Worker at Palm Oil Plantation in Congo

A worker shovels piles of the fruit of the oil palm tree. The majority of villagers living in Lukoto work on the plantation making palm oil, a form of edible vegetable oil obtained from the fruit. Expansion of logging into remaining areas of intact forests in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will destroy globally critical carbon reserves and impact biodiversity. Approximately 40 million people in the DRC depend on the rainforest for their basic needs, such as medicine, food or shelter.

Unique identifier: GP02RQ

Type: Image

Shoot date: 09/10/2006

Locations: Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lokutu

Credit line: © Greenpeace / Jan-Joseph Stok

Ranking: ★★★★ (E)

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Democratic Republic Congo Forests Documentation 2006

The second largest rainforest in the world sits in the Congo basin of Africa. About half of this forest, still largely intact, lies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and supports more species of birds and mammals than any other African region. The rainforests are also critical for its human inhabitants, who depend upon the rainforests to provide essential food, medicine, and other non-timber products, along with energy and building materials. The World Bank and other donors view logging as a way to alleviate poverty and promote economic development. In reality, expansion of logging into remaining areas of intact forests in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will destroy globally critical carbon reserves and impact biodiversity. Beyond environmental impacts, logging in the region exacerbates poverty and leads to social conflicts.

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