The political situation in the major timber supplying countries of the Congo Basin – while still fragile – has improved significantly over the past three years. Congo-Kinshasa is no longer gripped by the furious conflict that killed three million people between 1998-2003. Political conditions have gradually improved in Congo-Brazzaville and Central African Republic.

This improved stability has emerged at a time when rich countries have been reassessing their approach to international development assistance. A set of Millennium Development Goals was agreed at a UN summit in 2000. These are extremely ambitious: for example, to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty between 1990-2015; and to reverse the loss of forests. As a follow-up, an influential UN committee issued a report in December 2004 calling for a big injection of global aid in an effort to meet the targets. The report suggests that sub-Saharan Africa should be a major beneficiary of the new aid.

Another indication of the raised political profile of African development is provided by the agenda set for the UK presidency of the G8 during 2005. African development is a priority and the UK government has established a Commission for Africa, which has called for billions of dollars of extra aid.

Sustainable harvesting

A debate is now raging on exactly how this new aid should be used. A key issue is sustainable harvesting.

Indications are that donor agencies are positive about timber production in the region. The policies being evolved envisage a managed expansion of timber harvesting in the Congo Basin alongside efforts to improve forest governance and conservation. In Congo-Kinshasa, where most Congo forest resources are located, the World Bank has encouraged the government to cancel 163 timber concessions since 2002. These covered around 25 million ha of the 41 million ha previously allocated for concessions. The government also declared a moratorium on the allocation of new logging contracts pending adoption of transparent procedures through a new Forest Code. The World Bank and FAO are also involved in preparing a national forest zoning plan to define areas for logging, conservation and community use.

This seems a reasonable compromise, indicative of the World Bank’s 2002 forest strategy to re-engage constructively in the sustainable management of natural tropical forest. Nevertheless, some environmental groups continue to lobby against any expansion of sustainable harvesting. In 2004, the Rainforest Foundation sponsored a trip to Congo-Kinshasa by UK MPs in the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Great Lakes Region and Genocide Prevention. Following this trip the chair said: “We learned that nine contracts have been awarded to private logging companies by the Environment Ministry since the moratorium. They should simply be annulled and the moratorium maintained”.

Private sector commitment

The onus is now on the private sector to demonstrate that it can operate responsibly in the Congo Basin. The stakes are high. If environmental campaigns mean that technically-qualified multi-national forestry companies are deterred from investing, this may damage rather than improve forest conservation. Timber extraction will continue but will be dominated by the kind of unplanned small-scale operations that have done so much damage in other parts of the region. This seems inevitable in an area where government forest departments are weak, where rural populations are growing and dependent on agriculture, and where there are few alternative sources of livelihood.

Multi-national forestry companies have a strong interest in protecting their concession areas. They can apply technical forestry knowledge, develop training programmes for local personnel, and provide support for conservation projects. They can use their buying power to positively influence smaller suppliers. This is apart from their role to develop infrastructure and wood processing industries, generate employment and bring investment.

The Danzer Group is a good example. Through its Swiss subsidiary Interholco AG, Danzer is actively involved in timber trading in the Congo. Danzer is also directly involved in forestry through SIFORCO and IFO, Danzer subsidiaries operating concessions totalling over 4 million ha in Congo-Kinshasa and Congo-Brazzaville. These subsidiaries undertake timber processing in two sawmills and a veneer plant.

Danzer is in the process of implementing the environmental management systems standard ISO 14001 in all its operations. By combining knowledge gained during implementation of ISO 14001 in the US and Europe, with its experience of working in Africa, Danzer is well placed to develop environmentally sensitive forestry in the Congo. IFO and SIFORCO are co-operating with governments, industry associations and communities to finalise sustainable forest management plans. IFO is field testing the new FORCOMS procedures for independent monitoring of conformance with sustainable forest management being developed by leading international NGOs and the Interafrican Forest Industries Association. Danzer aims to achieve full independent forest certification of its African forest concessions.

Danzer is also playing a role to improve forestry practices amongst third party suppliers. In association with SGS, it has developed rules governing timber procurement in Africa. Over the next few months, Danzer will be progressively tightening requirements placed on suppliers to demonstrate that wood derives as a minimum from legal sources. A programme of field visits will assist and monitor suppliers as they implement these requirements. This procurement system will be third-party audited early in 2006. In this way, Danzer will effectively act as another arm of government, helping to ensure wood suppliers conform with national laws.

Good practice

Of course, not all companies are like Danzer. A pre-requisite is to establish effective systems to ensure allocation of concessions to responsible, technically-qualified companies. This is what the new Forest Code in Congo-Kinshasa is hoping to achieve. If applied vigorously, the Code should significantly enhance the prospects for sustainable forest management in the Congo.

Using Danzer as an example of good practice in the Congo may seem controversial. The choice is deliberate. During 2004, Greenpeace made allegations against Danzer claiming involvement in bribery. The allegations were scrutinised by the Swiss Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office which, in December 2004, stated no substantiating evidence was found. The timing of Greenpeace’s allegations was no accident, coinciding with a broader environmentalist campaign to discourage expansion of forestry operations in the Congo Basin.

This case conveys an important message. Environ-mental groups have a key role to play in raising awareness of poor practice and pushing green issues higher up the political agenda. But if they target the wrong com-panies and deter them from investing in difficult regions like the Congo, the result may be to reduce rather than to improve environmental and social welfare.