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Projet avril 23, 2021

Years of Logging Fuel Poaching and Loss of Indigenous Forest Lands

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Massive logging of the rainforest leaves the Baka pygmies with very restricted user rights and no compensation. This loss of Indigenous forest is a threat not only to the Baka but also to the countless species of flora and fauna that face extinction because their habitat is destroyed, and over 53 percent of primary forest was lost in southeast Cameroon in 2020.

The Cameroonian government gave out 41,202 hectares of the forested land area in Mindourou to Pallisco, as Unité Forestière d’Amenagement (UFA), leading to extensive logging deep into the forest. Both logging and poaching ravage the forests and cause loss of forest lands, habitat fragmentation, loss of biodiversity, and erosion. This has forced thousands of pygmies out of the forest. Pallisco has been felling timber for more than 47 years in the forest, accounting for green loss of over 2.5 percent and causing nearly 120 metric tons of CO2 emissions.

The problem of over-hunting is also largely due to the ever-growing presence of Pallisco, which renewed its UFA in 2010. Poached wildlife often gets transported illegally on logging company trucks to cities, where they are sold at high prices. The Baka pygmies of this commune are facing an increasingly uncertain future as their forests are destroyed every day. This report will collect testimonies from the Baka pygmies and examine how they are trying to adapt to this situation, their difficulties, and the challenges they are facing. How forest destruction affects the ecosystems will also be investigated.