Inspired man, inspiring action
René Ngongo has been working closely with Greenpeace to save the
Congo Basin Forests (the second largest tropical forest after the
Amazon) since 2004, first in his capacity as head of OCEAN and now
as Political Advisor for Greenpeace Africa when he led the opening
of our first office in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
His life story is an inspiring one. He grew up in Congo, near
the Virunga National Park - a truly unique area with outstanding
biodiversity which is included on UNESCO's list of World
Heritage in Danger. It was in these forests that he started to
dream about becoming a Conservationist. He studied biology in the
Kinsagani University where he also worked for several years. René
also founded the highly-regarded Congolese NGO "OCEAN"
(Organisation concertée des écologistes et amis de la nature),
which often served as a mediator between forest communities and key
stakeholders.
Protecting the Congo Forest
As part of his work to protect the Congo Basin Forest from
industrial loggers, René actively developed grassroots solutions
and local contacts in remote villages. This infrastructure soon
became the basis for educational activities on
deforestation/reforestation and general environmental awareness
building. Between 1994 and 2002, René developed tools to fight
"slash and burn" agriculture. Among these tools were demonstration
fields in Kisangani that showed local people possible alternative
agricultural techniques. These allowed to diminish the pressure on
the forests and provide better income alternatives to local
farmers.
René coordinated the creation of a seedling plantation (20,000
seedlings) of the most exploited tree species in the Eastern
province. This plantation provided trees for several 'green city'
events. During these 'green city' (Ville Verte) events, trees were
planted in abandoned parks, along avenues and in schools.
Staying
The act of staying when you can leave is one of the most
powerful things a person can do. During the brutal war that tore
through Congo between 1996 and 2002, René didn't stop his efforts.
He was one of luckier people who could have simply left the
country, because of his network of friends outside Congo. Instead,
he chose to stay.
He monitored the use of natural resources by the different
waring groups. During one of his 'green city' tree planting events
on the outskirts of Kisangani, the war between Ugandan and Rwandan
troops started. René and his invited guests had to search for cover
from the artillery battle that suddenly started in the
neighbourhood.
Fighting against destructive logging
Today that the DRC has returned to "relative" peace, more than
ever,
the country's intact forests are threatened by large scale
industrial projects such as logging. Despite a World Bank
sponsored "reform" and a moratorium on new logging concessions that
has been launched 7 years ago, companies
continue to exploit the forest with impunity.
Poorly - if at all - paid and unequipped local control agents
are unable to protect the massive old trees that are being logged
and shipped to Europe and other international markets. But people
like René continue the struggle against ecological destruction and
social injustice. In his own words "Our forests are our
livelihoods. They cannot be reduced to a cheap export commodity.
For millions of people, the forests are their supermarket, their
pharmacy, and the foundation of spiritual and physical health."
Forests are also vital for our global climate. Around 20
percent of global greenhouse gas emissions stem from deforestation.
In January 2009, the government concluded a legal review of 156
logging titles, and deemed 91 of them illegal. Despite this, some
of the companies who have been not been validated continue logging
today. Rene insists: "We have alternatives. We don't need to sell
our forests for meager short term profits. We know today that our
forests are worth more standing then logged, this is why we need a
strong agreement and support for a global financial mechanism to
reduce emissions and to end deforestation."
Alternative Nobel Prize
The Right Livelihood
Award is also known as the alternative Nobel Prize. It honours
those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent
challenges facing us today. Several winners are announced every
year and receive the prize in early December. We are beyond happy
that Rene is one of them.
René's entire work is recgonised by the Right Livelihood Award
Foundation today: "Since 1994, including through the civil war from
1996-2002, René Ngongo has engaged, at great personal risk, in
popular campaigning, political advocacy and practical initiatives
to confront the destroyers of the rainforest and help create the
political conditions that could halt its destruction and bring
about its conservation and sustainable use."
Welcoming the award, Greenpeace International Executive Director
Gerd Leipold said: "While we hope President Obama turns his Nobel
Peace Prize into real action for climate protection at this
December's United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen, it is
people like Rene Ngongo who have already started the heavy lifting.
People like René are the real climate leaders and it is good to
know that at the very least one climate hero will be honored in
Scandinavia this December."
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