8 February 2013: The UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD) has released five reports from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on the causes of deforestation and forest degradation.

The reports, prepared in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and others, are one component of the DRC’s REDD+ preparation process and include an analysis of drivers based on field studies, remote sensing and statistical analysis of deforestation and forest degradation in post-conflict DRC.

Overall, the reports contain information on moist tropical forests, mountain forests, Miombo forests and the forest-savanna mosaic. In these forest types, the publications conclude that the main drivers of deforestation are the development of commercial agriculture, accounting for about 40 per cent of deforestation, subsistence farming, accounting for about 20 per cent and the collection of fuelwood, also accounting for about 20 per cent. With regard to forest degradation, the report cites the main causes as the collection of fuelwood, accounting for about 55 per cent of all degradation, industrial and artisanal forestry, accounting for about 15 per cent and illegal forestry, accounting for as much as 14 per cent.

[UN-REDD Press Release] [Publication: Study 1: Summary report presenting and comparing results from the various studies undertaken on the causes of deforestation and forest degradation in the DRC] [Publication: Study 2: Qualitative study of the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in the DRC] [Publication: Study 3: Quantitative study of the variables explaining deforestation and forest degradation in the DRC: data from remote sensing, and historical and statistical analysis] [Publication: Study 4: Quantitative study of the variables explaining deforestation and forest degradation in the DRC: data from the field] [Publication: Study 5: Qualitative study of the causes and agents of deforestation and forest degradation in a post-conflict DRC]