Sold down the river - Salva le Foreste

58SOLD DOWN THE RIVERbecome so unreliable (due to civil war and problems withthe run-down railway) that CIB has been obliged toconstruct a 150 kilometre road from Pokola to connect tothe Cameroon road network, so it can send its logs byroad through Cameroon for export from the Cameroonianport of Douala. 123 This has enabled CIB to maintainproduction, even during the recent civil war, unlike otherEuropean operators in the country (see Congo(Brazzaville), page 27). The road also, however, facilitatedthe commercial bushmeat trade in the area. 124CIB is reported to be well regarded by most localpeople. There is some resentment among certain localgroups who feel their traditional heritage is beingexploited without adequate redistribution of the benefits.Yet the CIB is also perceived of as the local agent ofdevelopment and provider of basic services, 125 which thegovernment has had difficulty doing. Its employment andliving conditions are reported to be good and it operateswithin the law. 126 The concessions are adjacent to theNouabalé Ndoki National Park and are home to asubstantial Pygmy population – a number of whom workfor CIB rather than Bantu villagers. 127 The very success ofCIB’s venture has attracted newcomers to the locality andPokola has grown from a small fishing village of 120 in1972 to one of the largest centres in north Congo, with apopulation of around 8,000. 128 The increased activities inthe area have significantly increased pressure on naturalresources and, according to a World Bank study, wildlifehas been largely decimated in a 20 kilometre band aroundPokola. 129The company is considered to be one of the moreeconomically sustainable and well-managed operations inthe Central African region. 130 However, CIB’s operationshave not been without criticism. The facilities provided inPokola are of a high quality but are provided by thecompany primarily for employees based in the town –other local people have varying degrees of access tothem. 131 Additionally, the provision of services attractsoutsiders to come and settle in Pokola, at leasttemporarily, in order to benefit from the service provided.This increases the demand for food from the forest areasaround Pokola. A study conducted by the WorldConservation Union (IUCN) in 1996 found thattraditional tenure, resource access rights and resourcemanagement systems, particularly those of the Pygmies,were rapidly breaking down within the Pokola concession.Also, commercial bushmeat hunting was being indirectlyfacilitated by the company’s operations, with commonreports of CIB trucks and drivers transportingbushmeat. 132 The study noted that the company had noforest management plan nor did it conduct post-harvestinventories. In response to this, the company asserted thatforest management plans in the modern sense do not yetexist in West and Central Africa, and thus this could notbe considered to be a failure on the part of CIB. 133 CIBacknowledged the usefulness of the report’s assessment ofthe company’s operations against sustainable forestmanagement standards established by the ForestStewardship Council (FSC) and the International TropicalTimber Organisation (ITTO). 134 The study found that of53 criteria for sustainable forest management, CIB metonly 34 in part or whole and 16 were not met at all. 135According to the company, actions for furtherimprovements were started immediately. 136The company has great influence in the area and doesnot welcome potential critics. It invited selectedinternational conservationists to visit the pilot projects in1999, as long as the company approved the compositionof the visitors. To date this visit has not taken place. 137 In1996, the company was reported to have used its influenceto prevent a potential critic from visiting its concessionarea. 138Recent field missions to the CIB concessions by theinternational environmental NGO World Wide Fund forNature (WWF) found that the company still has some wayto go to demonstrate its commitment to achievingsustainable forest management to FSC standards. 139 Thecompany takes only the very best trees, about one perhectare, but there is considerable damage to surroundingforest. CIB was urged to take measures to conserve Sapellibecause of regeneration problems likely to occur followingthe removal of the best trees in this way. WWF alsoexpressed concern at the amount of forest opened up, thecompany driving roads into relatively large areas toextract a small number of target trees. The field missionreported that not enough effort was being made by thecompany to valorise other timber species. WWFcomplemented the company, however, on its professionalharvesting techniques and technical capacity to improve itsoperations further and praised the collaboration withWCS regarding bushmeat hunting. 140CIB has received positive attention over recent years forits activities regarding the commercial bushmeat issue,particularly a joint initiative with the US-based NGOWildlife Conservation Society (WCS) (see below). Thecompany has taken steps to discourage bushmeat huntingand to prevent the commercial exploitation of bushmeat inits concessions. It has established an education programmefor local people and issued instructions to its workers notto illegally hunt endangered species. A “Protocoled’Accord” was signed in December 1995 to this effect bymembers of the local communities of Pokola and Ndokiand by CIB.A partnership agreement between CIB, WCS and theMinistry of Forest Economy (MEF) was signed in June1999, consolidating work to establish CIB’s forestmanagement units as buffer zones to the Nouabalé NdokiNational Park and to reduce the levels of bushmeathunting in the concession areas. 141 The park is beingmanaged by WCS and is considered to be of considerableimportance because of its high biodiversity. In the twopilot areas, WCS claim that bushmeat hunting hasdeclined by 60%. 142 However, recent evidence in thenearby community of Pokola, which is the largest timberbasedsettlement in the area, suggests that hunters mayhave simply switched their activities to other parts of theforest. 143CIB is actively pursuing certification and argues that toachieve a sustainable cut they require a large concessionarea. Thus they now have three concessions totalling overone million hectares and are undertaking an extensivesurvey of the flora in the concessions in collaboration withWCS. The social aspects of sustainability may prove moreof a challenge to the company, such as offeringcompensation to local people for lost non-timber forestproducts, involving local people in management anddecision-making and securing local land rights. WCS andCIB are sceptical that local communities have the capacityto manage resources responsibly. 144 Partly in consequenceof this belief, WCS employ eco-guards armed withautomatic rifles to patrol the buffer zone and loggingroads around the national park. This is very unpopularwith local people who see this as a gross violation of theirtraditional rights. 145