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The World Bank and the Sustainable Management of Forests in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
March 2004
What is the World Bank doing to ensure that economic recovery will not result in widespread deforestation in DRC?
Along with the deepening of peace and reconciliation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), environmental sustainability, economic growth, and poverty alleviation are among DRC’s priorities. The rehabilitation of infrastructure will lead to new investments in many fields, including in forestry activities. Experience from other post-conflict countries indicates that the question is not whether increased forest harvesting and related activities will occur, but rather how this will happen. Thus, the challenge is to ensure that forestry activities are done in a sustainable manner, with due regard to protection of the environment, and with participation by all stakeholders, especially the poor and the adjoining communities.
The Government of the DRC is aware that in the absence of clear and enforceable rules these activities would lead to unsustainable and destructive logging. Therefore, over two years ago, the Government requested the assistance and advice of the World Bank and other development partners to re-visit the rules that govern access, sustainable use, and protection of DRC’s forest resources, and to put in place mechanisms to enforce these rules.
What is the rationale for the World Bank’s involvement in the DRC?
World Bank assistance is part of an international development community effort to help DRC as it emerges from a situation of terrible conflict. The rationale for the Bank’s involvement is outlined in two key documents: the Transitional Support Strategy dated July 9, 2001 (Report No. 22499), and the Transitional Support Strategy dated January 26, 2004 (Report No. 27751). Specific objectives of the 2004 Transitional Support Strategy are: (i) promoting social stability and security; (ii) fostering increased and shared economic growth; (iii) supporting governance and capacity-building; and (iv) stimulating social development.
What is the Bank’s role in the forest sector?
Together with other development partners and national and international NGOs, the Bank is working with the Government on a number of issues: to address the legacy of past mismanagement of public goods, to remove policy distortions, and to prevent large-scale speculation that would deprive the Congolese people of future socio-economic benefits from the forest. Through this work, the Bank is also helping set the stage for the conservation and sustainable use of DRC’s biodiversity and forests, and for sustainable benefits for local communities and for the entire Congolese people. A key objective being worked towards is to strengthen the government’s capacity to enforce the new policies in the field through institutional capacity-building and independent monitoring.
Since 2002, the Government has canceled 163 timber concessions totaling 25 million hectares (the approximate size of the United Kingdom), and has declared a moratorium on the allocation of logging contracts pending the adoption of transparent procedures. The lists of cancelled and remaining concessions were published by the media in April 2002 and May 2003. Areas returned to the public domain will now go through the participatory land use planning and sustainable management processes set forth by the new Forest Code.
Cancellation of such a large area of non-compliant forest concessions is globally unprecedented. It will unequivocally slow down expansion of logging, especially of unregulated, unsustainable, and illegitimate logging. It will also give the Government the possibility to reallocate these forest resources under a transparent system, make monitoring and sanctions easier, and secure significant tax revenues, of which 40 percent will be redistributed according to the new code to decentralized local collectivities for local social infrastructure works. These actions are part of the Government’s Priority Reform Agenda presented by the Ministry of Environment at the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) meeting in Paris, January 2003 and at the Ministerial Africa Forest Law Enforcement and Governance Conference (AFLEG) in Yaounde, October 2003.
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Background. The Democratic Republic of Congo’s rainforest ecosystems cover an estimated 85-100 million hectares – in other words, more than half of Africa’s rainforest.
In 2001, almost 45 million hectares of these rainforests were held under long-term logging contracts. These concessions had been allocated through discretionary procedures, and without land use planning nor consultation with local communities. The price of holding a 200,000 hectare concession was $286 per year, which created a strong incentive for large-scale acquisitions based on speculative behavior.
Although actual timber production was temporarily at a standstill due to war and poor infrastructure, numerous requests for more concessions kept flowing to the Ministry. This distortion was setting the stage for large-scale unsustainable logging, with little socio-economic benefits to the Congolese people. |
Will commercial logging in the DRC necessarily bring social and economic benefits to the Congolese people?
No. Important additional steps need to be taken for this to happen. This is why the Bank is supporting a series of reforms aiming to: improve transparency, participation, and accountability in forest resources management; end speculative behaviors; attract socially, fiscally, and environmentally responsible investors; and set up transparent mechanisms for sharing forest revenues between private investors, local communities, and the State. The new Forest Code establishes that 40 percent of the tax revenues from legal logging will go directly to local authorities in order for the local population to share in the benefits of forestry activities. In addition, forest communities are expected to obtain additional benefits through formal contracts with the central government and forest companies. Benefits will include investments such as dispensaries, schools, and feeder roads.
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