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The World Bank and Congo deforestation

Children sit on logs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. More than 21 million hectares of the nation's rainforest are now allocated to the logging industry. Enlarge Image

Rainforest destruction in Africa

The Congo rainforest is the life support system for millions of people in the 'green heart' of Africa. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) alone, 40 million people depend on the forest. Like all large intact forests, it's also crucially important for regulating the local and global climate.

A log park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 21 million hectares of rainforest are currently allocated to the logging industry, an area nearly seven times the size of Belgium. Most of DRC's timber is exported to Europe, with France and Belgium currently the largest importers. Enlarge Image

Illegal Carve-up of Congo Rainforests

The second largest rainforest in the world, after the Amazon, sits in the Congo basin of Africa, with around half existing in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Around 21 million hectares (over 51 million acres) of DRC's rainforest are now allocated to the logging industry. We've released new evidence of the extent of this forest crime.

Timber trader Gus Kouwenhoven has been found guilty of arms smuggling in war-torn Liberia. Enlarge Image

Notorious 'blood-timber' trader found guilty

In a verdict that will have far reaching implications for the international timber trade, a judge in The Hague has found a former timber trader and arms dealer guilty of breaking the UN arms embargo in Liberia and sentenced him to a maximum of 8 years in prison.

Trucks transport timber illegally extracted from a land settlement in the Brazilian Amazon state of Pará. Enlarge Image

Amazon forest carved up in resettlement scam (UPDATED!)

It was almost too good to be true. When the Brazilian government announced last week that deforestation rates in the Amazon had dropped for the third year running, it was certainly a cause for celebration. But it now transpires that one of the government's own agencies is colluding with logging companies so they can gain access to areas of high-value timber that would otherwise be off limits.

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