09 10 12 Congo-Kinshasa: Greenpeace – International Musicians Give Congolese Youth a Voice to Protect the Rainforest

The lyrics are drawn from over 2600 poems
submitted by young boys and girls from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as
part of Greenpeace Africa's "the future of forests poetry"
contest[i].

"For Greenpeace, the fit was irresistible,
young people are the voice of the future and the world needs to hear their
voices on the future of their forest to the world", says Irene Wabiwa, Forest
Campaigner for Greenpeace Africa.

The lyrics show exactly
that.

"Veritable hymn to the forest, this song is a
wake up call to save the forests for our climate and the livelihood of forest
communities, continues Irene Wabiwa.

Borrowing in style from several collaborations
across the world, "the Voice of the forest" is a blend of hip pop, salsa and
folk styles, showing in that instance the global impact of the deforestation
crisis.

"I agreed to add my voice to that of all the
young Congolese, because I couldn't accept seeing the Congo basin forests
sacrificed for shareholders' greed," says Lokwa Kanza one of the singers who is
popular in Central Africa and acclaimed for hits such as "Shadow
dancer".

The Congo Basin rainforest; the world's second
largest rainforest after the Amazon and critical for the people and the climate
is increasingly under threats from logging, agribusiness, oil and
mining.

Congolese Government should consider the
interest of its own people first, focusing on sustainable development rather
than the short-term profit of foreign investment leading to forest destruction
and disruption of people's livelihood, continues Wabiwa.

Through the "voix de la foret" song, youths
share their anxiety over their beloved forest and alert the world of danger of
deforestation.

The more voices that sing this song, the louder
it reverberates into every corner of the world, until no one will be able to say
they never knew what was at stake when the last tree is finally chopped down",
concludes Wabiwa.

Greenpeace calls upon the DRC government to
cancel illegally awarded permits, enforce the moratorium on the allocation of
new industrial logging concession and extended the control and monitoring of
artisanal logging.