July 02, 2008 04:30 AM
KINSHASA–Former Canadian prime minister Paul Martin must worry about the flow of "every single dollar" if he hopes to succeed with a new $200 million fund launched to preserve the world's second-biggest tropical forest, Congolese activists say.
Citing chronic corruption, weak governance and rampant illegal logging, African environmentalists say the Martin initiative faces a daunting culture of impunity in the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to 52 per cent of the Congo Basin rain forest.
Yet they welcome the involvement of the former Canadian prime minister, who will co-chair the Congo Basin Forest Fund together with Kenyan-born Nobel Laureate Prof. Wangari Maathai.
"We need the world to be watching. We need Canada and Norway and all the big countries involved, because of the climate issues at stake," said Roger Muchaba, head of the Congolese Natural Resources Network.
"But, we also need Mr. Martin and the others overseeing this fund to empower the local leadership of the actual communities who live in and depend upon the rain forest.
"Putting power in the hands of the locals is the best way to ensure the forest does not disappear," Muchaba said.
Deforestation is emerging as a critical element in the battle against climate change, with some studies suggesting shrinking tropical forests account for as much as one fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The Congo Basin Forest Fund, bankrolled jointly by the governments of Britain and Norway, places Martin and Maathai as key advisers on governance of the initial $20 million fund – a role environmentalists say will be critical to its ability to make a difference in helping steer the six countries that share the Congo Basin toward sustainable stewardship.
A senior Congolese government official last week dismissed the fund as paltry compensation for what the world asks of the countries that control the Congo forest's rich resources.
"We cannot be the ones who preserve, while others pollute without paying," said Environment Minister Jose Endundu.
"Of course, it's not enough. Congo is the country that has done the best job of preserving its forest, and that cannot remain without some kind of value. We are talking today in terms of billions of dollars."
One of the fund's first projects involves a plan to establish close satellite surveillance of the Congo forest by 2010, enabling far more precise real-time monitoring of an area covering 2 million square kilometres, or about twice the size of France.
"Satellite surveillance is welcome, but you cannot talk to villagers with a satellite," said Joseph Bobia, spokesperson for the Congolese development organization.
"The crucial element here is that this project enlists the participation of the local communities. You must make them partners in finding alternative uses for the forest."
Congolese forestry officials say present practice involves the official harvesting of 500,000 cubic metres of virgin timber each year from the forest.
But unofficial logging more than doubles the total, according to Jerome Mabiala, a Congolese forestry consultant with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Kinshasa.
"There are lots of illegal bush mills. We have no way to know how many," said Mabiala.
The Congo Basin is also challenged by mining and deforestation for agriculture, which, together with logging, remove the equivalent of 25,000 soccer pitches each week.
The United Nations estimates that at the present rate of exploitation as much as two-thirds of the Congo Basin forest will disappear by 2040. That will put enormous stress on a range of biodiversity that includes 10,000 species of plants, 1,000 species of birds, 700 species of fish and 400 species of mammals.
One environmental activist, speaking on background, told the Toronto Star Martin impressed many with his command of the rain forest file at the fund's recent launch in London.
Others say the fund's overseers must show the tenacity to push back at a culture of corruption that permeates the awarding of forestry concessions throughout the region.
"You are talking about a population of 40 million who depend on the forest, most of whom have never heard of Kyoto or Bali, and they know their government is incredibly corrupt," said Michelle Madeiros, Africa Forests co-ordinator for Greenpeace.
"So scrutiny of the mechanism that determines the spending of every single dollar is essential."--
Jean-Louis Kayitenkore
Procurement Consultant
Gsm: +250-08470205
Home: +250-55104140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali-Rwanda
East Africa
Blog: http://www.cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID : Kayisa66
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment