Congo’s president has signed a decree supporting a ban on new logging in a move which should give the country’s vast rainforest more protection from illegal loggers.
President Joseph Kabila gave his backing to a logging moratorium which has not been effective since being imposed three years ago.
Greenpeace said the move should stop more logging concessions being granted and force a review of the estimated six million ha illegally allocated since 2002.
Congo also introduced a forest code in 2002 giving local people a say in the running of forests.
Greenpeace said the code, which also stipulated that concessions be sold at public auctions and 40% of proceeds returned to local communities, has not been properly enforced.
Congo has around 100 million ha of rainforest, the majority of which has not been logged because of inaccessibility and war. But logging companies are now returning as peace returns to the area.
