“The voices of the Congolese people have so far been ignored in the plans for the future of Congo's forests. Congolese NGOs are worried about the fate of local populations if this gruesome World Bank program is to be accepted or implemented, as it would further reinforce conflicts of land, habitat, health, life, and the looting of natural resources.”

— Joseph Bobia, National Center for Development and Popular Participation, DRC

Protect Rainforest and Indigenous Rights / Democratic Republic of Congo - Victory

The Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) in Central Africa is a land of extremes:

Extreme biological diversity — The world's second largest forest (after Amazonia) has 11,000 plant species, a third of which are found only in DRC. It is home to rare and endangered animals including the eastern lowland gorilla, mountain gorilla, chimpanzee, white rhino, okapi and Congo peacock. The country has more mammal, bird, primate, amphibian and fish species than any other African nation. Thirty− five million people depend on DRC's vast forest resources for their livelihoods.

Extreme poverty — Per capita income of $90/year is the lowest in the world.

Extreme conflict — Since 1996, the DRC's neighbors have fueled a civil war that, directly or indirectly, has claimed the lives of an estimated 3.5 million people.

Extreme exploitation — Illegal and uncontrolled mining and logging operations as well as military activity have devastated important forest regions, threatening the survival of forest peoples like the Twa “Pygmies.”

Now the international community is eager to support a recently established “transitional government” in DRC, whose priorities are to create a governance structure and initiate economic development programs. While foreign assistance is certainly needed, it should not come at the expense of the participation of DRC's own citizens in the decision− making process. Yet Congolese civic organizations charge that this is exactly what is happening under the auspices of the World Bank.

© July 2003 Fritz Pölking

Since 2002, the World Bank and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization are financing and facilitating the adoption of a series of legal decrees that will govern the exploitation of DRC's natural resources. They are also developing a “zoning” system for DRC's forests, dividing them into areas for logging, conservation and other uses. Since the World Bank funded these operations under “emergency” procedures, the Bank's own environmental safeguards are not being applied.

Bank documents indicate that as much as 60 million hectares (an area larger than France) will be designated “production forests.” The Bank expects to increase timber production 60 to 100− fold by creating “a favorable climate for industrial logging.”

Industrial logging? Joseph Bobia, spokesperson for the Congolese development organization CENADEP, fears that “much of the country [will be] turned into a vast logging concession.” The World Bank has yet to establish that industrial logging contributes to poverty alleviation (the Bank's stated mission). In Cameroon, where the Bank oversees a massive program of industrial logging, the traditional rights of forest peoples have been ignored, creating further impoverishment and conflict.

Under World Bank direction, the (unelected) DRC government has adopted a Forest Code and is cranking out decrees defining the legal requirements for allocating logging concessions, obligations of logging companies concerning environmental protection, taxes to be paid by multinationals, compensation for local communities, etc. But 35 million people who live in the forest and depend on its resources have not had a word to say in this process that will determine their future.

“Ignorance of our rights can be a matter of life and death,” warns Rene Ngongo of the environmental group OCEAN. A report by the Rainforest Foundation agrees, concluding that the current World Bank approach “could result in serious, long− term social conflict, will have negative effects on the most vulnerable in Congolese society, and will cause long− term or irreversible environmental damage.”

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