Attachments
By Denis Mahonghol
Unregulated logging of the Congo Basin rainforests threatens to undercut the livelihoods of millions of households in the region, empower transnational organized criminal networks, and dramatically accelerate global warming.
Highlights
- The rapid degradation of the Congo Basin rainforests poses a threat to the livelihoods of millions who rely on the forests’ resources and the regulating role the forests play for African rain patterns and carbon sequestration.
- Weak forest management is empowering transnational organized criminal networks and armed militant groups who are playing an increasingly central role in resource extraction from the Congo Basin.
- Illicit logging, mining, and wildlife trade in the Congo Basin is enabled by the complicity of senior public officials who profit from their positions overseeing the management of these national resources.
- Better management and protection of the Congo Basin rainforests will require enhanced forest domain awareness as well as realigning the incentives for local communities, public officials, and international logging interests.