- \n
- An investigation by EL PA\u00cdS\/Planeta Futuro finds evidence of illegal extraction of endangered tree species, precious minerals and strategic metals headed for global markets.<\/em><\/li>\n
- The investigation reveals that Chinese-owned companies use \u2018complaisance\u2019 permits to log and export CITES II-listed Afrormosia, which international demand pushed to extinction in other African countries, and flags irregularities in the latest export quota. European countries will consider stricter measures on imports from the DRC.<\/em><\/li>\n
- Military-protected concessionaires have been illegally mining gold, diamonds and rare metals with prospecting licenses for more than a year. They use mercury, a neurotoxic pollutant, in waters communities use to fish, bathe and drink.<\/em><\/li>\n
- Mongabay has partnered with EL PA\u00cdS\/Planeta Futuro to publish this investigation in English. This story was produced with the support of the Rainforest Journalism Investigations Network (RIN) of the Pulitzer Center.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
BASOKO, Congo \u2014 In Yaliwasa, northern DRC, logs from 200-year-old hardwood trees lie rotting deep into the world\u2019s second largest rainforest. They were cut in a hurry to be exported to global processing hubs in Asia, then redistributed to luxury markets in China and beyond. Instead, the precious wood is sprouting orange fungi and crumbles to the touch.<\/p>\n
Some of the logs are unmarked, but they all belong to Fodeco, a Chinese-owned company without industrial logging experience that was handed a concession three times<\/a> the size of New York city in 2015. The company soon came into conflict with local communities over compensation, and they have since boycotted the removal of the timber.<\/p>\n
\u201cOther [Chinese] companies I\u2019ve worked for pay policemen or the military to protect their interests, but we don\u2019t have the money because we can\u2019t get the wood to markets,\u201d said concession manager Liga Guo. He is referring to Maniema Union<\/a>, the holder of logging concessions illegally traded by a Congolese army general<\/a>, General Gabriel Amisi Kumba, who was sanctioned by the US and the EU for human rights abuses in 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I want is to extract the logs, ship the timber, get the hell out of here. But it is impossible to work like this. I left China to make a living, but this job is killing me,\u201d he said, carrying a bag full of antiparasitic and antimalarial pills to his container home next to the Congo river.<\/p>\n
Fodeco holds one of the 18 contracts successive ministers awarded in violation of the country\u2019s 20-year moratorium on new industrial logging \u201dan outright sale of forestry concessions,\u201d according to an audit<\/a> by Congolese finance inspectors that was recently published following months of pressure<\/a> by international NGOs and media.<\/p>\n
Downstream, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-registered Booming Group<\/a>, is also harvesting hardwood in breach of DRC law, while nearby Xiang Jiang Mining is illegally dredging for precious and strategic minerals.<\/p>\n
An investigation by EL PA\u00cdS\/Planeta Futuro has obtained evidence showing how Chinese-owned companies in northern DRC are illegally extracting natural resources using permits that amount to blank checks. The companies are extracting and exporting endangered tree species and minerals in breach of DRC law, and violating labor and human rights in collusion with officials.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Logging permits \u2018\u00e0 la carte\u2019<\/h2>\n
The EU, the UK, Norway and another nine donors are keeping an eye on the DRC following a pledge of $500 million for Congo forest conservation at COP26<\/a>. The publication of the financial audit on logging titles marked the first milestone of the arrangement and the DRC\u2019s environment minister, \u00c8ve Bazaiba, committed to suspending the companies listed in the report until further notice.<\/p>\n
Nearly a year after the completion of the audit<\/a>, the suspension order was finally issued, but Fodeco was not on the list<\/a>.<\/p>\n
In January 2020, unpublished reports<\/a> accessed by this reporter were already flagging Fodeco\u2019s infractions. The company allegedly presented false quarterly logging declarations, destroyed seedlings, and failed to produce a mandatory management plan.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/05\/31161310\/Fodeco-log-min-scaled.jpeg\")
A tree felled by Fodeco marked \u2018ACC1\u2019, logged using a permit based on a fictitious tree inventory. The company obtained its concession in violation of the DRC\u2019s 20-year moratorium on new industrial logging. Credit: Gloria Pallares\/El Pa\u00eds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n This investigation also obtained a December 2020 declaration<\/a> where the company admits arrangements to lower taxes and the failure to pay income and pollution taxes.<\/p>\n
Fodeco also applied for a logging permit<\/a> with \u2018imaginary\u2019 tree inventories<\/a>, which were nevertheless approved by the environment minister at the time, Amy Ambatobe Nyongolo.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the DRC, any document, any proof of legality can be bought; administrations are legalizing machines,\u201d an international consultant based in Kinshasa, who spoke on condition of anonymity since he advises DRC authorities on forest governance, told us.<\/p>\n
Official documents<\/a> obtained by this investigation show that Fodeco was granted permission to harvest 2,885 Afrormosia (Pericopsis elata) trees between 2018 and 2019. Northeastern DRC has the world\u2019s largest remaining pockets of this endangered species, a giant that can reach the height of a 15-story building which needs between 120 and 200 years to reach the harvesting diameter.<\/p>\n
International demand wiped out the prized indigenous hardwood species in several Western and Central African countries, and its exports are now strictly regulated by the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species, or CITES, through a system of quotas and permits.<\/p>\n
Fodeco was authorized to harvest the tree, commonly known as African teak, based on an inventory it presented. But the trees did not exist<\/a> in the annual logging areas, so the company felled the trees wherever they could find them, including beyond the authorized limits of its permits and on the lands of forest-dependent communities.<\/p>\n
This investigation found they also resorted to acquiring sawn Afrormosia from artisanal, unlicensed loggers, and had 500 pieces impounded<\/a>, according to the police.<\/p>\n
Samuel Ekomba \u2013 not his real name \u2013 is one of the informal loggers who harvested Afrormosia for Fodeco. He paid $20 per tree to customary forest owners, then sold it to the company 30% below the local price of $245 per cubic meter. In global markets, Afrormosia lumber sells for $1,200 to $2,000 per cubic meter and is used to make high-end fittings and furniture.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been working without an artisanal logging permit for a decade,\u201d Ekomba said. \u201cI hoped Fodeco would give me the money to apply for it, so I could eventually produce timber for them legally, but I\u2019m right where I started.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of the wood he sold to the Chinese-owned company still sits in their premises, darkening inside an open shipping container.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/05\/31165738\/5_Afrormosia-acquired-from-informal-loggers-scaled.jpeg\")
Timber bought from forest-dependant people sits in a shipping container in Fodeco\u2019s concession. Credit: Gloria Pallares\/El Pa\u00eds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
Rich land, poor people<\/h2>\n
\u201cThese [Fodeco] people came here with no experience and no translator, so they can hardly communicate with anyone,\u201d said a Congolese employee with years of experience in the industrial logging sector, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. \u201cWe wonder how they ever got permission<\/a> to start this business,\u201d he added, pointing at pyramids of decaying logs from century-old trees that once topped the canopy.<\/p>\n
He lost a finger logging in the forest, but never received any compensation or medical care beyond first aid. DRC law requires companies to issue contracts to employees after three months<\/a>, but three years into the job, the man and his co-workers, who parted from their families in Kinshasa to join Fodeco, are still laborers earning as little as $3 per day.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/05\/31170019\/7_Workplace-accident-1-scaled.jpeg\")
A logger who lost his hand in an industrial accident shows reporter\u2019s his injury. Credit: Gloria Pallares\/El Pa\u00eds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n In a remote forest at Yawinawina, community members who used to work for Fodeco retraced the steps towards a logging camp, pointing out the flimsy leaf shacks where they used to sleep. The Forest Code<\/a> also requires companies to provide workers in the forest with adequate living quarters, drinking water and health facilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cHalf a cup of rice per day, sleeping on the floor, no mosquito nets, no contract, no nursing room\u2026Are we beasts?,\u201d Joseph Atuku said. \u201cWe had so hoped it would be good for us, good for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The company operates in Basoko territory, a marshy area with five industrial logging concessions, one of the largest palm oil plantations in the region, and a mining venture operating around the clock.<\/p>\n
The region\u2019s natural resources attracted investors from China, Europe, South Africa and the US, and involved investment vehicles in secrecy jurisdictions such as Lichtenstein, the Cayman Islands, Mauritius and Delaware. But that wealth is not reflected in the living standards of people in the area, where one in three children are chronically malnourished.<\/p>\n
Along river banks, boys with reddish-orange hair \u2014 a symptom of severe protein deficiency \u2014 unknowingly bathe beside diamond fields, under the shade of towering hardwood trees worth thousands of dollars in international markets.<\/p>\n
Jean Francis Ilinga Mokonzi is a customary and administrative leader with a leopard headdress, a 40-fang necklace \u2014 each piece representing a village \u2014 and a law degree. \u201cOur ancestral forest is being plundered with the connivance of our own authorities. There\u2019s all this talk about climate change, but the forestry administration is corrupt to the bone.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/05\/31160956\/1_Chief-Francis_Yaliwasa-scaled.jpg\")
Jean Francis Ilinga Mokonzi is a customary and administrative leader in Yaliwasa, a remote forest-dependent community in Tshopo province affected by Fodeco\u2019s logging concession. Credit: Gloria Pallares\/El Pa\u00eds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
International trade in endangered species<\/h2>\n
Across the river from Fodeco, Chinese-owned Booming Green controls more than 1 million hectares of rainforest<\/a>. The logging giant, which also works in Liberia, acquired five concessions in 2017 in violation of DRC\u2019s ban on new industrial felling. Congolese inspectors also accuse them of owing $2.59 million to the treasury in acquisition fees and area taxes, but their concession numbers do not feature on the suspension order<\/a>.<\/p>\n
This investigation obtained Booming Green\u2019s latest logging permit<\/a>. It shows that, in January 2021, outgoing environment minister Claude Nyamugabo authorized them to harvest 91,455 cubic meters of Afrormosia, nearly twice the approved CITES export quota for the entire country in 2020. That volume also represents 93% of the quota for 2021,a figure that was only published towards the end of the year, and represents the highest quota to date.<\/p>\n
Most DRC timber reaches global markets the year after it has been logged. That means exports of Congolese Afrormosia are currently in the hands of a company that is operating in breach of a 20-year moratorium.<\/p>\n
The annual logging permit allows the company to log 1 million cubic meters of timber in one season \u2014 the DRC has never officially exported more than 400,000 cubic meters in a year, all species included. It lists a species that does not exist in the area, Moabi (Baillonella toxisperma), and the number of trees and corresponding volume of timber harvesting it allows do not match, including for an endangered species known as Mukulungu (Autranella congolensis).<\/p>\n
\u201cComplaisance permits are sold at gold price,\u201d the international consultant supporting DRC efforts to improve forest governance told us. \u201cConcessionaires could potentially use them to launder timber bought anywhere in the country, to misdeclare species, and to fraudulently export endangered trees.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/05\/31161545\/Booming-Green_Afrormosia-logs.png\")
In a Linkedin post, Booming Green\u2019s chairman promotes the company\u2019s Afrormosia, an endangered species, that were readied for sale on international markets. The Chinese-owned company controls more than 1 million hectares of forest in breach of Congolese regulations. Credit: Gloria Pallares\/El Pa\u00eds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n In the meantime, shiploads of Booming Green\u2019s timber have been making their way from Matadi port to destinations such as Jinjiang in China, a global wood processing center.<\/p>\n
Neither Booming Green nor Fodeco responded to requests for comment sent by e-mail.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Stricter measures possible\u2019 in the EU<\/h2>\n
How the DRC calculates the export quotas also raises questions. The latest available quota for Afrormosia, for example, is based on an EU-funded study coordinated by the DRC government, and conducted by Congolese researchers with the support of a CITES program. It was published in early 2022, nearly one year late, but it did not turn out as expected.<\/p>\n
The first question the research was supposed to answer was which volume of Afrormosia must enter a DRC sawmill to produce a volume \u2014 say, one cubic meter \u2014 of products such as planks and veneer. This is called the \u2018conversion rate,\u2019 and has been a contentious issue for years because the higher it is, the more trees industrial loggers can fell.<\/p>\n
However, the figure the DRC finally presented this year is not based on an independent study, as was originally intended, but on a dataset provided by logging companies.<\/p>\n
A second objective of the study was to verify the traceability of the timber from forest floor to shipping container. But according to sources consulted for this investigation, the CITES management authority in the DRC repeatedly failed to grant researchers access to export permits. They also did not facilitate their access to the seaport of Matadi to review customs data.<\/p>\n
The CITES management authority in Kinshasa did not respond to requests for comment sent by e-mail.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/05\/31162433\/8_Tree-in-Fodecos-concession-min-scaled.jpeg\")
Afrormosia (Pericopsis elata) trees in Tshopo Province, northeastern DRC. International demand has pushed this species into oblivion in several West and Central African countries. Credit: Axel Fassio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n This reporter shared the findings with Belgium \u2014 the top EU importer of Afrormosia from the DRC<\/a> \u2014 and asked them to comment on the latest export quota \u201cThe high conversion rate and the audit by the DRC Ministry of Finance are indeed causes for concern,\u201d said Belgium\u2019s Federal Public Service for the environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will suggest [the EU Scientific Review Group conduct] an official consultation with the DRC, requesting more information on their management system, the audit, the study and the rate,\u201d they added. \u201cThe audit raises bigger discussions on the management issues in the DRC and will have to be discussed at EU level, with stricter measures being possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Global markets exposed to high-risk timber<\/h2>\n
To reduce the danger of importing tainted timber, DRC\u2019s trading partners could check both the authenticity of CITES export permits and the corresponding logging permits. Even so, markets with stringent regulations such as the EU and the US are at risk of importing products that were obtained in breach of DRC law, but which have all documentation in order according to the DRC authorities.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnless there is an alert, we have to accept the documents issued by the country of origin,\u201d Alfonso San Miguel, advisor to the Spanish CITES Authority, told us. The last word is with the Scientific Review Group, which convenes experts from each EU country to protect the common market from dubious imports.<\/p>\n
However, the risk increases significantly when countries import finished wood products such as furniture via global processing hubs in Asia. China and Vietnam have been the main importers of Congolese Afrormosia in the past four years, according to DRC-reported figures, while Belgium remains a top global market and the main port of entry of the hardwood to Europe, followed by Portugal, Italy and Spain. The US imported a small quantity in 2018.<\/p>\n
In the CITES Trade Database, the volumes reported by exporting and importing countries rarely match, adding to the difficulties of following Congolese timber from forest floor to consumer shelf. But under the trees, and underwater, lie riches that are even harder to trace.<\/p>\n
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Illegal gold and diamond mining<\/h2>\n
The world of Chinese companies in northern DRC is small. Fodecos\u2019s operations manager joined them from the infamous Maniema Union to replace a man hired by Xian Jiang Mining. The company, which started operating in January 2021, controls two concessions in the territory of Basoko and third in Banalia, a total of more than 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres).<\/p>\n
Without speedboats, reaching the Basoko concessions from the provincial capital takes days of navigating down the Congo river; paddling dug-out canoes up a tributary; fixing off-road motorcycles in muddy forest footpaths and carrying them across marshes, wading through waist-deep water towards riverside villages where dredging noises can be heard 24\/7.<\/p>\n
This investigation found that Xian Jiang Mining has been illegally extracting gold, diamonds and rare metals from the river bed for more than a year under cover of a \u2018prospecting license\u2019, promising communities to build them schools and dispensaries<\/a> when they eventually started selling the goods. Their five dredgers used to be guarded by policemen, but the company ended up hiring Congolese military to fend off locals who opposed the operation.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/05\/31161850\/1_Dredge_Xian-Jiang-Mining-scaled.jpeg\")
One of the five dredgers illegally operated by Xian Jiang Mining in a hard-to-reach corner of Basoko territory, northeastern DRC. They extract gold, diamonds and rare metals from the Aruwimi river, and their concessions also cover the surrounding rainforest. Credit: Gloria Pallares\/El Pa\u00eds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Companies with a prospecting license are only authorized<\/a> to search for mineral-rich areas. All of the samples they extract belong to the state, meaning they cannot be sold. There must be inspectors of the provincial mining division on each dredger to verify and collect the material. Instead, Xian Jiang Mining has been exploiting and selling the materials, without oversight, as administrations turned a blind eye.<\/p>\n
This reporter accessed unpublished mining registry data showing they are authorized to look for gold and diamonds, as well as niobium, tantalum, stannic oxide and wolfram, also known as tungsten. The rare metals are used to produce high-strength alloys steel for oil and gas pipelines, smoke detectors, components for missiles and nuclear power plants, as well as surgical implants.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Collusion with authorities<\/h2>\n
In 2020, the provincial minister of mines and the vice governor led company-sponsored missions to the area<\/a> to pressure customary authorities and reluctant communities into supporting the Chinese investment. The concessions cover both the river and the surrounding rainforest.<\/p>\n
Upon receiving $1,700 and jobs from the company, even the youth leaders who had been blocking the first dredger for months caved in by the end of that year. \u201cKinshasa was with them. The province was with them. Even the military were with them,\u201d Charles Kolo \u2013 not his real name \u2013 who previously opposed the project, told us. \u201cWhat could we do?\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2021, even the provincial assembly urged locals to \u201csensitize\u201d the last strongholds of resistance, so that Xian Jiang Mining could start working in the second of its two concessions in the area, according to documents obtained by this reporter.<\/p>\n
The head of the mines division and provincial government representatives assured communities that the company was following the rules, insisted that prospecting studies would not affect water quality or local livelihoods, and said that compromises could be reached between the new investors and local, artisanal miners.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe used to resort to the Aruwimi river for all our needs, but now it is so murky we have to go into the forest to get drinking water,\u201d said Jean Christophe Njanjale, the chief of the Bangelema-Mongandjo Sector. Fishermen were forced downstream, too. Canoes got stuck in sandbanks created by automated dredgers, nets were torn by speedboats, and the fish are all but gone. Riverbanks flanked by 45-meter trees have crumbled.<\/p>\n
Each of the company\u2019s five dredgers extracts up to 75 tons of sand<\/a> from the river bed every day and they illegally use mercury to separate the gold from the ore, dumping residues with the neurotoxic metal overboard. Downstream, fishermen still drink from the water, children bathe in it, and women use it to wash dishes.<\/p>\n
The company buys the mercury at $5 per cubic centimeter from the same vendor to whom they sell the gold, in the center of the provincial capital Kisangani, a bustling mineral trading hub frequented by well-connected Chinese, Russian and Belgian traders.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2022\/05\/31162138\/5_Men-military-on-a-dredge-scaled.jpg\")
One of the dredgers of Xian Jian Mining, which is guarded by the Congolese military. Some Chinese employees have mining experience in conflict-torn provinces of Kivu and Katanga, across the border from Zambia. Credit: Gloria Pallares\/El Pa\u00eds<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n As former driver and aide to Xiang Jiang Mining\u2019s manager in Kisangani, Joseph Dako \u2013 not real name \u2013 had rare access to the company\u2019 s modus operandi. \u201cI used to carry diamonds to the city by motorbike through a hellish dirt road. Those are sold abroad,\u201d he said. \u201cOthers would transport gold twice a week on the boat that stocks up on fuel and food. On a good day, we could deposit $100,000 in the bank from gold sales.\u201d<\/p>\n
The dredgers are clearly meant to exploit underground riches, not to obtain samples, and they cost much more than the $10,000 declared on the formation papers<\/a> of the company, which we obtained. So why did provincial authorities allow, and advocate for, their deployment?<\/p>\n
Chinese investors control about 70 percent of the DRC\u2019s mining sector, according to the Congolese Chamber of Mines. The DRC has significant deposits of untapped gold and was the third-largest producer of industrial diamonds in 2019, contributing around 21 percent of global production. It also has one of the world\u2019s poorest populations, and is struggling to improve the governance of its extraordinary natural resources.<\/p>\n
Speaking within walking distance of the dredger assembling site in Kisangani, then chief of the mining division, Michel Liete, said he had not had a chance to see the machines or to speak with company representatives about reports of illegal exploitation, despite the fact they lived across the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t need to take a look at the dredge. I trust the word of the company,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd anyway, why all this interest in the Chinese?\u201d<\/p>\n
On 3 September 2021, N\u2019Samba ordered the temporary suspension of Xian Jiang Mining\u2019s operations. However, on 13 December, Baza\u00efba warned<\/a> they were still \u201cillegally exploiting raw materials with very serious consequences,\u201d and urged her to take all necessary measures to revoke the permit.<\/p>\n
The DRC ministries of mines and the environment did not respond to requests for comment sent by e-mail. Xian Jiang Mining did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
This story was produced with the support of the Rainforest Journalism Investigations Network (RIN) of the Pulitzer Center.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Feedback: Use this form<\/a> to send a message to the editor of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.<\/p>\n
Banner image: Decaying log sitting at the premises of Fodeco, a Chinese-owned logging company operating in Tshopo, DRC\u2019s largest forest province. It is not profitable for them to ship the logs unless they manage to extract enough of them from the forest. Credit: Gloria Pallares\/El Pa\u00eds<\/p>\n
\n\nArticle published by Daniel<\/span>
\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n - The investigation reveals that Chinese-owned companies use \u2018complaisance\u2019 permits to log and export CITES II-listed Afrormosia, which international demand pushed to extinction in other African countries, and flags irregularities in the latest export quota. European countries will consider stricter measures on imports from the DRC.<\/em><\/li>\n
![\"Print](\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/05\/07210716\/print-194x200-1.jpg\")