Skip to main content

CONGO: Logging operations expand into Pygmy territory

Following the ceasefire in 1999 which effectively ended Congo’s civil war (until earlier this month), international timber companies have streamed back into the country and logging activities have increased at a dramatic rate. Previously unexploited forests in the north of the country are being opened up by roads, with potentially devastating consequences for the Pygmy communities inhabiting them. Congo’s forestry minister has predicted that logging production in Congo will triple in the next few years.