For the last 2 years, Global Response letters have urged the World Bank to halt its program of industrial logging in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's vast tropical rainforests. The campaign's first success was the decision by the Bank’s official Inspection Panel to investigate the complaints brought by 'Pygmy' residents of the rainforest. This week the Inspection Panel issued its preliminary report which sharply criticizes the Bank for not fulfilling its own environmental 'safeguard policie' and for not consulting with affected “Pygmy†populations. The Panel is now launching a full investigation into the Bank's role in managing the exploitation of the DRC's rainforests.
Sincere thanks and congratulations to everyone who wrote letters to the World Bank during the several rounds of this campaign! Stay tuned to keep holding the Bank accountable for safeguarding the environment and indigenous peoples' rights.
Rainforest Foundation UK has played a very effective leadership role in this campaign. Their press release on the Inspection Panel's report follows:
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World Bank admits to failures in protecting Congo's rainforests: official 'watchdog' to investigate
Source: Rainforest Foundation Press Release
Date: March 8, 2006
Information released today by the World Bank reveals that it has failed to ensure proper protection of the environment and local peoples in its programmes to 'develop' the vast rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which are the second largest on Earth after the Amazon.
The revelations come following a preliminary investigation by the World Bank Inspection Panel, the official independent watchdog agency. According to the report of the Panel:
* the Bank has acknowledged that it did not properly apply its own internal 'safeguard policies', which are designed to ensure that it does not harm the environment and local peoples;
* the Bank claims it was not 'aware of the existence of 'Pygmy' communities' in areas that would be affected by its projects, but that it would now develop a plan to ensure that 'Pygmy' people are not harmed by new developments funded by the Bank;
* the Bank has acknowledged that it was 'inappropriate' to set targets for the number of new logging concessions that should be allocated by the Congolese government as a result of World Bank projects.
The Inspection Panel launched its investigation after a complaint was brought to it by 'Pygmy' communities from the Congo, alleging that the Bank's plans threaten to harm the country's rainforests and destroy the livelihoods of people living there [5]. As a result of its preliminary findings, the Inspection Panel has decided to open a full investigation into the role of the World Bank in Congo's rainforests.
Simon Counsell, Director of the Rainforest Foundation UK, said "The World Bank has finally acknowledged that its activities in the rainforests of the Congo have been flawed and must be improved. This is a major victory for the Pygmy people of the Congo, whose rights and livelihoods could be seriously harmed by inappropriate development of the country's rainforests."
