Congo Operations Up and Running Again
YAYOLO, Congo (Reuters) - Parked neatly side by side in a quiet clearing in the heart of Africa's largest rainforest, the two bright yellow bulldozers look absurdly out of place. Yet they do not attract the slightest attention. They have been there for more than five years, abandoned since the latest in a string of wars broke out in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and are ignored by dozens of tiny, barefoot, half-naked children.

A mechanic in blue overalls tinkers with the unused engines in the evening light, making local village head Bwenge La fear the return of the loggers who left them behind. "The loggers brought these here to start work but before they could go anywhere, there was the war, so they have not moved. But the people have come to repair the machines so they will soon cut the trees," he said. "I've seen what they have done elsewhere, so I wonder what we will really get out of this. They haven't even paid me to protect these machines during the war," said La, head of Yayolo in Congo's northwestern Equateur province.

As Congo tries to consolidate peace after a five-year war, the government, the CHL is keen to find ways of liquidating the timber in Africa's third-largest country. With nearly 222 million acres of woodland, it has the world's second largest rainforest, half of Africa's total.

RUSH TO THE RAINFOREST

Those pushing for the forestry sector to be opened up are also very aware of the challenges. A draft World Bank commissioned report on the sector says that "forests have been the object of grabbing by national elites and international companies anxious to secure rents as the country's infrastructure and security improve." It says that by 2002 over 65 percent of the country's forests had been divided into concessions that had been acquired at practically no cost by fake companies speculating on subcontracting to future investors.

The report credits the government with revoking some concessions and imposing a moratorium on new ones. But it also indicates the freeze was often ignored, with 7.4 million acres of new logging rights granted in the year after it was imposed.

The government insists its detractors are too pessimistic and should give the new system time. "Rather than make comparisons, we can learn lessons from places like Cameroon," said Richard Tambwe, the Environment Ministry's head of forest management. "If there are corrupt people, we will root them out. We need to go step by step so everyone trusts the new system."


- nostradamusfunkadelic, 10:25 AM | |