DRC: Buela community at a disadvantage The Buela, a forest
community in the Congo Basin, in the Democratic Republic of
Congo, signed an agreement in 2011 with Sodefor (Société de
Developpement Forestier), a subsidiary of Nordsudtimber, a
Liechenstein-based company, to allow forest areas used by the
community to be logged by the company. However, the process
leading up to the signing was skewed in favour of the company.
According to a Congolese lawyer working through an initiative of
Avocats Sans Frontières with forest communities in the region to
ensure respect for their rights, no company representative ever
came to discuss the agreement with the community. Instead,
Sodefor sent an NGO that it engages, PABO (Partisans et Artisans
de Bongandanga). PABO told the community members that it
supported them, but actually advocated the company’s position
and failed to inform the community of its rights and options
with respect to the company’s proposed agreement. The lawyer
also said the community members’ inexperie