Sold down the river - Salva le Foreste

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4SOLD DOWN THE RIVERIntroduction© FORESTS MONITORThe six Central Africancountries featured in thisreport – Cameroon, CentralAfrican Republic, Congo(Brazzaville), DemocraticRepublic of Congo,Equatorial Guinea andGabonLogging trucks inCameroonTHE COUNTRIES OF THE Central African region, through which the hugeCongo River and its tributaries flow, are rich in natural resources – oil, diamondsand other minerals, as well as forests. But despite this wealth, the countries’ peoplesare among the poorest in the world and their governments remain deeply indebted tomultilateral institutions and the former colonial powers.The six Central African countries featured in this report – Cameroon, Central AfricanRepublic, Congo (Brazzaville), Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon– all contain large expanses of rainforest that have provided livelihoods, building materialsand medicines to millions of forest-dependent peoples. These countries’ governments, oftenunder strict structural adjustment and liberalisation policies imposed by multilateral andbilateral creditors, are promoting industrial timber exploitation in most of their forest areaswhilst local people have no opportunities to participate meaningfully in deciding how best touse forest resources. Although governments and creditors actively promote transnationalprivate investment in the forestry sector, they have done little to establish a framework forcontrolling these private interests. Forestry and environment laws, which provide a minimumoperating standard, are often unclear and are rarely enforced. This has led to forest policiesthat, on the one hand, undermine the livelihoods and increase the insecurity of local peopleswhilst, on the other, facilitate the dominance of unaccountable corporations.Transnational companies should not separate their operations from the broader politicalframework within which they operate. Political conflicts within countries add to thedifficulties of operating there and also throw up ethical dilemmas about direct or indirectsupport for repressive regimes and factions. Timber sector revenues may fuel conflict directly,as has happened in Liberia and Cambodia. If logging advances into areas of existing conflictwithin the Central African region, political, social and economic problems will be exacerbated,particularly if the prevalent haphazard and illegal forestry practices continue. Insecuritygenerated by unsustainable logging operations, such as loss of rights to forest resources anddeclining food availability, may also produce conflict in the longer term.Forests Monitor believes that there should be regulatory frameworks within whichtransnational corporations operate, both in the countries of operation and in the countrieswhere they are headquartered, that foster accountability and that put the needs and rights offorest-dependent peoples at the heart of their actions. Increasingly, civil society in Africa isfinding a voice to speak out against human rights abuses, the burden of debt andenvironmental degradation. Such movements should be supported so that they can play anincreasing role in defining and establishing equitable development goals that respect forestdependentpeoples’ livelihoods and knowledge.This report examines the political, social and economic context for forest managementpolices in each of the six Central African countries and focuses on the transnational loggingcompanies headquartered in the European Union (EU) that operate there. The reasons for thisfocus are three-fold. Firstly, the EU continues to play an important role politically andeconomically in Central Africa,directly and indirectly shaping forestdevelopment and conservationpolicies. Secondly, EU-based loggingcompanies continue to be significantplayers in the forestry sector of theregion, controlling most of the loggingconcessions and processing plants andplaying an active role in internationalfora on forest management in theregion. Thirdly, the EU continues tobe the primary destination for exportsof timber products from the region.For these reasons, EU member states,and the multilateral institutions ofwhich they are a part, can and shouldplay a strategic role in establishingsustainable principles by which EUheadquarteredcompanies shouldoperate.
REGIONAL OVERVIEW 5Part IRegional OverviewPeople and forests in Central AfricaTHE CONGO BASIN contains the second largest area of tropical rainforest inthe world after the Amazon Basin. Renowned for its biodiversity, this forest is hometo culturally diverse peoples who directly depend on the forest for food, buildingmaterials and medicines. Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and subsistence agriculture havetraditionally formed the basis of local livelihoods and exchange networks between differentgroups of people living in these forest areas. Social interactions have involved complex sets ofeconomic, social and power relationships between and within these groups. For example,Pygmies have traditionally hunted bushmeat, collected honey and other NTFPs from the forestwhich they trade with neighbouring Bantu farmers for agricultural products and other goods.The relationships between these groups, however, have rarely been based on equality, andPygmies have often found themselves discriminated against. However, all the people who livein and depend on the rainforests of Central Africa, whether hunter-gatherers or sedentaryfarmers and fisherpeople, are invariably excluded from decision-making concerning themanagement and use of the forests upon which they depend for their livelihoods and, in thecase of Pygmy groups, for their spiritual and cultural identity. This exclusion means that localpeoples’ needs are not taken into account when governments, often under pressure frommultilateral and bilateral creditors, decide on forest management strategies.Local people have few or non-existent tenure rights to the forests upon which they depend.Development policies, often imposed by multilateral and bilateral creditors, and implementedby remote, weak and sometimes corrupt governments, allocate large tracts of these forests tosometimes equally corrupt forestry companies as concessions for timber extraction. Thebalance of power regarding forest use, management and rights tilts even further away fromlocal people and towards private interests, often represented by a few transnationalcorporations. In this framework, the opportunities for fostering local-level development thatPeople who live inand depend on therainforests ofCentral Africa areexcluded fromdecision-makingconcerning theirmanagement anduse.Villagers in south eastCameroon© FORESTS MONITOR
Page 8 and 9: 6SOLD DOWN THE RIVERLocalcommunitie
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Page 15 and 16: CAMEROON 13Part II-Country Profiles
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Page 19 and 20: CAMEROON 17As well as operating the
Page 21 and 22: CAMEROON 19Summary of anEnvironment
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Page 25 and 26: CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC 23Central
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Page 29 and 30: CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE) 27Congo (Brazza
Page 31 and 32: CONGO (BRAZZAVILLE) 29awarding and
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Page 35 and 36: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO 33Fore
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Page 41 and 42: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO 41As i
Page 43 and 44: EQUATORIAL GUINEA 43operating in th
Page 45 and 46: GABON 45GabonPolitical, social and
Page 47 and 48: GABON 47© FORESTS MONITOR/CIAJEest
Page 49 and 50: GABON 49the company relinquished ri
Page 51 and 52: GABON 51demands. NSG also promised
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COMPANY PROFILES 53Part IIICompany
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COMPANY PROFILES 55could collapse o
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COMPANY PROFILES 57DLH Nordisk obta
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COMPANY PROFILES 59In some cases, i
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COMPANY PROFILES 61One of the conse
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COMPANY PROFILES 63one of the princ
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COMPANY PROFILES 65said to be bette
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CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS 67Con
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APPENDIX 69Appendix : Key to map co
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REFERENCES 71ReferencesPart I Regio
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REFERENCES/INDEX 73240 ATIBT Direct
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Sold down the river - Salva le Foreste

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