03/11/2005
- Forest on the banks of the Congo river system, Equatorial
province, Democratic Republic of Congo. Greenpeace fact
finding tour aimed at documenting the social and environmental
impacts of industrial logging.
International — For centuries fortune seekers have plundered
the huge rainforest of the Congo basin in the heart of Africa,
the second-largest rainforest in the world after the Amazon.
Ivory, diamonds and gold have been taken and shipped to
the centres of old empires and now finally, the forest itself
is being torn down and sent on the same journey.
In 2002, the government of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC) declared a moratorium on new logging concessions
in an attempt to halt the widespread destruction. It didn't
work, in part due to corruption and the continued flood
of illegal timber flowing into consumer countries because
there are still no laws prohibiting their importation.
Unsurprisingly, the trade in illegal
timber does little to reduce the poverty in producer countries.
The World Bank estimates that illegal logging costs timber-producing
countries between US$10 and15 billion a year in lost revenue
with this money only fuelling the profit margins of logging
companies and their local allies.
Legality of current logging to be
examined
This week, the President of the DRC,
Joseph Kabila signed a decree that upholds the 2002 moratorium,
freezing new logging concessions in up to 40 million hectares
of rainforest while the legality of all current logging
concessions are examined. Without international assistance
to remove corrupt and illegal logging companies from the
Congolese forestry sector and laws prohibiting the importation
of illegal timber into consumer countries however, this
decree might not be enough.
The consumer countries of Europe,
Japan and the US have been slow to create the laws that
would support the efforts of producer countries like the
DRC. As they wash their hands of any responsibility as
the purchasers of the illegal timber, the last ancient
forests in Africa are wiped off the map.
"Until now, the logging industry
has been a law unto itself, destroying the rainforest
to supply wood to Europe, Asia and the USA. This decree
is an important first step towards responsible and socially
just forest management, but this will only be achieved
in this post-conflict country with assistance from the
international community," said Filip Verbelen, Greenpeace
International forest campaigner.
Illegal timber flowing freely into
consumer countries
In the last month, we have highlighted
the ease at which illegal and destructively logged timber
enters the consumer countries. In Italy it was illegal
timber from Africa being unloaded in the port of Livorno.
Spain had illegal timber from the Amazon in its prized
Queen Sofia Museum and the UK was caught red-handed with
plywood made from illegal timber from the Paradise forests
of Papua New Guinea.
Time and time again the answer to
halting the destruction of the last ancient forests has
been clear. Laws prohibiting the importation of illegal
and destructively logged timber into consumer countries
are the first step to stemming the tide of destruction
in the last of our ancient forests.
The DRC is trying to halt the destruction
and protect its forests and the people and wildlife that
depend on them. It is time for Europe, Japan and the US
to follow the lead and enact laws to help protect the
last ancient forests. |
