In November 2020, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration (GVTC) formalised a cooperation arrangement. This partnership, supported through the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Kigali, funds the "Conserving the Greater Virunga Landscape (CGV)" project. The overarching objective of the CGV project is to ensure the sustainable conservation of the Greater Virunga Landscape (GVL) through transboundary collaboration between the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. Three key intermediary objectives drive the project: 1. Intermediary Objective 1: Coordinate and promote the conservation of biodiversity in the GVL. 2. Intermediary Objective 2: Foster collaboration and coordination of natural resource-based socio-economic development in the GVL. 3. Intermediary Objective 3: Establish conditions for sustainable transboundary collaboration on conservation and tourism. As the four-year project is ending in December 2024, GVTC has prioritised activities this final year to ensure the organisation's sustainability. Key activities planned include coordinating meetings with protected area (PA) staff, establishing a climate change monitoring framework for the GVL (with a focus on forest monitoring), developing GVL as a unified destination brand across all partner states (in collaboration with the EAC Secretariat), and enhancing local communities' capacity in tourism business development. Additionally, efforts to promote collaboration and coordination include fast-tracking and lobbying partner states for the ratification of the GVTC Treaty and conducting a country-level stakeholder meeting in Rwanda. To stimulate GVTC's sustainability, branding initiatives, publicising accomplishments, participating in key regional symposiums, workshops, and world conservation events, publishing articles and data on GVL, and securing new funding sources were identified as crucial activities. Further, the project is focused on coordinating preparations for the 2024/2025 gorilla census, developing the Transboundary Strategic Plan (TSP), supporting gender mainstreaming in conservation, holding statutory meetings such as the GVTC Management Board, Council of Ministers, Regional Technical Committees (RTCs), and regional stakeholders’ forums, and building the capacity of GVTC staff to fulfil the organisation’s mandate. This mid-year report has been prepared to document and demonstrate the progress made in implementing the planned activities. It outlines the project context in light of the evolving political landscape in the region, updates the risk assessment, details the implemented activities, and provides an overview of the annual implementation status. The Greater Virunga Landscape (GVL) is a globally significant ecological region spanning parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, and Uganda. It comprises a network of seven national parks, one wildlife reserve, and the surrounding community areas. The protected areas include Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda; Virunga National Park and Sarambwe Wildlife Reserve in the DRC; and Mgahinga Gorilla, Queen Elizabeth, Bwindi Impenetrable, Rwenzori Mountains, and Semuliki National Parks in Uganda. Despite its extraordinary biodiversity and ecological value, the GVL is a region affected by recurring insecurity, particularly due to the presence of armed groups in Eastern DRC, with occasional spillovers into western Uganda. The area is home to numerous rare and endangered species, including mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, African elephants, lions, and hippopotami. Three of its protected areas—Virunga National Park, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, and Rwenzori Mountains National Park are recognised as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Additionally, Queen Elizabeth and Volcanoes National Parks are designated UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) Reserves, and Lakes George and Edward are Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance. Beyond its ecological importance, the GVL is rich in natural resources, including oil and minerals, particularly in parts of the DRC and Uganda. These resources, while economically valuable, also contribute to regional instability, often fueling armed conflict and complicating conservation efforts. At the start of the CGV2 project, there was relatively improved access to much of the landscape, including areas of the Eastern DRC that had previously been highly insecure. This enabled GVTC to mobilise the three partner states to collaborate more effectively on conservation and tourism. The CGV2 project was designed within this complex context to reinforce the coordination and collaboration mechanisms outlined in the GVTC Treaty. However, as the project drew towards closure, the situation deteriorated rapidly with the resurgence of the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group, particularly in Eastern DRC. This resurgence led to increased insecurity and political tensions that significantly impacted the functioning of transboundary collaboration. Coordination efforts at both the technical and political levels were disrupted. Wildlife authorities and field teams faced serious challenges in conducting joint operations due to threats to their safety and limited cross-border mobility. The fragile security situation further intensified issues such as poaching, wildlife trafficking, and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources—issues that require strong, coordinated responses, which became more difficult amid growing mistrust and political divisions among partner states. During this period, GVTC worked to maintain collaboration at the technical level, keeping conservation professionals in all three countries engaged while continuing to provide updates and briefings to political stakeholders. However, political differences between partner states created additional hurdles, with some high-level conservation leaders becoming more cautious and politically restrained, which threatened the momentum of collaboration. Despite these significant challenges, the CGV2 project achieved its primary objectives, reinforcing transboundary collaboration in conservation. EKN funded the project under a Cooperation Arrangement between the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands and GVTC. It was aligned with EKN’s broader peacebuilding and conflict resolution strategy for the region. As such, the project played a meaningful role in contributing to regional stability by fostering conversation, joint action, and sustained collaboration in one of Africa’s most ecologically and politically complex landscapes. The overall objective is the Sustainable Conservation of the GVL through transboundary collaboration between DRC, Rwanda and Uganda. The intermediary objectives were: Coordinate and promote the conservation of biodiversity in the GVL; Promote collaboration and coordination of Natural resource-based socio-economic development in the GVL; and Create conditions for sustainable transboundary collaboration on conservation and tourism. These objectives were to be achieved through a set of outcomes in the intermediate and long-term during the project period. Table 1 below presents the CGV Program logic, showing the objectives with the corresponding outcomes Overall objective: Sustainable Conservation of the GVL through transboundary collaboration between DRC, Rwanda and Uganda Intermediary Objectives: 1: Promote Collaboration and Coordination of conservation biodiversity within the GVL 2: Promote collaboration and coordination of Natural resource-based socio-economic development in the GVL 3: Create conditions for sustainable transboundary collaboration on conservation and tourism Outcomes: 1.1: Coordinated protection and management of PAs in the GVL 1.2: Safety and security of wildlife and people in the GVL is enhanced 2.1: Greater Virunga tourism is increased and diversified 2.2. Coordinated reduction and mitigation of Natural Resource-based conflict in GVL 3.1: GVL Transboundary Collaboration Governance strengthened 3.2: Information on the GVL collected, collated and disseminated 3.3: Sustainable funding for transboundary collaboration on conservation and tourism is secured

The overall objective of the CGV programme is “Sustainable conservation of the Greater Virunga Landscape, through transboundary collaboration between the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda”. The overall objective is derived from the mandate of GVTC as given in the Treaty and reflects the GVTC Vision “The Greater Virunga Landscape sustainably conserved” and Mission “Enhancing sustainable conservation of the Protected Areas in Greater Virunga Landscape through improved Transboundary collaboration” as described in the Transboundary Strategic Plan (TSP) 2018-2023. The “Conserving Greater Virunga (CGV)” Project, also referred to as CGV2, was launched in December 2020 as a follow-on initiative to the earlier support provided by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Kigali (EKN). Building on the achievements of the first phase, CGV2 was designed to support the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration (GVTC) over a four-year period, ending in December 2024. GVTC was established to enhance collaboration and coordination among state and non-state actors for the sustainable conservation of the transboundary protected areas within the Greater Virunga Landscape (GVL). This unique ecosystem spans the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, and Uganda. The formal establishment of GVTC was marked by the signing of the 2015 Treaty on Wildlife Conservation and Tourism Development by the three partner states. Through a cooperation arrangement with the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands, the CGV2 project was implemented to strengthen collaboration among the partner states for the effective and sustainable management of the GVL’s protected areas. From the beginning of the project, GVTC provided semi-annual project updates and annual narrative progress reports, as stipulated in the agreement. This final narrative report provides a comprehensive overview of the activities carried out by GVTC using EKN funding, the key outcomes and outputs achieved, and the measures taken to ensure the sustainability of the project’s impacts. It also outlines GVTC’s exit strategy as the project concludes.