The Democratic Republic of Congo’s government has cancelled almost 60% of its timber contracts in an attempt to halt illegal, and environmentally devastating, logging, the BBC and others, report.

After a 6-month long review, backed by the World Bank, DRC ministers found that from 156 requested deals, only 65 were viable, according to Reuters.

The report also quotes DRC Environment minister, Jose Endundo talking at a press conference. “"I will proceed within the next 48 hours to notify those applicants having received an unfavorable recommendation from the interministerial commission through decrees cancelling their respective conventions," he said.

“Upon notification of the cancellation decision, the operator must immediately stop cutting timber.”

Logging in the Congo is a huge problem, politically, and environmentally. Our very own ex-reporter Mike Hopkin wrote about a tribe of pygmies threatened by logging in 2007. The article is well worth a look for a wider look at the environmental consequences of illegal logging.

The Congo Basin, which holds the world’s second largest tropical rainforest, could now be allowed to recover from the devastating logging. The deals for these contracts were made at time of great unrest in the country, and accusations of rampant corruption are being levelled at both the logging companies and the interim government, which had power after the war that ended in 2003.