The World Bank is being accused of backing the destruction of the world’s second-largest forest. An independent audit says World Bank officials have encouraged foreign companies to excessively log the rainforest in the Congo, endangering the lives of thousands of Congolese Pygmies. According to The Guardian newspaper, the World Bank is also accused of misleading the Congo’s government about the forest’s value. Some 40 million people depend on Congo’s forests for medicines, shelter and food.