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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

German Company Destroys Congolese Forests

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

September 10, 1995

OVERVIEW & SOURCE

Following is a report from Pratap Chatterjee of the InterPress

Service concerning Congolese logging. Keeping with historical

patterns, German companies in particular are rapidly diminishing

remaining forest stocks in this African country. As with

industrial logging of virgin forests worldwide, local peoples

appear to be receiving little financial benefits, while their

local ecology is being impacted dramatically. This item was

posted in econet's rainfor.general conference.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

/* Written 4:14 PM Sep 8, 1995 by pchatterjee in

igc:rainfor.genera */

/* ---------- "german company destoys congolese fo" ---------- */

From: Pratap Chatterjee <pchatterjee>

Subject: german company destoys congolese forests

CONGO-ENVIRONMENT: CAN'T SEE THE WOOD FOR THE FELLED TREES

BY NANA ROSINE NGANGOUE

NDOKI, CONGO, SEP 7 (IPS) - CONGO'S FORESTS ARE UNDER THREAT FROM

OVER-EXPLOITATION BY COMMERCIAL LOGGERS WHO HAVE SWARMED INTO THE

RESERVES FOLLOWING THE GOVERNMENT'S WITHDRAWAL.

"I AM NOT AGAINST THE EXPLOITATION OF WOOD BUT I AM OPPOSED TO

WASTAGE. WHEN I SEE MANY FORESTRY COMPANIES DESTROYING IN 20 YEARS

A FOREST THAT TOOK PERHAPS A THOUSAND YEARS TO GROW, THAT'S

WASTAGE," OBSERVES MICHAEL FAY, AN AMERICAN BOTANIST AND

ZOOLOGIST.

FORESTS COVER 20 MILLION HECTARES OR 60 PERCENT OF THE CONGO. THE

FOREST IN THE SOUTH OF THE COUNTRY STRETCHES OVER FOUR MILLION

HECTARES OF THE CHAILLU AND MAYOMBE MOUNTAINS, WHILE 16 MILLION

HECTARES OF NORTHERN CONGO IS DENSE WOODLANDS, SOME OF IT VIRGIN

JUNGLE.

THE SOUTHERN FOREST, EASILY ACCESSIBLE TO THE COUNTRY'S MAIN

POPULATION CENTRES, HAS BEEN DEPLETED. THE NORTH, WHERE FOREIGN

CONCESSIONAIRES OPERATE, REMAINS RICH IN REDWOODS LIKE THE MUCH-

COVETED SAPELLI AND SIPO. OKOUME AND SAPELLI WOOD MAKE UP 60

PERCENT OF EXPORTS.

AS THE GOVERNMENT, UNDER ECONOMIC REFORM PRESSURE, LIQUIDATED ITS

LOGGING CONCERNS OR FLOATED THE SHARES, PRIVATE FIRMS MOVED IN.

THE GOVERNMENT'S WITHDRAWAL FROM THE TIMBER INDUSTRY HAS HAMSTRUNG

ITS MONITORING CAPACITY.

MORE THAN 80 PERCENT OF WOOD PRODUCTION IS CARRIED OUT BY ABOUT 40

FOREIGN LOGGING COMPANIES. THE LARGEST OF THESE IS THE GERMAN-

OWNED CONGOLESE WOOD INDUSTRIES (CIB) BASED IN NDOKI, IN THE HEART

OF THE EQUATORIAL FOREST, WHERE IT FELLS NEARLY 200,000 CUBIC

METRES OF WOOD EACH YEAR.

OTHER KEY PLAYERS IN THE LUMBER INDUSTRY INCLUDE THE FRENCH NEW

SANGHA WOOD COMPANY (SNBS), THE ITALIAN TRANSFORMATION OF EXOTIC

WOOD IN CONGO, AS WELL AS THE ALGERO-CONGOLESE FORESTRY COMPANY,

AND THE ARABO-LIBYAN CONGOLESE COMPANY (SOCIALIB).

"WE FELL ABOUT 4,500 CUBIC METRES PER MONTH (THAT IS 54,000 PER

YEAR)," SAYS RENE TELLO, DIRECTOR OF THE SNBS SAWMILL.

STRINGS OF DEPOTS LINE THE SANGHA RIVER FILLED WITH TONNES OF

TIMBER WAITING TO BE TRANSPORTED THE SHORT STRETCH INTO CAMEROON.

"EVERY DAY WE FELL MANY TRESS. I COULDN'T EVEN TELL YOU HOW MANY

WE FELL BECAUSE THERE ARE TOO MANY," SAYS ONE PART-TIME EMPLOYEE

OF CIB.

FAY WHO IS ALSO AN AGENT OF THE NEW YORK-BASED WILDLIFE

CONSERVATION SOCIETY (WCS), BELIEVES IN 20 TO 25 YEARS, THE CIB

WILL HAVE FELLED TREES THAT COULD HAVE LASTED GENERATIONS.

A FORMER CIB EMPLOYEE WHO REFUSED TO GIVE HIS NAME SAID: "I WAS

FIRED BECAUSE I KNEW TOO MUCH ABOUT THAT COMPANY. THE TRUTH IS CIB

IS DEVASTATING THE FOREST IN NDOKI. THEY CUT DOWN EVERYTHING THERE

IS.

"EVEN EBONY IS FELLED. THEY USE CHEMICALS TO CAMOUFLAGE THE TREES

AND TRICK THE WATER AND FORESTRY OFFICERS," HE CLAIMS.

IN POKOLA, THE MAIN DEPOT OF THE CIB, HEAVY EQUIPMENT FOR TEARING

DOWN AND HAULING AWAY THE LUMBER IS STATIONED.

"THESE PEOPLE ARE PREPARED TO EMPTY THE FOREST," SAID A RESIDENT

OF THE AREA WHO ASKED NOT TO BE NAMED.

LOGGING IS SHROUDED IN SECRECY FOR ALTHOUGH IT IS THE MAIN

COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY IN NDOKI AS IN POKOLA, FEW LOCALS ARE WILLING

TO DISCUSS IT WITH JOURNALISTS WHO ARE ALSO NOT WELCOME AT THE

LOGGING SITES.

"IF THEY ARE QUIET IT'S BECAUSE THEY ARE AWARE OF THE RAVAGES THEY

ARE PERPETRATING ON THE FOREST," SAYS HANS HOFFMAN, AN EXPERT FROM

THE GERMAN AGENCY FOR TECHNICAL CO-OPERATION (GTZ), BASED IN

OUESSO ON THE CAMEROON BORDER.

"IF YOU WERE TO FLY OVER OUR DEPOTS, YOU WOULD THINK THAT NOT A

SINGLE TREE HAS BEEN TOUCHED IN THIS AREA. WE ONLY CUT THOSE IN

WHICH WE HAVE AN INTEREST," SAYS FREDERIC GLANNAZ, INTERIM

DIRECTOR OF CIB.

"WHAT'S MORE, THE PEASANTS ARE GAINING BY USING THE CLEARINGS WE

LEAVE AS THEIR FIELDS. WE ALSO ESTABLISH ROADS AND PATHS. IT'S AN

ADVANTAGE FOR THESE PEASANTS."

THE FOREST'S DENSITY MAKES THESE CLAIMS APPEAR VALID AT FIRST

GLANCE. BUT FAY COUNTERS: "I FLEW OVER THIS ZONE ONCE AND I CAN

TELL YOU, THE CIB'S EXPLOITATION OF NDOKI IS CATASTROPHIC."

TIMBER WAS CONGO'S MAIN EXPORT UNTIL THE 1970S WHEN OIL TOOK OVER.

IN THE PAST FEW YEARS, EXPORTS HAVE EARNED AN AVERAGE OF ABOUT 57

MILLION DOLLARS.

A TOTAL OF 8,800 PEOPLE ARE DIRECTLY DEPENDENT ON THE INDUSTRY,

REPRESENTING 10 PERCENT OF THE FORMAL SECTOR, OUT OF A CONGOLESE

POPULATION OF 2.5 MILLION.

TIMBER PRODUCTION IN THE PAST 25 YEARS HAS AVERAGED 600,000 CUBIC

METRES PER YEAR. TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF EXPORTS GO TO THE EUROPEAN

UNION AND THE REST TO ASIA, AMERICA AND OTHER EUROPEAN STATES.

BUT ANALYSTS SAY CONGO HAS GAINED LITTLE FROM ITS TIMBER, DUE

PARTLY TO THE FACT THE STATE HAS PASSED OVER RESPONSIBILITY FOR

TRANSPORTATION TO CAMEROON.

"TRANSPORT CONTRIBUTES TO 40 PERCENT OF THE PRICE OF WOOD.

THE TRANSCONGOLESE COMMUNICATION AGENCY IS BANKRUPT, WE ARE

OBLIGED TO PASS THROUGH CAMEROON. IT'S COSTLIER BUT WE HAVE NO

CHOICE," SAYS SNBS SAW MILL DIRECTOR, RENE TELLO.

THE GOVERNMENT IS ALSO LOSING OUT ON CUSTOMS DUTIES THE FOREIGN

FIRMS SHOULD PAY ON THE TIMBER, BUT FREQUENTLY DODGE.

"THERE ARE COMPANIES WITH SEVERAL YEARS ARREARS AND HAVE LEFT

WITHOUT PAYING THEIR EMPLOYEES OR THE STATE," EXPLAINS ONE OF THE

POKOLA CUSTOMS AGENTS, NTSOKA ZOK.

MICHAEL FAY AGREES. "DEBTS EVERYWHERE AND RUINED FORESTS, HOW CAN

THAT BENEFIT THE CONGOLESE PEOPLE? I THINK THE BENEFITS ARE

MINIMAL IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE RESOURCES USED."

(END/IPS/NRN/JM/OA/95)

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