World Bank accused of razing Congo forests - Guardian

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

World Bank accused of razing Congo forests

Internal report says mass logging threatens Pygmies
Findings are embarrassing for British government

John Vidal, environment editor
The Guardian Thursday October 4 2007

The World Bank encouraged foreign companies to
destructively log the world's second largest forest,
endangering the lives of thousands of Congolese
Pygmies, according to a report on an internal
investigation by senior bank staff and outside
experts. The report by the independent inspection
panel, seen by the Guardian, also accuses the bank
of misleading Congo's government about the value
of its forests and of breaking its own rules.

Congo's rainforests are the second largest in the
world after the Amazon, locking nearly 8% of the
planet's carbon and having some of its richest
biodiversity. Nearly 40 million people depend on
the forests for medicines, shelter, timber and
food.

The report into the bank's activities in Democratic
Republic of Congo since 2002 follows complaints
made two years ago by an alliance of 12 Pygmy
groups. The groups claimed that the bank-backed
system of awarding vast logging concessions to
companies to exploit the forests was causing
"irreversible harm".

-snip-

It is particularly embarrassing for the British
government, which is a development partner of
the bank and its third largest financial contributor.
It encouraged the bank to intervene in the Congo
forests with export-driven industrial logging and
has earmarked £50m for further Congo basin
forestry aid.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/oct/04/congo.forests

[gateley]

1. K&R nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Well, now we know what Wolfowitz was up to?

[Hydra]

3. The World bank, out to rape the world of it's resources

in return for worthless pieces of paper.

[druidity33]

4. those bastards!

But really, what do you expect? It's the World Bank! That's like the IMF, WTO, etc. Nasty rich people wanting to secure the wealth of other rich people.



love your "-snip-"s btw... how do you do that?

:)

[razzleberry]

5. nice of the carbon offset people, to destroy forests

follow the money.

destroy the forest,
put in non-native species,
cash in

[jpak]

7. Really? What does this have to do with "carbon offset people"

Oh I know - nothing.

[razzleberry]

8. the World Bank --> well known carbon-offset profiteers

(with that said, I lack details about what is being written about)

I tend to lable all carbon-offset projects as scams,
cuz... that is my opinion

buy Senator Lugar brand carbon-offsets
http://lugar.senate.gov/press/record.cfm?id=255829

[RestoreGore]

6. The World Bank Cannot Be Trusted

They do the same thing with water. Recommended.

[hatrack]

9. This is news? Shit, they and the IMF have been doing this for decades.

Congo, Indonesia, Brazil, Ecuador, India - if it's got forests and/or damsites, it's long since been logged or plugged by the "poverty fighting" World Bank and their cohorts.