Wood as a source of fuel in upper Shaba (Zaire).

peer reviewedAt the beginning of the 20th century the creation of mining towns in Upper Shaba brought about the development of large urban centres and a resulting increase in their wood needs. The surrounding vegetation, mainly open forest, was exploited. Today the forest, for 70 km around Lubumbashi, is menaced with destruction. Plantation and afforestation solutions are known, but the probability of their being applied in the coming years is slight, even though just 20% of the area being given over to forestry would be enough to satisfy the woodfuel needs of the population.-from Author

From tree to tea to CO2 in the Democratic Republic of Congo: a framework for analyzing the market chain of fuelwood around Kinshasa and Kisangani

Problems surrounding the (over) exploitation of fuelwood have mainly been studied in the context of dry and semi arid forests in African Sahel countries. For the tropical and humid forests, such as the Central African region, the fuelwood sector has received less attention as there is a general assumption that fuelwood is abundant and merely a side-product of timber exploitation. Recently however, especially around the big cities in Central Africa, the supply of firewood and charcoal has become associated with environmental issues, such as deforestation, contributing to vicious circles of soil erosion and climate change (Brown, Cabarle et al., 1997; White, Cannell et al., 1999) . Associated issues include the heavy social costs, particularly respiratory health problems (Bruce, Perez-Padilla et al., 2002; Nash & Luttrell, 2006), that can be ill afforded by the chronically poor. Increasing fuelwood prices have been noted for urban users (Marien, Bertrand et al., 2008) , however the extent to which the trade contributes to livelihoods is unknown - whether as a main source of income or a supplemental, transitional, seasonal or occasional source such as from land clearance. This paper looks into the socio-economic issues associated with fuelwood production, trade and use in and around the cities of Kinshasa and Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). An estimated 90 percent of the 10 million people living in Kinshasa depend on fuelwood for their household energy. Based on a national and regional literature review, an overview of the current developments in the sector and the main actors and factors involved is given. In the search for solutions for sustainable production, it is critical to have a clear picture of the entire market chain. This chain starts at the location of the tree where the wood is harvested, transformation, simply drying, chopping or making charcoal, to the consumption of the wood for energy by industry and households - for example cooking of water for tea or critically, food. The paper proposes a framework with a set of criteria for studying the economic, environmental and social-institutional impacts and aspects of market chain of fuelwood around Kinshasa and Kisangani in the DRC. This framework contributes to identifying current obstacles to a sustainable production and how the different actors perceive opportunities for sustainable solution

Boma Comme Destination Ecotouristique : Atouts, Potentialités et Contraintes

Abstract – This article studied the city of Boma in the “Kongo-central” (Bas-Congo) Province, (DRC), which is considered as favorable city for the ecotourism according to its  the strengths and potentials in tourism. Most unfortunately, the many beautiful sites that exist are abandoned there and sometimes neglected in favor of one or two sights only.Our investigations based on direct observations, review of reports and documents in the Boma City office, Agency of Boma National Tourist Office, and discussion with the representatives of ONT, we obtained some results.I was found the lack of a real policy of adaptation and ecotourism development in the City. The Boma residents as Congoleses had not yet acquired an ecotourism culture. The statistics had shown how many foreigners are so reluctant to consume the tourist product offered by the City. This publication had been focused on the promoting green tourism and the protection of the biodiversity.Keywords: Ecotourism, biodiversity, Boma, green tourism, Kongo-central (Bas-Congo) and DRC. Résume – Cet article étudie la ville de Boma dans la Province du Kongo-central (RDCongo) qui est considérée comme lieu favorable où doit être pratiqué un type particulier du tourisme, au regard des atouts et potentialités qu’elle regorge, il s’agit d’écotourisme. Fort malheureusement, les nombreux et beaux sites naturels qui y existent sont abandonnés et parfois négligés au profit d’un ou deux sites touristiques à peine.En effet, nos investigations basées sur l’observation directe, la revue des rapports et documents de la Mairie de Boma, de l’Agence de l’Office Nationale du Tourisme de Boma, et des travaux de recherche qui ont été réalisés en écotourisme, et l’entretien avec les représentants de l’Agence de l’ONT.Les résultats obtenus montrent que Boma manque d’une politique réelle dans l’adaptation et le développement d’écotourisme. De ce fait, les congolais en général, et les bomatraciens en particulier n’ont pas encore acquis une culture d’écotourisme, et les statistiques montrent combien les étrangers sont un peu trop réticents à consommer le même produit touristique. Cette publication est une vaste sensibilisation à la promotion du tourisme vert et à la protection de notre biodiversité