www.greennet.org.uk/fern

European Union Initiatives In The Congo Basin

Introduction

1.1 Facts about the region

The Congo Basin rainforest is the second largest in the world, after the Amazon. It covers two million km2 and accounts for roughly one fifth of the world's remaining tropical forestⁱ. Many of the species in this forest are found nowhere else in the world - 80% of its flowering plants and 36% of its birds are endemic.

The population of the region is about 40 million. Two groups are particularly dependent on the forest for their survival: the 120-150 000 'pygmies' who lead a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and some Bantu communities (about 3 million people).

The Congo Basin region is made up of Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire).

1.2 Problems

Between 1981 and 1995, at least 16 million hectares of forest were destroyed in this area ⁱⁱ. At the moment, forests belong to the State in most cases and forest-dependent communities have no legal rights over their territories. Many governments lack the political will to implement or develop sustainable forest management policies. They treat the forest as a resource to be mined, partly because structural adjustment programmes force them to find new sources of income.

In addition, widspread corruption makes it very difficult for law-abiding officials and companies to carry out their work. Logging is an increasingly important threat. For instance timber export from Cameroon has increased from 682,2118 tonne in 1992 to 1,135,230 tonne in 1996ⁱⁱⁱ. The area given out in forest concessions has more than doubled between 1971 and 1992.

Although the region is receiving increasing amounts of aid, there is a lack of coordination between different donors, making it difficult to deal effectively with the problems of the area.

2. Role of the European Union

2.1 Aid

There are a number of forestry and infrastructure projects funded by the EU which have a direct impact on the forest. ^iv Table 1 gives an overview of the largest projects (excluding projects of the Member States). Road-building projects represent 80% of EU spending in the region. These projects are mainly funded by Stabex ^v and Sysmin ^vi under the European Development Fund ^vii.

Table 1: Major EU Projects in the Congo Basin

Project name	Location	Duration	Funds from EU (million ECU)
ECOFAC ^viii I & II	Central Africa	1992-2000	Phase I: 24.0 Phase II: 16.0
Korup Programme	Cameroon	1992-?	7.3
TREES ^ix I & II	Africa, Asia, Latin America	1990-1999	Phase I: 4.5 Phase II: 8.8
Future of Tropical Forest Peoples	Africa, Caribbean and Pacific	1994-99?	5.2

2.2 Logging

Many of the logging companies which operate in the region are European, although Asian companies are becoming ever more active. The biggest companies are: Leroy (German), Rougier (French) and Thanry (French).

2.3 Political influence

The EU, and France in particular, have traditionally had a great deal of political influence in these countries. Now, however, there is increased conflict over access to resources among the main powers, with Anglo-Saxon countries gaining the upper hand.

2.4 Coordination of donor activities

Because of the large number of projects in the region (e.g., 30 projects in Cameroon alone), coordination among donors is necessary.

The European Commission hosted an informal meeting in April 1997 to enhance coordination of donor activities in the region. Participants recognised the need to (i) develop a vision for the region, (ii) exchange information, and (iii) ensure bottom-up input in project proposals. They were also very keen to support the Brazzaville Process ^x.
At the 'Friends of the Congo' meeting on 3-4 December 1997 in Brussels, the EU announced that it had 241 MECU available for the Democratic Republic of Congo if the country meets certain political and logistic conditions. In addition, the EU and Member States contribute to projects in the Congo Basin region which are being carried out by the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

2.5 Congo Basin Policy Dialogue and Training Programme

Since January 1998, the Economic Development Institute of the World Bank and the European Commission have funded a programme to support forest sector policy development in the region. Phase 1 will cost 650 000 ECU and will last 18 months. The objectives of the programme are to:

improve communication and coordination on matters related to forestry and sustainable development,
analyse components of forest policies and options for integrating them with national development programmes,
identify common concerns and formulate a common regional strategy.

Box 1: Relevant EU legislation and guidelines
a) Lomé Convention forest protocol ^xi
The Lomé Convention governs aid and trade relations between the EU and 71 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). Lomè IV was adopted in 1989 for a period of ten years. During its revision in 1995, a forest protocol was added which covers:

conservation of tropical forests,

sustainable management of forests for timber production,

support for certification systems,

institution and capacity building.
b) Council Regulation on Operations to promote tropical forests ^xii
Through this regulation, the EU delivers ECU 50M per year to projects promoting, amongst others:

conservation of tropical forests,

sustainable forest management (excluding commercial logging operations),

development of certification systems.

About 35M ECU are spent every year in Asia and Latin America while 15M ECU go to Africa, Caribbean and Pacific countries annually.
c) Guidelines for Forest Sector Development Cooperation ^xiii
This is a manual which aims to assist in the preparation and implementation of tropical forest projects.

3. NGO Comments

The most active international NGOs in the Congo Basin are WWF and IUCN. Many local NGOs work on forest issues, and a large number of these are part of the African Forests Action Network (AFAN).

3.1 Concerns

Apart from the problems mentioned above, NGOs have the following concerns:

details of EU involvement in the region are not clear and readily available,
local communities are not adequately involved in the planning and implementation of many EU projects (e.g., the ECOFAC programme in the Central African Republic),
most projects are carried out without Environmental Impact Assessments or independent evaluations,
migratory logging companies which export mainly to Asia are destroying the forest at ever-increasing rates,
there is little political will to implement good forest management in the Congo Basin.

3.2 Recommendations

As a major donor, the EU should contribute to conservation and sustainable management of forests in the Congo Basin region as well as the recognition of local peoples' rights. NGOs feel that in order to achieve this goal, the EU should:

1. put pressure on governments to implement existing forest legislation, and particularly community forestry policies where they exist;
2. strengthen NGOs and community-based organisations;
3. carry out research into traditional patterns of forest use ^xiv in the region, as a pre-requisite to point 4;
4. put pressure on governments to demarcate the permanent forest estate, indicating production, protection and conservation areas and defining land rights for its inhabitants;
5. ensure that customary land rights are properly defined and respected;
6. while NGOs appreciate recent efforts by the EU to improve donor coordination in the region, a coordinated strategy, in particular to tackle corrupt governments, remains necessary;

What is Fern?

Fern is an NGO created by the World Rainforest Movement. Fern advocates changes in EU activities in order to achieve:

Conservation and sustainable management of forests,
Respect for the rights of forest peoples,
Greater transparency in EU aid to tropical forest countries.

Fern briefing notes aim to inform NGOs, MEPs and European Commission officials about key forest related issues.

Fern Contacts

Saskia Ozinga,
Fern/WRM
1C Fosseway Business Park
Stratford Road Moreton-in-Marsh
UK - GL 56 9NQ
Tel: 44 1608 652 895
Fax: 44 1608 652 878
Saskia@gn.apc.org

Chantal Marijnissen & Susan Leubuscher,
Fern
20 Av des Celtes 1040
Brussels
Belgium
Tel: 32 2 742 24 36
Fax: 32 2 736 80 54
Fern@arcadis.be

i) This figure includes both 'open' and 'closed' forest. Source: FAO, 1992.
ii) Average rate of deforestation between 1981 and 1995 for the six countries: 1.14 million hectares per year. Sources: Forest Resources Assessment 1990 - tropical countries (FAO, 1992) and State of the World's Forests 1997 (FAO, 1997).
iii) Source James Hewitt/Rainforest Foundation
iv) ECOFAC, the Central African Tropical Forest Conservation Programme, is now in its second phase. Phases I and II together have 40 MECU allocated to them. TREES uses satellite images to monitor tropical forests. A high-resolution survey of Central Africa was carried out in 1994.
v) Stabex is the export earnings stabilisation system for primary agricultural products. It was set up under Lome I, in order to provide ACP countries with the capital required to offset losses in export earnings due to price fluctuations or to the production of agricultural goods for export to the member states
vi) Sysmin is a funding facility set up under Lome II in order to help ACP countries which are highly dependent on exports of extractive commodities (mining!) to the EC, to alleviate the negative impacts on their earnings of temprrary but serious disruptions in the mining sector.
vii) See Fern Briefing Note An Overview of EU Aid
viii) ECOFAC is the Central African Tropical Forest Conservation Programme
ix) TREES uses satellite images to monitor tropical forests. A high-resolution survey of Central Africa was carried out in 1994.
x) The Central African forum which discusses forest conservation problems in the Congo Basin. It brings together forest ministers, government officials and parlamentarians, NGOs, private sector organisations, and aid agencies.
xi) Protocol on Sustainable Management of Forest Resources, Annex to the midterm review of the Lome IV-bis Convention, 30.6.1995.
xii) Council Regulation No 3062/95 of 20 December 1995.
xiii) Forests in Sustainable Development. Volume I - Strategic Approach, October 1996; Volume II - Tools for Project Cycle Management, March 1997.
xiv) Including rights to access, use and control of different territories.