"We are going to Washington to tell the World Bank that they must not allow any expansion of the logging industry," pygmy spokesman Adrian Sinafasi said in a statement released by the Rainforest Foundation, which is accompanying the delegation.

"We have been stewards of these forests for many generations and to lose them now would be utterly devastating."

The delegation hopes to meet new World Bank President Robert Zoellick, who has said that protecting the environment and indigenous peoples will be two of his main priorities.

Since the restoration of peace in most of the former Zaire after a 1998-2003 war, the World Bank has promoted logging as a way of quickly rebuilding the country's shattered economy.

Last week's leaked report -- prompted by a complaint from the pygmies -- criticised the bank for failing to follow its own guidelines on environmental impact assessments, on the verification of logging areas, and on policing.

It also accused it of hugely overestimating the potential benefits to the pygmies.

The Rainforest Foundation, a charity whose mission is to support indigenous peoples in the world's rainforests, said more than 40 million Congolese depended on the rainforests for their livelihood.

"The indigenous `Pygmy' people of the Congo have fought hard to have their voices heard. The recent Inspection Panel report was instigated by these people and the findings have shamed the World Bank," said director Simon Counsell.