When the Authorities and Their Families Get Involved in Artisanal Logging in the DRC

We want to demonstrate how the artisanal logging sector has become a windfall for the authorities and their families at all levels. According to our previous investigations in the Equateur Forest Province, artisanal logging permits were issued in the name of the governor's daughter to be used for illegal industrial logging by Chinese companies.

This situation is far from being an isolated case, as several military, judicial, and administrative authorities are also involved in this circuit, which moreover is totally beyond the control of the Congolese state.