Samuel Dieval

Samuel Dieval

Samuel Dieval is Rainforest Foundation UK's Central African Republic Project Manager. He is heading up a new project which aims to tackle the destruction of rainforests in a country where communities have practically no rights to stop their homes being destroyed.

A Baka child

Arrival in Bangui: from 5 to 35 Celsius degrees
I left London on a cold and rainy day of November. When arriving in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, I put my polar coat in my bag. It will stay there for 3 weeks. In Bangui, the dry season has just begun: it is 25 degrees Celsius at night and 35 degrees at mid-day. I come to Bangui to push further what we start working on with local NGOs: defend rights and interests of indigenous peoples living in the forest. This time, I have planned a workshop aimed to analyze and evaluate field trips facilitated by local civil society groups to have a better understanding of the situation of indigenous peoples.

Promoting national law for the protection of indigenous peoples living in forests
My first night in Bangui is a nightmare. My mat is infested with insects and when I wake up my back is covered with spots. I move in another room. I wake up early, around 6 am, and go to the airport to welcome a colleague from Congo Brazzaville, a neighboring country. Roch Nzobo has been working for 15 years for the Congolese Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH). He is a militant and is very experienced in indigenous people's issues. OCDH has worked for several years, with the support of the Rainforest Foundation, in the process of preparation of a national law for protecting indigenous peoples living in forests. This Congolese law is about to be adopted and would hence be the first law in Africa protecting indigenous peoples rights. This has stimulated other Congo Basin countries to develop their own legal texts. And, the Central African Republic, where the situation of so called Pygmies is quite similar as the one in Congo, has already written a draft law. Roch is hence going to share his knowledge and experience with NGOs from the Central African Republic.

Field trips experiences or facing the real situation of indigenous peoples
When preparing the workshop, we eat a delicious grilled fish called "Kpete" in front of the Oubangui River which is a natural border between the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We decide not to prepare any electronic presentation such as powerpoints as the electricity is intermittent in Bangui. And, we prefer a program that would allow peoples to participate actively. Participants, who represent various local NGOs, have all gone to the field to work with forest communities. It was the first time for some of them. And, their reports are tough but reflect the real situation of indigenous peoples living in the forests of the Central African Republic. The livelihoods of Baka communities are strongly based on hunting and gathering and they are becoming vulnerable because of the erosion of forest resources. "Before we walked some kilometres to set our hunting nets, now we have to walk for hours" said a man in one of the villages which have been visited. "We can't easily find caterpillars' trees, honey or bush meat anymore and sometimes we only have Koko leaves to survive" added a woman. There are complex interdependent relations between Baka and other villagers. "There are servile relations between the two communities" says a participant. The poverty in the forests and general underdevelopment is quite visible. It is difficult for the Baka people to have access to education and health. "When someone is ill, we get him to the hospital, but we have no money to pay the medics and he dies" reported an old man. "We have sent our children to school but the others pupils were so bad with them that's why they didn't go back" stressed a woman. Baka have very little access to work in logging companies and suffer of injustices and discrimination. "Some of us have worked for the logging company but we were less paid than the others" reported a young man.

Lobby for indigenous peoples rights
After five days of work, we decide to write a global report on the situation of indigenous peoples in the Central African Republic and to organize a press conference in the beginning of next year. Indigenous peoples' rights are fundamental issues in the Central African Republic and, to promote these rights, NGOs have to contribute to all processes directly or indirectly regarding forest communities'. For example, the Central African Republic recently adopted a new Forest Code which explains how the state is going to manage the forests. Forest communities are living in logging concessions and hence have almost no formally recognised rights to own, access or control forests. The government is now going to work on application texts and local civil society groups want to be involved in their preparation.

We drink the Mocaf, the local lager, and start thinking about the working agenda for January which is going to be busy.

Maya-Maya airport, calling at Brazza
Before flying back to London, I stay a few days in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo. The city stands near the Congo River and is facing Kinshasa, one of the biggest African cities. Brazzaville is nice but still shows the after-effects of two years of civil war which start in 1997. Contrary to Bangui, the streets are jammed because of public works on the main streets. I am shocked by the lack of basic infrastructures in such a rich country: yearly oil production in Congo reaches nearly 100 million of barrels and stands for 65% of the national GDP. But, while there is oil penury in Brazzaville, there is almost no sanitary infrastructure. After each period of rain the streets become rivers, and a young girl recently drowned to death.

With OCDH, we spend several days in meetings with authorities to lobby for the adoption of the law for protection of indigenous peoples. The law has left the Ministry of Justice and should be examined by the Parliament very soon.

When arriving in London, I take my polar coat out of my bag. It is winter time here.

Case Study

Personal Detail
Jean Nganga is Congolese (from Congo Brazzaville), 56 years old, married and has four children from 22 years old to 15 years old; He is president of the ADPPA (Association for the defense and protection of indigenous peoples) and General Secretary of the RENAPAC (National network of indigenous peoples of Congo); He was born in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and is currently living in Kombe Village, 17 km from Brazzaville, the capital of Congo; Jean is open-minded, curious and friendly.

Interview Details
The interview takes place in the offices of the Congolese Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) in Brazzaville city center. The street is crowded and noisy. It is hot and we are drinking fresh water.

Why is the rainforest important to you?
The forest is the heart and the lung. My parents have found everything in the forest: it represented their home, their food and their culture.

What would happen if the rainforest disappeared?
It would be catastrophic because, despite the poverty, the indigenous peoples still can live in the forest. If the forests are destroyed, where would they go? What would they eat? Their lives would be in danger. Furthermore, all the animals would flee. The trees, which provide healthcare, would disappear.

When did the problem start?
When I was young, in the pool (which is an area located not far away from Brazzaville), all the wood has been cut for firewood. And there is no more game. In addition, the forest management schemes are not good to protect the forests.

What is the situation now?
The today situation is alarming. We have never benefited from the incomes generated by the forests exploitation. It is a business for the government but not for us.

How has the Rainforest Foundation or one of its partners helped you?
First RFUK has helped us to defend our interests so that our voice can be heard by government and international community. RFUK should help us to communicate with all peoples living in the forest and support us to develop new forest management systems.

What do you know about Climate Change?
Climate Change is not a good thing. The climate has changed, even in Congo. What we want is that the interests of indigenous peoples are taken into consideration when we talk about climate change. The international community has to listen to us, because our governments are just looking for money.

Future
If we do not act fast enough and if our position is not considered, it would be a great disaster for forests and for peoples living in the forests.

On the Road to Moale

The wet season has just begun in the south of the Central African Republic (CAR), the heart of the Congo Basin, which is the second largest rainforest in the world after the Amazon. After each violent rainfall, some parts of the capital Bangui regularly flood destroying houses and preventing local people from being able to live normally.

I am welcomed by Suzanne at the airport who comes from the neighbouring country Congo-Brazzaville. Suzanne is a young, mother of three children and a member of OCDH, a Congolese NGO which works in partnership with the Rainforest Foundation UK on the elaboration of a law for the protection of autochthons' populations. She also works for the movement supporting the political emancipation of Congolese women, and is going to facilitate a workshop for CAR NGOs on participatory approaches with forest communities. This workshop aims to develop a methodology to work on the field with Ba'Aka pygmy communities and to enable local NGOs to get a stronger understanding of the problems facing forest communities.

Working Together and Sharing Experiences 
The workshop is a success. About 20 NGO representatives meet over three days in a friendly and enthusiastic atmosphere. Everyone wants to share one common experience; to learn and develop new training resources. On Friday August 22nd, a team of 11 people leave Bangui for the south of the country where Ba'Aka pygmy communities are waiting for our arrival. On the road we overtake some crowed taxis, normal old cars charged full with around 20 people, animals and various merchandise. We arrive at night in M'Baïki, the prefecture of the Lobaye, and stop for a drink as we know we won't find any fresh juice or beer for at least another week! We then go through villages built by the logging company SCAD and reach our first stop Bakota around midnight. A Ba'Aka community established its camp here in Bakota three years ago, leaving behind their previous tough living conditions. Fittingly, they call their new camp "La Liberté" (Freedom). People from the community have kindly built huts made with wood and leaves for us to sleep in. The night is fresh; I make a fire in my hut before falling asleep.

Lack of Forest Resources
We spend two days in Bakota trying to gather information about Ba'Aka social, economic and environmental life. The main concern of the community is the lack of forest resources. "It is more and more difficult to find bush meat, caterpillars and mushrooms" says Djade, an old man. Other men in the community agreed, "Now we have to walk for kilometres to find food". Pygmy communities explain the rarefaction of forest resources by different means: the loggers who "cut caterpillars and honey trees", the proliferation of firearms, cables' traps and poison killing animals, and the building of new roads by logging companies that destroy forest ecosystems and impact of their livelihood. "We can't get enough food and money from our hunting and gathering and it is more difficult to find traditional medicines" says Djade.

Our last night at La Liberté is short. Tam-tams play all night long together with singers whose polyphonic songs are very beautiful. The following afternoon we leave Bakota for Moloukou where we visit another Pygmy community. The forest gets denser and we have to leave the car, cross the river by foot and walk some distance before reaching Ngambo camp.

Improving the rights of the Ba'Aka
At Ngambo, three Ba'Aka communities have come to work with us. They come from Bokondjo, a camp set deep in the forest near the Congolese border; Monzimba, where peoples speak the Boffi language, and from Ngambo itself. They all want to move and to build a new camp to live together and to strengthen "our unity and solidarity" says Enok, who welcomes us at Ngambo. Nowadays times are hard for them especially as they spend a lot of time working in cassava fields for almost nothing, neglecting their traditional activities.

The night comes early in Ngambo: at 6pm we discuss our day under a sky full of stars. We eat bush meat and cassava watching children dancing and singing. We also continue our interviews and discussions trying to understand the evolution of Pygmy communities' life in the forest, on which they strongly depend.

The next morning, a woman brings fresh potable water extracted from trees and creepers during the night. After the breakfast made of coffee and fritters, I take a bath in the river and we then pack to go to Moale, in one of the denser parts of the Central African Republic rainforest.

Developing Strategies to Protect Rights 
Moale is located in the middle of the CAR rainforest, 40 kilometers from Londo which is a central place for bush meat trade. Driving the 30 kilometers from Moloukou to Moale takes two hours. The road is really bad and we often have to stop to clear away broken trees from our path. Moale is quite a big camp where the Church has built houses made with brick and sheet-metal and an artisan workshop. We are pleased to meet again with Jean-Marie who participated with other Ba'Aka at our workshop in Bangui. Peoples express the same problems as in the two others communities: forest resources are getting scarce, relationships with villagers are difficult, and access to health care, education and work is very limited.

Our field trip finishes like it started: in the willingness to communicate and share points of view. After one day trip, we are back in Bangui where we share a drink before everyone gets back to their family. During the final stage of our workshop, we decide to plan more field work and to meet again in a few weeks to build a lobbying strategy to fight for forest peoples' rights.