Bank admits Congo forest protection failure

The Rainforest Foundation UK

PRESS RELEASE

World Bank admits to failures in protecting Congo's rainforests: official 'watchdog' to investigate

Information released today by the World Bank reveals that it has failed to ensure proper protection of the environment and local peoples in its programmes to 'develop' the vast rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which are the second largest on Earth after the Amazon [1] .

The revelations come following a preliminary investigation by the World Bank Inspection Panel, the official independent watchdog agency. According to the report of the Panel [2]:

* the Bank has acknowledged that it did not properly apply its own internal 'safeguard policies', which are designed to ensure that it does not harm the environment and local peoples [3];

* the Bank claims it was not 'aware of the existence of 'Pygmy' communities' in areas that would be affected by its projects, but that it would now develop a plan to ensure that 'Pygmy' people are not harmed by new developments funded by the Bank [3];

* the Bank has acknowledged that it was 'inappropriate' to set targets for the number of new logging concessions that should be allocated by the Congolese government as a result of World Bank projects [4].

The Inspection Panel launched its investigation after a complaint was brought to it by 'Pygmy' communities from the Congo, alleging that the Bank's plans threaten to harm the country's rainforests and destroy the livelihoods of people living there [5]. As a result of its preliminary findings, the Inspection Panel has decided to open a full investigation into the role of the World Bank in Congo's rainforests.

Simon Counsell, Director of the Rainforest Foundation UK, said "The World Bank has finally acknowledged that its activities in the rainforests of the Congo have been flawed and must be improved. This is a major victory for the Pygmy people of the Congo, whose rights and livelihoods could be seriously harmed by inappropriate development of the country's rainforests."

ENDS

Note:

[1] The World Bank has been supporting the development of new laws for the management of DRC's forests. Under a project entitled 'Emergency Economic and Social Reunification Support project (EESRSP) approved by the Board of the Bank in September 2003, the Bank also intended to support a pilot project to 'zone' Congo's forests into areas for industrial logging, conservation, and community use.

[2] The full report of the Panel is available at:

http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/s-World%20Bank%20Inspection%20Panel%20eligibility%20report

The full response of World Bank management to the complaint is available at:

http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/s-World%20Bank%20Inspection%20Panel%20complaint%20-%20Bank%20management%20response

[3] The Management of the Bank states in its response to the complaint that "with respect to the EESRSP, the Bank was not in full compliance with processing provisions of OP 4.01, and OD 4.20 should have been triggered during project preparation". (OP 4.01 is the Bank's internal 'Environmental Assessment' policy; OD 4.20 is the Bank's internal Indigenous Peoples' safeguard policy).

[4] The Bank's response to the complaint states that: "OD 4.20 was not triggered because the design of the project as reviewed at concept stage did not reveal the existence of Pygmy communities in project-affected areas".

[5] The Bank's response to the complaint states that:" "The number of new concessions attributed in a transparent manner" quoted by the [complainants] as a performance indicator for EESRSP does appear in the project documentation but it is not a good indicator of performance and does not reflect the full extent of Bank advice...[Bank] Management will use the opportunity afforded by the Mid-term review of the project in March 2006 to suggest to the Government that this indicator should be replaced with a more appropriate one".