An unreleased report of the World Bank Inspection Panel obtained today by the Rainforest Foundation shows that the World Bank has committed grave errors in its projects in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which are the second largest on Earth after the Amazon.

The Panel’s investigation was undertaken after a formal complaint was submitted by a number of organisations working with Congo’s indigenous Pygmy people, who expressed their concern about the impact of Bank-funded activities in the forests which they inhabit. An area of rainforest the size of France is at risk.

Serious new allegations of illegal logging and rampant corruption in Cameroon’s timber industry both within and outside the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife have resulted in a joint EU investigation.

The Rainforest Foundation UK welcomes the recent approval by the UN General Assembly of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples outlining the rights of the world’s estimated 370 million indigenous people and outlawing discrimination against them.

Runners converged on London’s Regents Park to run for the rainforest during the 7th annual Rainforest Foundation 10K Race on 16 September. They took to the pavements under sunny skies to raise money for the Rainforest Foundation’s work with indigenous rainforest peoples to protect the environment.

The Rainforest Foundation UK is deeply saddened by the untimely death of Anita Roddick. A long time advocate for the rights of indigenous peoples, she understood the crucial role that forest communities play in protecting rainforests.

After struggling against the occupation of their rainforest lands by a large paper pulp company, the Tupinikim and Guarani peoples in Brazil recently had their territory officially recognised by the Brazilian Government. A decree signed by Brazil’s Minister of Justice declared 18,070 hectares of lands in the municipality of Aracruz, state of Espirito Santo, as indigenous lands, belonging to the Tupinikim and Guarani peoples.

Alarm over uncontrolled logging in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo has prompted 191 MPs to support an Early Day Motion (EDM) pressing for measures to protect the planet’s second largest rainforest after the Amazon.

A group of indigenous peoples in northern Brazil, who went into ‘voluntary isolation’ in the depths of the Amazon rainforest more than 50 years ago, were forced to flee their rainforest lands to escape the invasion of loggers.

Rainforest Foundation partner organisation OCDH has condemned organisers of a recent Afrcian music festival in Congo-Brazzaville for housing a group of 'Pygmy' musicians in the city zoo instead of hotels.

The Rainforest Foundation has warned that damage to and destruction of the great rainforests of the Congo would fuel global climate change by releasing billions of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere.

Using the latest scientific evidence available, we found that up to 6 billion tonnes of carbon - as much as the current global annual emissions - could be discharged under current plans to hand out massive areas of Congo’s forest to timber companies.

The fragile rainforests of the Selva Central in Peru - one of the most ecologically diverse places on the planet – are under imminent threat from logging, oil and gas exploration, roads, invasions by settlers and illegal coca farms.

Seventy percent of the Peruvian Amazon – almost all of the forest outside national parks - is currently slated for oil exploration.

Report from the field: Kinshasa to Goma and everything in between, by our Programme Co-ordinator for Africa, Martijn ter Heegde.
When first arriving in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a few years ago the first temptation for me was to look back at the departing plane and see if there was still an empty seat!

Two Baka ‘Pygmy’ communities are re-gaining legal land rights to the rainforests they have inhabited for centuries in Cameroon. Forced out of their forests -- along with thousands of indigenous peoples -- by the government’s controversial policies, these two communities are now seeing their land claims officially recognised.

Greenpeace UK recently gave its full backing to the Rainforest Foundation’s long-running campaign to Stop the Carve-up of the Congo Rainforest.

The threat to the world’s second largest rainforest was elevated to the highest political level when governments, international agencies and NGOs recently gathered in Brussels to debate the future of the Congo forests.

“The international spotlight was at last trained on the vast rainforest of the Congo basin and the devastating consequences of its destruction,” said Rainforest Foundation UK Director Simon Counsell. “They heard our messages loud and clear.”

The struggle to save one of Uganda’s last remaining protected rainforests has been marked by three deaths and the arrests of leading activists. Peaceful protests to halt government plans to destroy more than 7,000 hectares of the Mabira Forest reserve to grow sugar cane erupted into violence in the capital, Kampala, on 12 April. Reports of illegal arrests and further violence continue in the aftermath.

I travelled to Akom II on a Wednesday morning. Akom II is a small village deep in the forests of Southern Cameroon. The town is not even one hundred kilometres from the ‘famous’ coastal resort of Kribi, with its sandy beaches and posh hotels. Whereas one can get to Kribi through a beautifully tarred road, the path to Akom II is rather tortuous. Several hours over bumpy roads and small bridges lead you through a staggeringly green landscape among small hills. The colours that dominate are green, endless variations of green and the reddish colour of the earth...

With over 8,000 people entering – half of them newcomers – why not enter The London Triathlon and fundraise for us in the world’s largest triathlon. There are various distances available so everyone can’t rise to the challenge...

The threatened Congo rainforests play a crucial role in regulating the planet’s climate – as well as rainfall in Africa. Their destruction would fuel climate change and increase drought and flooding...

The fate of the Congo rainforests – the second largest in the world after the Amazon – could be determined at the end of February 2007 when governments and international agencies gather for a summit in Brussels.
If agreement can be reached, the summit could mark the start of one of the boldest environmental initiatives ever...