Report: African forests damaged by EU road aid

Date: 28/11/02

By David Cronin

ALMOST 50% of EU aid for African road developments will damage forests and result in worse living conditions for the indigenous people dependent on them, a new report concludes.

The study by Fern, a Brussels-based group campaigning for forest protection, found that local people are frequently not consulted about EU-funded projects which can affect their lives. It cites, for example, the €77 million in EU funding allocated to the Ngaoundaré-Garoua-Boulai road in Cameroon in 2002-2007. The project's purpose is to connect the country's road network with its railways and to improve the transport of goods between Cameroon and its neighbours.

Fern reprimands the European Commission for not stating how the project will reduce poverty. It expresses concern, too, that road building promoted in Cameroon's 'country strategy paper' could facilitate illegal logging, unless it is accompanied by new measures to promote better management of forests.

Bérénice Muraille, Fern's aid programme campaigner, said her group had examined EU-funded projects in 16 countries. 'If what is happening in these countries is typical of the wider picture then EU aid is probably making conditions worse for people who depend on forests,' she added.

'The European Commission needs to make urgent changes in the way that aid is allocated and needs to grasp the idea that millions of people rely on forests for their most basic needs.'

Earlier this year Poul Nielson, the development commissioner, promised a new approach to indigenous people after other studies showed that several of the Union's aid projects had backfired. He said EU officials would receive special training about how to consult local people on projects which affect them.

Almost 50% of EU aid for African road developments will damage forests and result in worse living conditions for the indigenous people dependent on them, a new report concludes.