1 00:00:02,066 --> 00:00:05,300 JUDY WOODRUFF: The Democratic Republic of Congo is a massive country, the size of Alaska 2 00:00:05,300 --> 00:00:10,300 and Texas combined. It's also home to a large part of the Congo Basin rain forest. That 3 00:00:11,700 --> 00:00:13,700 is the world's second largest after the Amazon. 4 00:00:13,700 --> 00:00:18,166 It is the habitat for countless species, and crucial to mitigating climate change, as it 5 00:00:19,533 --> 00:00:21,900 soaks up atmospheric carbon dioxide. 6 00:00:21,900 --> 00:00:26,900 One of the major threats comes from illegal and uncontrolled logging. 7 00:00:28,833 --> 00:00:32,166 In partnership with the Pulitzer Center, special correspondent Monica Villamizar reports. 8 00:00:32,166 --> 00:00:37,033 MONICA VILLAMIZAR: Pygmies have lived in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo 9 00:00:37,033 --> 00:00:42,000 for generations. After five years of campaigning, the village of Lokolama became one of the 10 00:00:43,933 --> 00:00:47,533 first indigenous communities in the country to be given titles to their ancestral land. 11 00:00:49,433 --> 00:00:53,066 In March 2019, the whole village celebrated when more than 20,000 acres of forest was 12 00:00:55,633 --> 00:00:58,833 handed over to them to sustainably manage. But the joy and dancing was short lived. Fast-forward 13 00:01:00,900 --> 00:01:04,900 to today and village elder, Joseph Bonkile, says that the threat of climate change and 14 00:01:06,066 --> 00:01:08,133 widespread logging is ruining that dream. 15 00:01:08,133 --> 00:01:12,300 JOSEPH BONKILE, Lokolama Village Elder (through translator): We will die and lose everything. 16 00:01:12,300 --> 00:01:17,033 Our children will suffer. They will die from the effects of rising temperatures and climate 17 00:01:17,033 --> 00:01:20,533 change. We must protect the forest from logging. 18 00:01:20,533 --> 00:01:25,533 MONICA VILLAMIZAR: The government of Congo DRC has a forest code that determines which 19 00:01:26,966 --> 00:01:31,000 trees can be cut and how many, but there is little enforcement. 20 00:01:33,500 --> 00:01:36,333 Despite international and national laws designed to protect the rain forest, from 2001 to 2018, 21 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:43,800 Congo DRC lost 6 percent of all the forest in the country, an area similar to the size 22 00:01:44,433 --> 00:01:46,533 of Mississippi. 23 00:01:46,533 --> 00:01:51,200 Congolese environmental activist Irene Wabiwa accuses logging companies of abusing the system. 24 00:01:53,233 --> 00:01:56,466 IRENE WABIWA BETOKO, Greenpeace: Many companies are using fraud to legalize what is not legal. 25 00:01:56,466 --> 00:02:00,900 What is happening on the ground is that these companies, they are coming, using their own 26 00:02:00,900 --> 00:02:05,900 power and money. They get permits and they falsify or modify it to get more volume of 27 00:02:07,933 --> 00:02:10,000 timber that they will cut. 28 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:12,933 MONICA VILLAMIZAR: So, why do you think the government is not doing more? Who is responsible 29 00:02:12,933 --> 00:02:15,100 for this, and why are they not doing enough? 30 00:02:15,100 --> 00:02:19,400 IRENE WABIWA BETOKO: Governance in Congo is very poor. Corruption is very high. So, when 31 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:23,033 you have power, you have money, you can do what you want in the forest sector. 32 00:02:23,033 --> 00:02:28,033 MONICA VILLAMIZAR: Greenpeace has campaigned against illegal logging for many years. It 33 00:02:29,500 --> 00:02:32,366 argues timber consumed globally should be traced to its origin. 34 00:02:32,366 --> 00:02:37,366 Normally, a system of marks ensures that each log that is cut down is accounted for. The 35 00:02:39,366 --> 00:02:42,833 marks mirror those at the stump and also have information about the location where the tree 36 00:02:44,766 --> 00:02:48,666 was cut. But Greenpeace says, much of the timber leaving Congo is cut without permission 37 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,266 and manages to reach the final destination with counterfeit marks or permit. 38 00:02:56,866 --> 00:02:59,833 We joined environmental activist Etienne Kasiraca on a fact-finding mission deep into the forest. 39 00:03:02,300 --> 00:03:05,533 Many of Congo's forests are only accessible by river boat. 40 00:03:05,533 --> 00:03:10,533 The reason why so many African parks have been spared of logging is because the infrastructure 41 00:03:12,566 --> 00:03:15,600 is so poor that getting the timber out becomes very expensive. But this is not the case here 42 00:03:17,533 --> 00:03:20,833 in this part of the DRC, because the Congo River is such a good means of transportation. 43 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,833 We arrived at a concession operated by the Congolese-registered Bakri Bois Corporation. 44 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:30,533 Kasiraca decided to visit the site now, as he had heard that the timber workers were 45 00:03:30,533 --> 00:03:35,533 on strike, and we could enter the concession. These places are normally guarded and off-limits 46 00:03:36,700 --> 00:03:39,900 to visits from environmentalists and reporters. 47 00:03:39,900 --> 00:03:44,000 Licenses and paperwork are the only way to prove the timber is legal, and that loggers 48 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:49,000 are not chopping down trees that are too old, too young or endangered. But Kasiraca says 49 00:03:50,833 --> 00:03:54,766 he has rarely seen a company operate with a valid license in this area. 50 00:03:54,766 --> 00:03:58,833 Do you think a lot of this is going on in the Congolese forest? 51 00:03:58,833 --> 00:04:01,633 ETIENNE KASIRACA, Environmental Activist (through translator): Yes, it's a major problem, not 52 00:04:01,633 --> 00:04:06,633 an isolated case. In other areas, it's even worse than here. The forest is being pillaged. 53 00:04:07,533 --> 00:04:09,666 No one respects the law. 54 00:04:09,666 --> 00:04:11,700 MONICA VILLAMIZAR: What do you know about the paperwork this corporation has, for instance? 55 00:04:11,700 --> 00:04:13,666 Do they have a license to be cutting this wood? 56 00:04:13,666 --> 00:04:16,700 ETIENNE KASIRACA (through translator): They had a license to log here issued in 2018. 57 00:04:16,700 --> 00:04:21,700 It was valid for that year, but has now expired, but they still continue logging regardless. 58 00:04:23,700 --> 00:04:27,600 MONICA VILLAMIZAR: The logs are tied together, forming makeshift rafts and floated to the 59 00:04:29,566 --> 00:04:33,166 capital, Kinshasa. This is the port of Kinkole, one of the many hubs in and around Kinshasa 60 00:04:34,566 --> 00:04:37,400 used for processing rain forest timber from the Congo Basin. 61 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:42,400 Many of these trees facing the chopping block are hundreds of years old. Local authorities 62 00:04:44,333 --> 00:04:47,066 check the mark on the timber to see that it corresponds with the right permit. 63 00:04:47,066 --> 00:04:52,066 The log number, the owner's name or initials, the month and the log number, correct? 64 00:04:54,500 --> 00:04:58,866 Barouti represents 300 small-scale loggers known as artisanal loggers. He says, on average, 65 00:05:00,933 --> 00:05:05,166 people like him only cut down around 150 trees per year, while large-scale industrial loggers 66 00:05:07,266 --> 00:05:10,600 cut down tens of thousands. 67 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:15,600 Under Congolese law, small-scale loggers are given a special permit to work in their local 68 00:05:17,566 --> 00:05:21,033 forests. But foreign companies are using these licenses to log on an industrial scale. Next 69 00:05:22,966 --> 00:05:27,500 to this port and visible from the air, there is a large timber mill operated by a Chinese 70 00:05:27,500 --> 00:05:32,500 company, where hundreds of logs piled up. We were not allowed to film inside. 71 00:05:34,966 --> 00:05:37,000 BAROUTI, Artisanal Logger (through translator): The Chinese logging company has pushed down 72 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,366 prices so much that artisanal loggers like us can't compete. We can each only afford 73 00:05:43,333 --> 00:05:45,866 to float our logs down river once a year, while the Chinese company brings in two full 74 00:05:45,866 --> 00:05:47,933 ferries of wood each week. 75 00:05:47,933 --> 00:05:52,600 MONICA VILLAMIZAR: Widespread logging of the Congo Basin continues to go unchecked, and 76 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:56,600 this trend of deforestation is set to go on, with irreversible consequences. 77 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:01,600 For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Monica Villamizar in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 78 00:06:02,733 --> 00:06:04,466 JUDY WOODRUFF: Thank you, Monica. 79 00:06:04,466 --> 00:06:08,033 And, for the record, the story was filmed before the pandemic.