Leaders of the 10 countries that make up the Congo Basin has concluded a treaty aimed at protecting their continents massive rainforest – second only to that found in the Amazon basin, IRIN reports.
The treaty, signed at the end of a two-day summit in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), provides for the creation of a new forestry commission and a subregional fund to finance the protection of the rainforest, as well as the harmonisation of national laws on logging.
Environmentalists hailed the treaty, saying the forest was being destroyed by illegal logging and poaching.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), an average of 13.700 hectar of forest was lost each year from 1990 to 2000 in the Congo Basin, which has a total area of about 520 million hectar. Deforestation has continued since then, FAO said, albeit at a slower rate – app. 8.000 square kilometres a year.
The area is home to the worlds gorillas and many other spectacular animals that are now at risk of extinction. As flora and fauna disappear, millions of people who depend on the forest are becoming increasingly impoverished.
The new commission will be charged with tracking poachers across borders and providing funds for training and conservation.
The new plans aim to protect more than 200 million hectares of forest which is spread over seven countries in the Congo Basin in central Africa, excluding the section in Equatorial Guinea. The whole scheme will cost over 15 billion US dollar.
To fund the initiative, the heads of state agreed to create a tax on products exported from the forest. They also called on the international community to renew its support.
Greenpeace believes any decision will be difficult to implement, fearing corruption.
Nobel Peace Prize winner, Wangari Maathai of Kenya, has agreed to be the goodwill ambassador for the protection of the Congo Basin. Her task will be to find ways to curb illegal logging and the illegal trade in bushmeats.
The signatories are expected to create a certification system (mærkningsordning) for tropical wood, such as the one, which already exists for diamonds, so that consumers in the West would be aware of the origin of the wood of furniture they buy.
The countries taking part in the summit were Congo Brazzaville, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe and Rwanda. French President Jacques Chirac also attended.
Kilder: FN-bureauet IRINnews og BBC
