Written question asked by Lord Eden of Winton (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Amos (Labour) on Tuesday, 25 July 2006.

Rainforests

Question: What are the most recent decisions taken by the World Bank with regard to logging operations in rainforests; which countries will be affected; what the impact on the forests concerned will be; and what share of the cost in forms of assistance will be borne by the United Kingdom.

Answer: Decisions taken by the World Bank which affect logging operations in rainforests have to conform to its policy on forests that was adopted in 2003. This states that the World Bank will only finance commercial harvesting in areas where strict environmental assessments or authoritative scientific surveys have demonstrated that the areas in question do not contain critical forest areas or other critical natural habitats. HMG co-operates with the World Bank on a number of country programmes aimed at improving forest governance. These include Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Cameroon, and Cambodia. The expected impacts of the above programmes include the empowerment of forest-dependent communities, enhanced economic opportunities for the poor and indigenous groups, increased revenues for the state, and improved conservation of biodiversity. In Cameroon, HMG/DfID has committed £11 million for the Cameroon Forest Governance Programme. Commitments in support of the forest sector in the DRC and Cambodia are still being finalised. There is a growing consensus that the traditional concession-based industrial logging model does not generate the desired economic, social and environmental benefits. DfID, together with the World Bank and a number of civil society and research organisations, is planning to support research into improved models for forest sector development.

Secondary information