- Pr. Félix Ngana
- Universy of Bangui, Central African Republic.
Underdeveloped countries in general, and the Central African Republic in particular, seek to escape poverty by fully exploiting their natural resources. Forests are one of the resources that contribute enormously to GDP, with significant economic benefits. However, this forest, along with the habitat and living environment of the Pygmies, is destroyed every year due to development needs. Pygmies are expropriated due to industrial logging without compensation. The objective of this study is to analyze the damage that logging causes to vulnerable populations, such as the Pygmies of Lobaye. Documentary research and surveys of the local population were used to collect the data contained in this work. The testimonies of Pygmies who frequent urban areas such as the central market of Mbaïki were examined and integrated into this study.
Approximately 10% of the national territory is covered by forest, located particularly in the southwest and southeast of the country. It is the habitat of the Pygmies with an ecosystem rich in multiple biodiversity and a variety of natural resources such as Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) which ensure the food and health security of Pygmies and Timber Products (TP) requested by forestry companies. For reasons of economic emergence, the State grants exploitation permits to industrial and especially foreign forestry companies.
The French, Lebanese, Chinese, and Russians are sharing the forest to the detriment of vulnerable Pygmy populations. Furthermore, artisanal logging companies are multiplying in Lobaye, in unfair competition with industrial companies. The Pygmies suffer injustice due to their expropriation through the destruction of their habitat by logging companies. During the country’s numerous military and political crises, logging permits were fraudulently granted by phantom logging companies that destroyed Pygmy camps. Some logging companies, during periods of crisis, support armed groups to protect their property.
The customary land tenure system used by the Pygmies to appropriate land is recognized by the country’s Constitution and national legal instruments. More than 95% of the rural population benefits from this right of use, which was implemented well before colonization. The introduction of the modern regime did not eliminate the right of use, which continues even today in urban areas. This regime is justified by the illiteracy experienced by the Pygmies and the insufficient financial means to begin the process of allocating a plot of forest land according to the terms of the modern regime. There are currently approximately 100,000 Aka Pygmies in the Central African forest. Data on their number in the Lobaye Prefecture is not available. The State, logging companies, and artisanal logging operators do not collaborate with the Pygmies to demarcate the portion of the forest to be exploited. The Pygmies are marginalized and do not have the right to seek justice to defend their property rights based on the customary regime.
Everyone refuses to recognize their land ownership rights. In the future, they risk finding themselves in a forested area transformed into savannah. The deforestation rate in the CAR is alarming, and the Lobaye Prefecture is no exception. The deforestation rate is estimated at 0.13% per year, representing 30,000 hectares of forest disappearing each year. Illegal logging, military-political conflicts, and timber trafficking are exacerbating the dispossession of the Lobaye Pygmies. Innovative strategies aimed at domesticating trees and plants and privatizing the forest for the benefit of the Pygmies represent avenues for redress and compensation for the Pygmies for the harm caused to them over the past several decades.
The CAR is beginning to benefit from Carbon Credits through institutions such as Chinko. Facilitating this process and extending it to forestry operations could lead to a program benefiting Pygmies in the payment of carbon credits. This article analyzes the injustice suffered by Pygmies and the denial of recognition of their customary land ownership rights, as well as their marginalization by other stakeholders in the exploitation of natural resources. It proposes avenues for redress through ecological renovation and the domestication of trees and plants useful to Pygmies, ensuring the sustainability of their habitat.