ABSTRACT
With over 108 million hectares of forestland, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has enormous forest resources (Devers and Van de Weghe, 2006). The potential timber production is estimated at over 10 million cubic metres per year (DECNT, 1984). Paradoxically, for many years the annual production rate has barely reached 500,000 cubic metres and forest revenue is relatively low, on average hardly 1 per cent of annual gross domestic product (GDP). In 1997, forest exports brought in close to US$54 million, while in 2006 the figure was approximately $42 million. This situation is receiving special attention from the Congolese authorities who recognize the many roles that forests can play. Besides their economic role as a source of timber, forests provide food, medicinal plants, household fuel, arable land and non-ligneous forest products. They are therefore essential to the survival of some 40 million Congolese living in poverty-stricken rural areas.
