{"id":1597,"date":"2016-03-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/uncategorized\/1597\/congo-threatens-to-open-worlds-second-largest-rainforest-to-new-industrial-loggers\/"},"modified":"2019-11-06T08:23:41","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T08:23:41","slug":"congo-threatens-to-open-worlds-second-largest-rainforest-to-new-industrial-loggers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/press\/1597\/congo-threatens-to-open-worlds-second-largest-rainforest-to-new-industrial-loggers\/","title":{"rendered":"Congo threatens to open world\u2019s second largest rainforest to new industrial loggers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nLondon\/Kinshasa (Wednesday 2nd March, 2016: A tropical rainforest more than twice the size of France is at risk of being cut down, following news from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that the government is considering re-opening its forest to new logging companies.<\/div>\n<\/p>\n
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This comes at a time when the governments of Norway, France, Germany, the UK, and the European Union, are assessing whether to support \u00a0a billion-dollar plan proposed by the DRC government to protect the country\u2019s 1.55 million square kilometers of forests.<\/p>\n

A coalition of environmental and anti-corruption organizations is calling on the DRC government to maintain its moratorium on the allocation of new logging licenses, which has been in place since 2002.<\/p>\n

Ir\u00e8ne Wabiwa Betoko of Greenpeace Africa, said: \u201cThe large-scale logging of DRC\u2019s rainforest was and is a disaster. It not only harms the country\u2019s environment, but also fuels corruption and creates social and economic havoc.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lars L\u00f8vold of Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN) said: \u201cAt a time when the global community is working together to protect the world\u2019s last rainforests, a vital defense against climate change, the DRC government seems to be undermining the commitment to reducing emissions that it presented in Paris.<\/em>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The DRC Environment Minister Robert Bopolo Bogeza recently stated that measures are being undertaken to lift moratorium on the allocation of new logging licenses, while outlining his priorities for 2016, citing the financial benefits this could bring. (1)<\/p>\n

Joesph Bobia of R\u00e9seau Ressources Naturelles (RRN) said: \u201cThe argument that logging can significantly contribute to government revenues is completely unfounded. Around a tenth of the DRC\u2019s rainforest is already being logged. And yet, in 2014 the country obtained a pitiful USD8 million<\/a> in fiscal revenues from the sector \u2013 the equivalent of about 12 cents for every Congolese person,\u201d<\/p>\n

Simon Counsell of the Rainforest Foundation UK said that \u201cExpansion of industrial logging in Congo\u2019s rainforests is likely to have serious long-term negative impacts on the millions of people living in and depending on those forests. We urge the government of DRC to instead promote community based forest protection and alternatives to logging that will help the country\u2019s population prosper.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reducing Emissions through Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) is an international effort under the UN climate treaties to combat carbon emissions by protecting the world\u2019s forests. DRC\u2019s national strategy for REDD has been under negotiation for six years and will be submitted to international donor governments for approval this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call upon the DRC government to keep the present logging moratorium in place\u201d, Ms Wabiwa Betoko concluded.<\/p>\n

The moratorium on the allocation of new logging titles was issued by Ministerial decree in 2002, in an attempt to regain control of the country\u2019s timber industry, which was riddled with illegal logging and corruption, which came at a significant social and environmental cost.<\/p>\n

DRC\u2019s forest accounts for around one tenth of the world\u2019s remaining tropical rainforests. Many species, such as the bonobo and okapi, are only found in these ecosystems. Some 40 million people in the country rely on these forests for their livelihoods, including food and fuel.<\/p>\n

Take a stand to save the Congo Basin: Demand zero deforestation!:\u00a0bit.ly\/1oZPlGy<\/a><\/p>\n

Notes to editors:<\/strong><\/p>\n

(1) Allocution de Monsieur le ministre de l\u2019Environnement<\/a>, Conservation de la nature et D\u00e9veloppement durable, prononc\u00e9e \u00e0 l\u2019occasion de la c\u00e9r\u00e9monie d\u2019\u00e9change de v\u0153ux avec les agents et cadres du MECNDD. Kinshasa le 30 Janvier 2016. \u00bb<\/p>\n

For the full civil society statement, please click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Coalition members\u00a0:<\/p>\n