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The Democratic Republic of Congo has launched an ambitious reform of its industrial logging sector, with the goal of furthering macro-economic development, fostering wildlife conservation, and improving the population's standard of living. The rationale behind the 2002 Forest Code, drafted under the auspices of the World Bank, is to strike a balance between the needs of private logging companies, the Government, and local populations. This article argues that in the present context of institutional weakness, local communities are unlikely to benefit from the reform.