With Congo emerging from a five-year war in which 3 million people died, mainly from hunger and disease, conservationists fear new laws and zoning could result in around 60 million acres -- an area the size of France -- being opened up to logging firms.

"The international non-governmental organizations recommend the strict application of the moratorium on all new forestry concessions," eight international conservation organizations said in a statement in Kinshasa.

They said the ban must be maintained to "allow the necessary conditions for a sustainable management of the sector to be put in place" and ensure transparency and good governance.

The government has been praised for drawing up a new forestry code, putting in place the moratorium and reclaiming 62 million acres of illegal concessions. It reiterated its commitment to transparency and sustainability in the sector.

However, with corruption rife and central authority often lacking elsewhere in the region, there are worries a rapid expansion of logging will be unsustainable and deliver little for either Congo or most of its people.

In a statement issued earlier in the week, international environmental watchdog,Greenpeace, said despite the moratorium, logging concessions covering more than 15 million acres were allocated between May 2002 and May 2003.