A book reveals the main causes of deforestation in DRC

Kinshasa, October 19^th, 2026 (DRC).- The main causes of deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been revealed by a professor during an interview with CPA on Monday, following the publication of his book *Resolving Ecological Conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo*. “The main known causes of deforestation are shifting cultivation, the cutting of wood for domestic energy needs, illegal industrial logging without prior forest management planning, and forest fires. However, illegal logging plays a significant role, and its ecological consequences are linked to the ineffective enforcement of the Forestry Code,” Dieudonne Kanyama, a Doctor of Law and the book’s author has declared. “Faced with artisanal and industrial loggers who are highly prone to resorting to illegal practices, this situation raises the question of whether the promulgation of the Forestry Code has actually delivered the results one might reasonably have hoped for in terms of forest protection,” he has added. “What is important to note in the forestry sector is this grim trivialisation of the laws, even though they should serve as the foundation for the sustainable management of the Congolese forests. Most regrettable of all is the lack of ethics among those who go to great lengths to circumvent forestry legislation,” he has continued. For Professor Kanyama, it is high time that new approaches should be swiftly conceived and rigorously implemented in this sector. The author has indicated that nothing is more counterproductive and corrosive to the protection of biodiversity than an attitude that tolerates illegal practices. He has also expressed concern that such behaviour could create a new, even more devastating threat to the hope of legally protecting forests through the enacted codes. “This should serve as a wake-up call to the political and judicial authorities,” he has insisted, emphasising that the sense of urgency to act should be reinforced by an objective assessment of these decades of illegal practices and the extent of corruption in this sector.