Illegal logging ravages DR Congo forests

Multinational companies are profiting hand over fist from abusive forestry practices in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where illegal logging, mislabelled timber and false permits are widespread, according to several non-governmental organisations.

This article originally appeared on www.capitalfm.co.ke.

Multinational companies are profiting hand over fist from abusive forestry practices in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where illegal logging, mislabelled timber and false permits are widespread, according to several non-governmental organisations.

The forests of the Congo basin in central Africa cover about 100 million hectares (almost 250 million acres) and are regarded as the second-largest green lung on the planet after the Amazon rainforest, but in DR Congo trees are being cut down with little regard for the law.

Local and international NGOs charge that Congolese authorities are working with logging companies.

In spite of tighter regulations recently adopted in Europe on imports of timber from Africa, it is almost impossible to verify the legality of tropical wood from DR Congo, according to the British-based non-profit organisation Resource Extraction Monitoring. To continue reading please click here.