This question was popular among the candidates.However,their performance in the question was just fair.  Some of the candidates misinterpreted the (a) part of the question, such that they were listing factors favouring location of industries like social amenities, roads, electricity etc.  The factors that favour lumbering in the Democratic Republic of Congo include;

• presence of forest vegetation belt;
• favourable climate for the growth of trees;
• presence of harvestable trees;
• adequate water transport;
• availability of foreign capital;
• availability of labour;
• high demand of timber for fuel;
• efficient sawmill industries to process the raw timber.

The problems of lumbering in the Democratic Republic of Congo include:

• economic trees not in pure stand which pose problem when felling ;

• dragging of the felled trees to river banks or stand-by trucks is often difficult;
• swampy terrain impedes transport;
• presence of rapids and waterfall interrupt smooth flow of the floating logs;
• presence of buttress roots in some trees make feeling very difficult and dangerous;
• hardwood do not float easily on water;
• depletion of forest resources;
• illegal felling of trees.

The ways of solving the problems of lumbering in the Democratic Republic of Congo include:

• cultivation of economic trees in plantations;
• construction of wide tracks for evacuation;
• procurement of suitable equipment e.g. tractors;
• establishment of timber processing factories in places where river transport is restricted;
• legislation to check illegal felling of trees