STATE OF THE RAINFOREST 2014
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the villagers explained. Hunting, harvesting and some agricultural
activities are carried out daily in the forest and neighbouring areas. The
ecosystem services that the local people benefit from goes beyond the
goods that the forest provides. As the group of trailsmen from Bionga
put it: ‘The air in the forest is different from in the village, it’s better
for the body. There is a closeness, a special psychological dimension
about being in the forest. We feel at ease here, and whoever is used to
it will always have the urge to come back to the forest.’ ‘In the forest
we find the resources to send our children to school’, adds a group of
women in the village of Kakolokelo, close to Bionga.
Kakolokelo is located right on the road. It was established there
by the government, which displaced indigenous peoples from
the forest to more accessible areas, within the framework of a vast
national education campaign. However, the forest is quite far away
from the houses in Kakolokelo, and this poses several challenges
for the villagers. For example, only the youngest and strongest carry
on hunting activities today. ‘We learn hunting through traditional
knowledge handed down from our fathers and we hunt following
that tradition. A good hunter uses his spear and his dog. The older
member goes first and then the little brothers follow, so that they
can learn how to track, how to kill, and how to get the meat from the
animal’, a group of young villagers told us.
‘Musombo!’
For indigenous groups and local communities, traditional knowledge
and practices are how they protected the forest. Several practices from
the past are still utilized as conservation management tools in the
forest, and there is a generally high awareness of the importance of
preserving the ecosystems to maintain sustainable livelihoods. ‘We
can’t kill gorillas, leopards, lions, eagles and jackals. We can’t cut sacred
trees like theMwatati, Kilondolondo, Bigoa, Musuku… everyone knows
that!’ exclaims the assembly of comité de base members in Mwenga.
During the period of gestation for forest animals, called Pombo, it
is forbidden to hunt or set up traps. The traditional hunting ban
is respected by the communities. Between February and April it is
forbidden to discharge any chemicals into the rivers, as this is the
period when fish move from big rivers to smaller streams to spawn.
Moreover, sacred sites serve as the equivalent of nature reserves, as
no or very limited human activities are allowed there. The ancestral
cultural practice of Lusembe strictly forbids cutting trees in these
areas or in riparian zones.
These traditional practices of species conservation are threatened
by other hunting methods which disregard traditional conservation
practices. ‘Many animals disappeared. ‘The “calibre 12” [referring
to armed groups with 12-caliber rifles] started hunting them and
the animals fled. Now there are fewer of them, and they are less
accessible’, says an old Pygmy in Kakolokelo.
The traditional chief, the Mwami, plays a central role in establishing
conservation rules and exceptions to these. When a Mwami puts a
ban on something, the community must respect it. Infringement
of traditional interdictions is punished by the Mwami, who is
empowered to inflict musombo on the transgressor. In the traditional
