Investigation into Impacts of Industrial-Scale Logging on Forests and Communities in DRC

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Frederica Rich
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1 Investigatin int Impacts f Industrial-Scale Lgging n Frests and Cmmunities in DRC Wrld Bank Annual Meeting 2011, Washingtn DC 22 September 2011

2 Wrld Bank - The Frests f Demcratic Republic f Cng The secnd largest tract f lwland rainfrest in the wrld 86 millin ha in additin t 59 millin ha f ther frest types ranks 5 th in the wrld in bidiversity 70% f the cuntries 60 millin peple live in rural areas and the vast majrity rely n frests fr their livelihds Frests are the primary surce f energy, medicine and building materials, and are als a majr surce f fd and incme. Withut these prducts many Cnglese families wuld nt be able t survive. (Wrld Bank, 2007) 80% f all energy cmes frm burning wd and charcal Over 1 millin tns f meat are cnsumed annually; hundreds f frest plants are used fr fd and medicines Small-scale lgging supplies the dmestic market with building materials and prvides thusands f peple with livelihds Surce: Wrld Bank Frests in Pst-Cnflict DRC: Analysis f a Pririty Agenda

3 Visited Cmmunities (March/April, August 2011)

4 Handing Frests ver t Lgging Cmpanies Frests allcated widely ppulated and used by rural and indigenus ppulatins t maintain their livelihds: 67 cmmunities visited affected by 22 lgging titles (see map) 58 in/arund peratinal titles, 9 in nt yet peratinal titles Almst n cmmunity infrmed in advance; nt a single cmmunity was cnsulted abut planned lgging Nt a single cmmunity engaged in micr-zning; nly 1 f visited cmmunities interviewed fr a Sci-ecnmic assessment study Cntributins received by cmmunities in return Gvernment: 0; gvernment did nt cntrl cmpliance f lgging cmpany with legal bligatins Lgging cmpanies, befre CdCh mdel f 2009, cnstructed schls and health psts; all but 4 schl buildings cnstructed frm wd (SIFORZAL, SIFORCO) r adbe bricks; mstly withut any r prper fundatins

6 Emplyment and revenue sharing Emplyment Infrmatin was cllected in 36 villages 94 peple received nn-permanent cntractual emplyment Infrmatin abut emplyable male ppulatin and emplyment in the frest sectr was cllected in 8 cmmunities 40 f 7,000 emplyable male persns were in cntractual emplyment, r 1 in 175 Jbs are fr unskilled, nn-permanent psitins qualified jbs are ccupied by migrant wrkers Revenue sharing Despite prvisins fr revenue sharing being in place fr years, very little funds have reached the Prvinces

7 Cahiers de Charges A new Develpment Mdel giving cmmunities respnsibility? Devised withut seeking lessns learnt frm Develpment Assistance sectr CdCh negtiatins are farcical bx-ticking exercises and cannt cmpensate fr the lack f scial and envirnmental assessment and participatry land-use planning befre the cncessins were handed ut, ignring lcal livelihds and tenure rights fr cmmunities and indigenus peples Funds generated frm lgging fr the Lcal Develpment Funds dn t cmpensate fr the lss f bidiversity, fd security, and ther frest life supprt functins, nr d they substitute fr scial functins f the state

8 Incidents f cnflict are increasing Increasing cnflicts between cmmunities and lgging cmpanies; in visited cmmunities/areas Cnflicts between cmmunities created thrugh fight ver expected benefits frm lgging cmpanies - 4 in visited cmmunities: T be expected given a) uncertainty abut land rights, and b) the missin by the gvernment and lgging cmpanies t carry ut scial and envirnmental assessments, cnsultatin, micr-zning and participatry decisin-making

9 Cnclusins N cnsideratin and respect f custmary and full usage and user rights f the peple living in and depending n frests All Pverty Reductin and Sci-ecnmic Develpment imperatives nly exist n paper, scantily serving t mitigate the highly destructive impacts f industrial-scale lgging n cmmunities and frests Cahiers de Charges rushed thrugh t cmplete the cnversin f ld lgging titles int cncessins paving way t allcate new cncessins Are lessns been learnt?

10 Thank yu fr yur attentin - and subsequent necessary actins Reiner Tegtmeyer rtegtmeyer@glbalwitness.rg

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