Last month, the Democratic Republic of Congo approved the auctioning off of 16 oil blocks, at least nine of which are in the fragile peatland ecosystem of the Cuvette Centrale. The auction aims to increase government revenue and boost domestic production of oil from its current modest level of 25,000 barrels per day. “This is a historic error that must be corrected immediately,” Irene Wabiwa Betoko said. Betoko, who leads the Congo Basin Forest Project at Greenpeace Africa, is sharply critical of the Congolese government’s choice to favor oil over the forest and human rights. In a statement, G…
