By Jean Pierre Afadhali
A new report released yesterday suggests that China-linked timber company Congo King Baisheng Forestry Development (CKBFD) is responsible for illegal logging in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), exporting more than $5 million dollars’ worth of illicit timber from the country to China between June and December 2022.
The report is released ahead of a major conference on three basins in Congo BrazzaVille. The three basins summit bring together heads of states and environmentalists to discuss forests’ conservation in three major global basins that include Congo Basin.
The new report authored by Global Witness, an international campaign group alleges that the total of all the timber shipped during the period over 30 million kilograms and weighs well over half the weight of the Titanic when she set sail.
According the report seen by Panafrican Visions “Valuable and rare hardwood logs logged illegally were flowed into the Chinese port of Zhangjiagang to the Chinese timber conglomerate, Wan Peng International.”
Global Witness states its efforts to contact the Chinese group were futile: “We wrote to Wan Peng with these allegations, as well as its Congolese subsidiaries, but we did not receive a reply.”
The London-based organization alleges that the most significant driver of illegal logging in Africa is Chinese market demand for African teak (afromorsia) and mahogany substitute species such as sapele, which places huge pressure on forests throughout the Congo Basin.
The Congo Basin Forest is said to the second lung of the world thanks to its major role in global climate regulation. The NGO also states that DRC government did not respond to its request for comments on illegal logging allegations. “We also wrote to the DRC Ministry of Environment regarding the allegations of illegal activities in this report, but did not receive a response.”
However, this report shows that despite international commitments, China seems reluctant to address deforestation outside its borders. “This has global implications as China is one of the world’s largest timber product suppliers,” noted Global Witness.
Global witness said that China did not take action after if it was informed of the illegal deforestation in DR Congo. “We were informed by the Chinese authority in September 2023 that they couldn’t carry out enforcement because the logging took place outside the Chinese border and violated DRC laws, but they would consider actions if the DRC authority requested them.”
According to the advocacy group, the global superpower now needs to back up its promises with clear legal prohibition and effective enforcement to end the flow of illegal timber and soft commodities linked to deforestation as well as the financing that drives this deforestation before crucial ecosystems in DRC and other tropical forest regions are destroyed.
The Congo Basin forest where the alleged illegal logging linked to the Chinese firm took place, is the world’s second largest expanse of rainforest (after the Amazon), with 60% of the forest located within DRC.
The DRC logging industry has been rocked with governance issues, including corruption, illegal logging and conflict with forest communities. A 2023 commission of various DRC ministers visited 52 logging concessions, and only recommended that 12 were operating at a legal standard sufficient to keep their logging contract.
Global Witness reveals Congo King Baisheng Forestry Development may look like a fairly new operator on the DRC logging scene, but they have deep roots in the country.
According to Global Witness, Chinese businessman Lei Hua Zhang first purchased the company in 2018 when it was called Maniema Union 2, which went through several name changes firstly Long Xin Sarlu in October 2019 before splitting into two companies to become Congo King Baisheng Forestry Development (CKBFD) and Congo Sunflower Forestry Development in early 2020.
From the very beginning, Zhang’s Maniema Union 2 seemed to have little respect for DRC law, reported Global Witness. “Independent forest monitors identified various infractions in 2019. These included making community members sign documents in Chinese they didn’t understand, cutting over five times the maximum permitted volume of timber, and cutting timber outside its concession boundary.”
The report authors recommend China must clarify if it has a clear prohibition on the importing of illegal wood, the law by which this is applicable and the authority responsible for enforcing it.
“It must then ensure enforcement – the consequence of not doing so has been laid clear in this report.”- The organization added: “The companies are destroying the second lung of the world, in contravention of DRC laws, all at the expense of the planet and China’s international reputation.”
