Massangui
AGRICAF CONGO
Approx. 23,300 ha | Kingoué district, Bouenza Department | Forestry and forest protection
Context
In south-west Congo, the Massangui area is mostly shrub savanna, shaped over decades by regular fires. About a third of the concession is natural habitat, mainly forest along the rivers. The project plans to plant trees on the savanna and to protect the remaining forest.
What is in place
AGRICAF CONGO holds a provisional authorisation for forestry and agroforestry from the Ministry of Land Affairs, issued in December 2024. A long-term title is being prepared with the authorities.
The national environmental and social impact study started in 2024, and its report was completed in early 2026; it now goes to the authorities for validation. Independent specialists are also studying the biodiversity of the area and the places of high value for nature. The project is listed with Verra as VCS 5816.
Trees are to be planted only on savanna. Exclusion zones, where nothing is planted, are defined from these studies: the forest along the rivers, the waterways and the areas the villages use. The final design of the project will follow the studies.
Trial plot
Since February 2025 AGRICAF CONGO has been running a trial plot of about 30 hectares at Zabata to test planting on savanna soils. Work started after a customary ceremony held by the landholding family with the local authorities. Around 120 people from the surrounding villages have worked on the trial plot.
In December 2025 the forestry administration of the department inspected the trial plot and recorded that about nine in ten trees had survived. Trees that did not survive are replaced.
Community
Since 2024 we have talked with the authorities of the department and the district, with village chiefs and customary leaders, and with residents in the villages around the concession: in village meetings, in separate groups for women, through a household survey and at a public meeting held by the Prefecture.
What people asked for, and what has been done
- Jobs for young people: around 120 people from nearby villages have worked on the trial plot.
- Someone to talk to in each village: local contact people have been appointed.
- Better roads: AGRICAF CONGO supported a local association that repaired the 52 km road between Mouyondzi and Kingoué. Video: residents talk about the repaired road (LinkedIn, in French)
- Respect for customary rights, customs and sacred places, and fair compensation: these points are recorded in the impact study.
