Response to letter campaign on the World Bank’s forestry policies in the
Democratic Republic of Congo
October 2007
Thank you for your letter expressing concern about the World Bank’s forest
policies in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
You raise important concerns about the importance of the DRC’s forests for
the millions of people who depend on the forests for their livelihoods, as well
as for biodiversity and the global climate.
The UK Government has been playing an active role in developing an
alternative vision for the DRC’s forests, together with our partners – including
the DRC government, the World Bank , other donors, NGO’s and others.
The UK has certainly not “been laying the policy basis” for, or “subsidizing
industrial logging” as your letter suggests. In fact, the reverse is true. For
the past year we have been supporting Roundtable talks with partners aimed at
developing economic alternatives to industrial-scale logging. The proposals
developed by the Roundtable will be discussed at a high-level meeting in London
in December involving the DRC government and civil society, international NGOs
and the DRC’s international development partners including the World Bank and
the UK government.
NGOs, including Greenpeace, the Rainforest Foundation and Global Witness,
have played an important role in the Roundtable group to find alternative forest
uses that benefit all citizens of DRC, as well as the global environment.
We have also separately contributed £50 million to tackle deforestation in
the Congo basin, conserve biodiversity, and protect the rights and livelihoods
of forest communities in the region.
The suggestion that the policies of the UK aid agencies are harming pygmies
is also unfounded. Again, the reverse is true. DFID is funding a project,
implemented by the Rainforest Foundation, which is empowering forest-dependent
communities – including pygmy communities – to take control of their own forest
resources. The UK’s role is actually viewed as a positive one, and in their
recent evidence to the International Development Committee, the Rainforest
Foundation said that, “DFID has, through its bilateral programme, supported
valuable interventions, consistent with its Development Policy.”
The World Bank Board is yet to meet to discuss the panel report referred to
in your letter, so the UK Government cannot comment on the specific details of
the report at this stage. However, it is important to note that the World Bank’s
main advice to the DRC Government is not to expand industrial logging and not to
allocate any new concessions until sector governance is significantly improved.
The Bank has been central to Roundtable discussions on alternative uses for
DRC’s forests and we are committed to working with them and all other partners
to make this vision a reality.
The UK Government will also work with the World Bank and others to ensure
that new approaches, including payments for reduced emissions from
deforestation, protect the forests and the people who depend on them as well as
the climate.
I acknowledge Ecological Internet has now issued an apology for the
inaccurate reflection of UK policy in the letter for which we are grateful.
I hope this helps.
Gareth Thomas
Minister for Trade and Development
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