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DR Congo cuts supply of timber
02/02/2009
The environment minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jose Edundo, has announced that 60% of the country’s existing timber contracts are to be cancelled as they have been found to be invalid.
The move follows a six-month World Bank-backed review of the country’s 156 logging deals. The review was intended to enforce environmental and legal standards in the industry, while putting an end to corruption.
Only 65 deals were found to be valid under the new standards and new contracts will be issued for an area of rainforest covering 35,000 square miles.
The cancelled deals were mostly struck during a largely ignored moratorium that was put in place during the country’s 1998-2003 conflict. Logging firms that won deals did so amid widespread corruption and received generous concessions and paid little tax.
The decision to cancel the contracts is expected to reduce the amount of surface area being logged by up to 50%.
Greenpeace has long been calling for a stop to the exploitation of the Congo Basin rainforest. Speaking to the BBC, a Greenpeace spokesperson added, "real economic development is what's needed...We've highlighted tax evasion, and there's often quite serious disputes between local people and these logging companies...The logging companies promise hospitals and schools and they hardly ever deliver these things on the ground."
The move follows a six-month World Bank-backed review of the country’s 156 logging deals. The review was intended to enforce environmental and legal standards in the industry, while putting an end to corruption.
Only 65 deals were found to be valid under the new standards and new contracts will be issued for an area of rainforest covering 35,000 square miles.
The cancelled deals were mostly struck during a largely ignored moratorium that was put in place during the country’s 1998-2003 conflict. Logging firms that won deals did so amid widespread corruption and received generous concessions and paid little tax.
The decision to cancel the contracts is expected to reduce the amount of surface area being logged by up to 50%.
Greenpeace has long been calling for a stop to the exploitation of the Congo Basin rainforest. Speaking to the BBC, a Greenpeace spokesperson added, "real economic development is what's needed...We've highlighted tax evasion, and there's often quite serious disputes between local people and these logging companies...The logging companies promise hospitals and schools and they hardly ever deliver these things on the ground."
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