LUBUMBASHI, Democratic Republic of Congo — An environmental activist from the Democratic Republic of Congo faces five years in prison over allegations that he threatened a logger who participated in illegal deforestation in the eastern province of Maniema.

In a summons issued by the bailiff of the high court of Kasongo, an important commercial town in Maniema, the complainant, identified only as “Moses”, accuses Yahya Mirambo Bin Lubangi of having seized part of his wood , threatening to destroy the vehicles sent. to transport logs from a village called Wamaza, in Kabambare district, and made death threats against him.

Reached by Mongabay, Moïse’s lawyer declined to provide his client’s full name or respond to allegations that the plaintiff’s logging operations in Kabambare are illegal and environmentally destructive.

Mirambo is a staff member of the NGO SOCEARUCO, or Environmental and Agro-Rural Society of Congo. Josué Aruna, president of SOCEARUCO, said the accusations constitute an attempt to intimidate environmental activists in the region who oppose illegal logging. “Wood is cut in all the forests. This wood is transported by truck via Uvira and Kamanyola (in the neighboring province of South Kivu), destined for Chinese and Arab markets.

According to SOCEARUCO and others, for almost two years, a group of loggers had been felling large quantities of mukula, the regional term for Pterocarpus tinctorius and related species commonly known as African rosewood, in Kabambare district, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) west of Kasongo. .

Between 2013 and 2018, P. tinctorius has been massively overexploited in Haut-Katanga, another province of the DRC. This led DRC authorities to ban its harvest in 2018 and, thanks to campaigning by environmental activists, the species is listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

However, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of the DRC lifted the ban in November 2023according to local media Desk Nature. The logging of this valuable, slow-growing hardwood has accelerated in Kabambare, SOCEARUCO says, adding that loggers do not comply with environmental regulations.

This exploitation would be supported by certain authorities in the DRC. Kabambare District Administrator Albert Walubangi Katuta issued a statement suspending all logging activities in the region on September 20.

Walubangi confirmed the suspension order to Mongabay and expressed surprise at the lawsuit filed against Mirambo. “Why do we attack individuals? As a state authority, I don’t like the way they exploit forest resources. If it continues at this rate, we will no longer have any forests in Kabambare. This is why I took the step to end the exploitation.

Walubangi said local authorities in Mongabay had seized wood and a truck and its owners did not appear to reclaim them despite intervention by “provincial authorities” on their behalf.
Mirambo was due to appear before the Kasongo High Court on October 18 to plead his case, but he did not show up, according to his family, because he was ill at the time.

Asked about the legal proceedings, provincial Environment Minister Eddy Francis Lutaka said he had only heard about the case through social media. He told Mongabay he would look into the matter.

This story was first published here in French on October 21, 2024.

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Banner image: Workers loading a truck with mukula (Pterocarpus tinctorius) in Katanga province, DRC, in 2016. Image © Lu Guang / Greenpeace.

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