Widespread logging threatens the Congo Basins critical rainforest
Monica Villamizar:
Greenpeace has campaigned against illegal logging for many years. It argues timber consumed globally should be traced to its origin.
Normally, a system of marks ensures that each log that is cut down is accounted for. The marks mirror those at the stump and also have information about the location where the tree was cut. But Greenpeace says, much of the timber leaving Congo is cut without permission and manages to reach the final destination with counterfeit marks or permit.
We joined environmental activist Etienne Kasiraca on a fact-finding mission deep into the forest. Many of Congo's forests are only accessible by river boat.
The reason why so many African parks have been spared of logging is because the infrastructure is so poor that getting the timber out becomes very expensive. But this is not the case here in this part of the DRC, because the Congo River is such a good means of transportation.
We arrived at a concession operated by the Congolese-registered Bakri Bois Corporation. Kasiraca decided to visit the site now, as he had heard that the timber workers were on strike, and we could enter the concession. These places are normally guarded and off-limits to visits from environmentalists and reporters.
Licenses and paperwork are the only way to prove the timber is legal, and that loggers are not chopping down trees that are too old, too young or endangered. But Kasiraca says he has rarely seen a company operate with a valid license in this area.
Do you think a lot of this is going on in the Congolese forest?
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