Ba'aka Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Forest Management Practices of Likouala in the Republic of Congo

Abstract (English)

This paper aims to understand the symbiotic interactions of the Ba'aka with the forest in the maintenance of ecological balance and management practices that take into account both resource harvesting and ecosystem regeneration. These practices and knowledge are particularly concerned by the complex dynamics of deforestation and exploitation of forest resources in the department of Likouala. In this department, the Ba'aka come up against institutional systems that favour commercial exploitation, often to the detriment of their autonomy and traditions, leading to the marginalization of their cultural and practical knowledge. To better approach this research, observations, interviews and focus group discussions were conducted in three villages: Molembe, Yekola and Mobangui. The intersection of ecological approaches and the social sciences, particularly from a Marxist perspective, has led us to the following results: Historical harvesting practices integrating ancestral Ba'aka knowledge on the life cycles of plants and animals, are recognized as a model of sustainable forest management, although often neglected by modern forest policies that favor intensive exploitation models; The multi-use forest management proposed by the new legislation, while promising, struggles to be implemented effectively and does not always reflect the realities of traditional Ba'aka practices; Current Congolese legislation fails to effectively integrate traditional conservation values into standard forest management frameworks, leading to conflicts of interest and the endangerment of ecosystems that the Ba'aka have protected for centuries.
All of these issues underline the importance of integrating traditional knowledge into development and conservation policies.