KINSHASA (Reuters) – A ministerial commission in the Democratic Republic of Congo has recommended terminating 30 forest concessions due to alleged irregularities, it said in a preliminary report published on Tuesday.
Congo is home to 60% of the world’s second-largest rainforest, making it a key player in the fight against climate change. It has been under pressure to improve forest management and curb deforestation.
Authorities set up the commission last year to make an inventory of all forest concessions delivered to date and check their compliance with Congolese regulations.
Its preliminary findings were submitted to the government in February and published on the environment ministry’s website on Tuesday.
The report recommended the termination of 30 out of 82 logged forest concessions. Of these, 22 were contracts for logging and eight were conservation contracts. Some were illegally awarded and required legal action, the report showed.
Another 36 contracts were given three months to regularize after the commission found certain taxes had not been paid.
“Beyond this period, the concession will be recovered by the state”, said the report, which was signed by Environment Minister Eve Bazaiba.
President Felix Tshisekedi in 2021 called for an audit of forest concessions in a bid to impose order on the poorly regulated sector.
Authorities suspended a dozen logging contracts in April last year over alleged irregularities picked up by a local public finance watchdog.
(Reporting by Sonia Rolley; Editing by Sofia Christensen and Sandra Maler)
