Who is logging the congo

She emphasizes that the moratorium was a temporary measure put in place nearly 20 years ago and cannot remain indefinitely, adding that she does not anticipate approving new logging projects for the time-being, even after the moratorium is lifted.

The plan, which Bazaiba says will become law ahead of COP26, is bringing to the surface deeply entrenched disagreements over issues relating to sovereignty, development, and the safeguarding of the rainforest, the largest in Africa. The minister insists that the moratorium is being replaced with stronger, permanent measures for the protection and sustainable management of the forest, including the expansion of protected areas. The lush rainforest that covers roughly 60 percent of the DRC makes up two-thirds of the Congo Basin.

According to a recent study , trees in the Congo Basin store a third more carbon over the same area of land compared to the Amazon. The outline of the new plan, approved in July, has had a generally positive reception from environmental defenders and experts, since it includes the introduction of a carbon tax and the streamlining of information sharing between agencies.

Some aspects also have been met with strong criticism. Laurence Duprat, senior campaign advisor at environmental nonprofit Global Witness , feels the DRC should not allow logging until it has a land-use plan that is enforceable. The logging moratorium was established in to protect the forest following decades of dictatorship and war. Lifting it will allow the government to award new contracts to industrial logging companies and could potentially open up as much as 70 million hectares of virgin forest—well more than half the primary forest in the DRC—to logging, according to Greenpeace, Global Witness, and a consortium of international NGOs who oppose the move.

Not everyone agrees that the moratorium has helped stave off deforestation. Between and , DRC lost some Without new concessions, people are chopping down the forest illegally, without any adequate methods, plans, or checks and balances. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, the second largest country in Africa, struggles with a lack of infrastructure, a primarily informal economy , and weak institutions due to a history marked by colonization, dictatorship, and years of conflicts.

Urban demand for charcoal—the only cheap and accessible source of energy—has been fueling deforestation, as has burning forest for agriculture as population growth surges, as well as demand for lumber for construction.

From to the rate of tree felling doubled. At the current rate of loss, 30 percent of the rainforest will have disappeared by and all primary forests could be razed by , according to Global Forest Watch. They get permits and they falsify or modify it to get more volume of timber that they will cut. So, why do you think the government is not doing more?

Who is responsible for this, and why are they not doing enough? Governance in Congo is very poor. Corruption is very high. So, when you have power, you have money, you can do what you want in the forest sector. Greenpeace has campaigned against illegal logging for many years. It argues timber consumed globally should be traced to its origin. Normally, a system of marks ensures that each log that is cut down is accounted for. The marks mirror those at the stump and also have information about the location where the tree was cut.

But Greenpeace says, much of the timber leaving Congo is cut without permission and manages to reach the final destination with counterfeit marks or permit.

We joined environmental activist Etienne Kasiraca on a fact-finding mission deep into the forest. Many of Congo's forests are only accessible by river boat.

The reason why so many African parks have been spared of logging is because the infrastructure is so poor that getting the timber out becomes very expensive. But this is not the case here in this part of the DRC, because the Congo River is such a good means of transportation.

We arrived at a concession operated by the Congolese-registered Bakri Bois Corporation. Kasiraca decided to visit the site now, as he had heard that the timber workers were on strike, and we could enter the concession. These places are normally guarded and off-limits to visits from environmentalists and reporters. Licenses and paperwork are the only way to prove the timber is legal, and that loggers are not chopping down trees that are too old, too young or endangered.

But Kasiraca says he has rarely seen a company operate with a valid license in this area. Yes, it's a major problem, not an isolated case. In other areas, it's even worse than here. The forest is being pillaged. No one respects the law. What do you know about the paperwork this corporation has, for instance? A civil society consortium led by Kinshasa-based NGO Codelt accused the minister of breaching the moratorium and filed a lawsuit against Nyamugabo.

The case is still being processed, while Nyamugabo was replaced by vice prime-minister Bazaiba in April. Earlier this month, the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature found that six concessions accounting for 1. Want more climate news? Sign up to get updates straight to your inbox. In , , hectares of primary forest were felled in DRC — the second highest amount of any country after Brazil, according to Global Forest Watch. Instead, support should be directed to alternative measures such as community forestry and tighter controls over logging companies.

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