Virtually all of Congo’s forests are scheduled to be logged in the coming years.
The former French colony of the Republic of Congo (often known as ‘Congo-Brazzaville', after the name of its capital city) is emerging from several years of devastating civil conflict.
The country's dense rainforests are mostly located in the far north and the southwest coastal region. Most of the forests in the south have already been logged at least once and, with the exception of some designated protected areas such as the Odzala National Park, virtually all of Congo's forests are scheduled to be logged in the coming years.
Actual rates of deforestation in Congo are relatively low, but the ‘selective logging' of large areas of forest for a few prime commercial species of timber such as sapele is probably causing direct long-term damage to natural ecosystems. Logging activities have also encouraged many thousands of workers to move into forest areas, often depending on the hunting of wildlife to supplement their meagre incomes.
The northern rainforests are the home of various Aka ‘Pygmy' peoples, including the Bangombe, Mbendjele, Bakola and Baluma. In the southwest, some 2000 Babongo ‘Pygmies' live in the forests covering the border with Gabon.
OCDH was set up by a core group of journalists, lawyers and other activists in 1994 in response to the human rights abuses in the war in Republic of Congo.
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