Greenpeace Africa congratulates Gambia on its decision to ban timber exports to combat trafficking

This decision echoes the call by the CITES to several states including The Gambia to suspend the trade in rosewood, a protected and particularly endangered species

Greenpeace Africa (www.Greenpeace.org/africa) congratulates Gambian authorities after their decision (https://bit.ly/3IDI6xX) to ban timber exports to combat illegal logging. A statement from the Gambian government released on 1st July 2022 declared : "All existing permits issued for the export/re-export of timber are hereby permanently revoked" and adds that "the export and…

Leading forest scientists call for a freeze on new logging in the Congo, urge governments to act

Environmentalists fear that a $1bn DRC forest agreement set to be announced at COP26 is likely to greenlight massive new logging of the world's second largest rainforest

Leading African and international scientists join today the growing call for the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to cancel its plans to lift a 20-year ban on new industrial logging concessions. Over 25 scientists sent a letter (https://bit.ly/2ZCmVdC) to international donors warning of social and environmental impacts…

African Union Urged to Address the Threat of Congo Forest Logging Driving Extreme Weather across Sub-Saharan Africa

Africa’s climate is fundamentally linked to the state of Central Africa’s forests and massive logging can impact the quantity of rainfall throughout the region

Industrial logging in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may severely disturb rainfall patterns across sub-Saharan Africa and bring about more extreme weather, including intense droughts and flash floods. In a letter (https://bit.ly/3jr9DY0) sent today to the African Union, Greenpeace Africa is calling for an urgent discussion of the consequences…

Greenpeace Africa on floods across the continent: “Without Climate Action we’ll be queuing for Noah’s Ark”

With floods hitting at least 16 African countries, Greenpeace Africa urges leaders to act for the people and against climate change

Rains have increasingly been torrential in the past months, striking large parts of East Africa and elsewhere, in unprecedented intensity in decades, causing at least dozens of deaths, displacement of more than one million people. Greenpeace Africa (www.Greenpeace.org/africa/en/) calls on Africa’s leaders to provide immediate aid to those affected, but also…

Democratic Republic of the Congo's government reinstates illegal logging concessions in breach of its own moratorium

Two of the concessions overlap with a recently discovered peatland deposit covering 145,000 km² and believed to contain 30 billion tons of carbon

The Congolese Minister of Environment, Amy Ambatobe, has reinstated 6,500 km² of logging concessions that were cancelled in August 2016 by the then Environment Minister Robert Bopolo following instructions from then Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo. The three concessions reinstated on 1 February 2018 were awarded to the Chinese-owned logging…

Greenpeace ship arrives for the first time in Cameroon with a message for the protection of the Congo Basin forest

The Congo Basin forest is the second largest rainforest in the world. More than 75 million people and a wide range of endangered species depend on it for survival.

The Greenpeace ship –The Esperanza (www.Greenpeace.org), has docked at the port of Douala in Cameroon on the first leg of its tour in Central Africa. For four weeks, the Esperanza will sail through the waters of Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Congo to engage…

244 Cameroonian farmers bring SGSOC palm oil plantation to justice

Greenpeace Africa, who documented the abuse made by the company for the last seven years, launches a call in support for the communities

Local communities affected by this large-scale palm oil plantation have taken their case to the Court of First Instance in Bangem, south-west Cameroon, with the first hearing set for 9 November. Greenpeace Africa (www.Greenpeace.org/Africa/en), who documented the abuse made by the company for the last seven years (http://apo.af/0fv5mZ), launches a call…

Njeri Kabeberi appointed as Greenpeace Africa Executive Director

Njeri will be leading Greenpeace Africa into a new wave of environmental justice for Africans by Africans

Kenyan born Njeri Kabeberi, has been named as Executive Director for Greenpeace Africa (www.GreenpeaceAfrica.org) after an extensive search for a combination of skills required to drive the organisation towards a people –powered movement. According to the Greenpeace Africa Board, Africans are hungry for a new story, one with a better take…

How the DRC Government Has Secretly Breached its Own Logging Moratorium

A Greenpeace Africa investigation has revealed that the DRC government violated its own 2002 moratorium on new logging titles, granting in 2015 three concessions of a total of 650.000 hectares

A Greenpeace Africa (http://www.Geenpeace.org/Africa) investigation has revealed that the DRC government violated its own 2002 moratorium on new logging titles, granting three concessions of a total of 650.000 hectares in 2015 to a company called Société la Millénaire Forestière SARL (SOMIFOR) in Equateur and Tshuapa Provinces, and to another firm…

How Cameroon’s Stolen Wood Reaches International Markets

A Greenpeace Africa (www.Greenpeace.org)  investigation into illegal logging operations in Cameroon has uncovered a trail of stolen timber leading to Cameroon’s main log exporter Compagnie de Commerce et de Transport (CCT), and has reportedly prompted a government audit into the activities of CCT and its suppliers. That audit should include the…