Led by Climate Change Africa Opportunities (CCAO), a restoration champion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a first-cohort awardee of the Terra Fund AFR100, this ecological restoration initiative brings together 600 Indigenous youth and women to reclaim 113 hectares of community forest in South Kivu.

A Response Rooted in the Field

In Mwenga Territory, South Kivu, the forest is retreating. Around the Itombwe Nature Reserve, in the groupements and chiefdoms of Lwindi, Basile, Ngambwa and Wamuzimu, 65% of forest cover is now overexploited and degraded, driven mainly by uncontrolled logging that feeds charcoal production destined for Bukavu.

This degradation carries a direct consequence, often invisible from the capitals: the disappearance of edible caterpillars. For the Indigenous communities of Mwenga, these caterpillars are no minor commodity. They are at once a source of household income and a major source of protein, particularly for children and pregnant women. Cut off from the reserve’s forests, communities fell back on community forests — themselves overexploited, and now without caterpillars.

The result is a twin shock, economic and health-related: the malnutrition rate has reached 68% among women and children under five.

This is the reality Climate Change Africa Opportunities (CCAO) set out to address.

CCAO’s Solution: Replanting the Caterpillars’ Host Trees

CCAO designed and leads a Nature-based Solution (NbS) that brings ecological restoration and food security together: identifying, propagating and replanting the traditional forest species that host edible caterpillars, alongside other fast-maturing species.

The approach deployed by the organisation rests on four pillars:

•  Mobilising and supporting Indigenous youth and women in forest and biodiversity restoration and protection;
• Identifying and propagating the forest species that host edible caterpillars;
• Training Indigenous nursery growers, embedding the skill within the community itself;
• Establishing nurseries for caterpillar host trees and fast-growing forest species.

The target CCAO has set is unambiguous: by December 2026, 113 hectares of community forest restored in their biodiversity, 600 Indigenous youth and women actively engaged, and 4,200 of their family members seeing their livelihoods improve.

Continental Recognition

CCAO was selected among the 100 restoration champion organisations in Africa in the first cohort of the Terra Fund AFR100, implemented by the consortium of the World Resources Institute (WRI), One Tree Planted and Realize Impact.

That selection confirmed an already solid track record: the organisation has signed and is implementing a partnership agreement with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and runs programmes supporting local and Indigenous communities in restoring forest blocks devastated by deforestation in South Kivu and other provinces of the country’s east.

2025: Targets Exceeded

The past year’s results reflect a community dynamic that CCAO has built and sustained across its eight restoration sites in Mwenga Territory.

Among those employed, 60% are women and 40% men, all from Indigenous communities. Every worker has received fair remuneration, the organisation having made pay equality a non-negotiable requirement.

Initial targets were exceeded across every parameter: number of beneficiaries, volunteers and employees, area reforested and number of restoration plots. On site, the vigorous growth of the seedlings planted and a survival rate higher than in the previous reporting period confirm the quality of the close monitoring carried out by the communities themselves.

CCAO also delivered training sessions on sustainable management and forest monitoring techniques for the Local Committee for the Fight against Deforestation (CLD) and the Indigenous Forest Monitoring Committees (CAMF), reaching 100 participants.

“I used to walk very far to gather firewood and often came back almost empty-handed. Today I work in the nursery. I know how to recognise the trees that feed the caterpillars, and I know how to grow them. What I earn here, I earn on the same terms as the men. And this knowledge — no one can take it back from me.”

— Ngalia, nursery grower trained by CCAO, Irangi site

The Real Change: A Shift in Awareness

Beyond the figures, CCAO points to a deeper shift, achieved through repeated community awareness and mobilisation sessions: the community has rediscovered the many values of its forest.

A social value, first, because the forest meets the domestic needs of Indigenous populations. A cultural value, as a space of communion with the ancestors, a place of ritual and a foundation for local customs and traditions. An ecological value, through climate balance and the immense potential of the area’s forest, water and mineral capital. And an economic value, through the royalties and taxes generated by timber and non-timber forest products.

That shift has translated into concrete outcomes: additional volunteers signing up, community ownership of the gains achieved, and growing involvement of stakeholders in monitoring and maintaining the sites already restored.

“My mother gathered caterpillars in this forest, and her mother before her. My own children no longer knew what they looked like. When we started planting, many said we were wasting our time. Now the trees are standing there, and we watch over them ourselves. I may never see the full forest, but my grandchildren will eat.”

— Wabiwa, mother of 3 children, Lwindi  groupement

Obstacles Overcome Through Local Anchoring

The year was not without difficulty. A deteriorating security situation slowed activities and delayed the delivery of materials. Impassable roads temporarily cut off several sites, while a proliferation of checkpoints hampered field monitoring.

Faced with these constraints, CCAO chose community anchoring over withdrawal:

• Mobilising local communities for road maintenance and clearing work, particularly on the routes to the Kitamba, Ilibo, Kitale and Kabukimba sites;
• Direct dialogue with checkpoint officials, resulting in passage agreements and safer movement for field teams;
• Maintaining regular contact with the communities at isolated sites, who became information relays and guardians of the restored plots.

The lesson the organisation takes from this comes down to one thing: relational flexibility. Building collaborative relationships with every local actor proved more effective than any logistical fix.

What Comes Next

CCAO is pressing ahead towards the December 2026 milestone. Every host tree planted in Mwenga carries a threefold promise: an ecosystem that regenerates, a caterpillar that returns, a child who eats.