.; supervision and writing-original draft, Y.U.S.; W.M.K. and J.B. All authors have read
and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding:
This research was funded by the Academy of Research and Higher Education (ARES-
CCD, Belgium) via the Development Research Project: “Capacity Building for the Sustainable
Management of the miombo woodlands through the Assessment of the Environmental Impact of
Charcoal Production and the Improvement of Forest Resource Practices” (PRD CHARLU).
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement:
The data related to the present study will be available upon request
from the interested party.
Acknowledgments:
The authors would like to thank the Academy of Research and Higher Education
(ARES) and the PRD CHARLU for the financial support of this study through the doctoral fellowship
granted to Dieu-donnéN’tambwe Nghonda and Héritier Khoji Muteya. The local community
members and authorities of the villages who took part in this study are warmly thanked for their
availability.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Forests 2023,14, 687 17 of 21
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