PYGMIES AND INDUSTRIAL LOGGING:
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THE CASE OF THE BAGYELI OF SOUTHERN CAMEROUN.
Paper presented at the International Conference on Forest Ecosystems and Development in the South and East of Cameroun, Yaoundé 16-17 February 1999.
By Jacques Ngoun, a Bagyeli Pygmy Leader from Bipindi, Cameroun
With the support of Planet Survey, an NGO working for
sustainable development and environmental protection.
Summary
Industrial logging has been taking place in the region of Bipindi-Lolodorf for 40 years . Logging companies SAFOR and SFIL carried out activities there in the 1950s and the 1970s respectively. Following them, WIJMA, BECOL, SFK, and others, established themselves. When evaluating the present situation, it is clear that far from being a factor promoting development, industrial logging threatens the life and survival of forest populations in general, and the Bagyeli Pygmies in particular. The benefits that the Bagyeli have derived from logging companies are limited whereas the damages are considerable: destruction of their way of life, their sources of food, their environment. The Bagyeli challenge the decision-makers in the logging companies with the following questions:
Introduction
Logging has been taking place in the Département Océan, more specifically around Bipindi and Kribi, for roughly 40 years . We heard of the activities of SAFOR in the 1950s and SFIL in the 1970s. These activities have increased as more and more licences and concessions have been given out to logging companies. We know that WIJMA, BECOL, SFK, UTC and others are present in the same area. Over the past years, the companies have removed more and more logs, they have increasingly devastated the forest and so have been able to reach the most remote areas. Unfortunately, Bakola and Bagyeli Pygmy communities live in these exploited forests. We have all learned the history of the Pygmy communities of our country. They are relatively small groups of people who live in so-called camps in the forest of southern Cameroun. Over the a period of time, the Pygmies have become more and more sedentary, living in chosen forest camps or along the road, to the point where some now speak of Pygmy villages. However, as a result of the devastation caused by the logging companies, the Pygmies have encountered new difficulties in the forest, causing a different rhythm of life – that of uncertainty and continual anxiety.
I. The effect of industrial logging on the Bagyeli Pygmy communities.
The Pygmies live mainly from hunting and gathering, that is to say, Pygmies are able to feed themselves thanks to the forest. The forest is their nourishing mother. It is for them a source of life. Hunting and gathering normally take place in the forest. But sadly, today this forest is suffering various disturbances. Does logging bring any benefits to the Pygmies in these exploited areas? It is difficult to identify any benefits.
With the progressive impoverishment of the forest ecosystem due mainly to the acceleration of industrial logging, there is a real concern that the food sources of the Bakola/Bagyeli Pygmies will collapse and the food security which has existed up to the present day will be undermined, threatening the Bagyeli’s livelihoods.
We believe that the loggers should not invade our forests, especially the areas inhabited by Pygmies, because they destroy certain tree species which are important for their fruits or their bark.
Sometimes they fell other trees carrying Strophanthus, a species which underpins our economy, even though the buyers try to cheat us.
They also destroy a multitude of seeds which are very rich and used in preparing food. We are very worried that the loggers are taking all our forest and destroying it, and we ask ourselves what the Pygmies will live off, and how they will live, today and in the future.
Let us take the example of a Pygmy camp traversed by the machines of a logging company. Of course, unaware of the danger threatening them, the Pygmies will be happy to see the bulldozers passing in front of their doors. But the next day, it will be their turn and they will certainly be gnashing their teeth.
The tree from which honey is harvested has been felled; the tree which carried the Strophanthus has been cut, the traps which had been laid are swept away, the game which was easy to catch has become wary and moved far away, the stream which provided drinking water has become a stagnant pool due to the devastating bulldozers.
Dear participants, imagine for a moment the reaction of this man. He will surely cry out, and if we study his cry we will discover that it is the proclamation of a heartfelt message composed of a multitude of questions:
In one word – will our Pygmy brothers and sisters survive?
In all of this, we must be aware that the forest and the Pygmy people are inseparable because for the Pygmies, the forest is their first classroom, and has been for a very long time. Why deprive these people of their forest, because therein they find everything that they need to live? We must be aware that the wisdom of the Pygmy people lies in the forest.
III Direct consequences of industrial logging on Bagyeli society.
IV Logging and the Bagyeli Communities: some suggestions.
The environment for a Pygmy person is the forest. To help the Bagyeli, this environment, the forest, must be protected. Its exploitation must be better controlled. The communities’ way of life should be respected, they should be consulted about the exploitation of their heritage, and the loggers should uphold policies to promote regeneration of the forest, which up to now have not been applied.
Furthermore, the new law on the management of forest resources should be promoted to the public and implemented by the logging companies based on a framework of cooperation with the State and NGOs. The State and NGOs must raise the awareness of logging companies in order to persuade them to become agents of development in our areas.
Conclusion
The Bagyeli Pygmies are the first victims of industrial logging. They have had to endure logging despite all their efforts. The management of our forest and our environment remains a problem to which Camerounians must find well thought-out and concrete solutions as quickly as possible.
The equilibrium and connections between the forest populations of Pygmies in Cameroun and their immediate environment must be preserved.
Let this International Conference in Yaoundé be the beginning of the establishment of a strategy for the rational, sustainable and beneficial exploitation of the forest and its resources.
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