Does the abandonment of spear and crossbow hunting by the Bakola/Bagielli Pygmies in favor of firearms have an impact on forest ecosystems?

Abstract (English)

The Bakola/Bagielli are one of Central Africa's hunter-gatherer groups, commonly known as
Pygmies. For centuries, these populations have lived a dedicated life essentially based on the activities of gathering, collecting, fishing and, above all, hunting. This last activity had two main components: hunting with spears and hunting with crossbows. These two methods were aimed solely at consumption within families, thus reducing the harvest of wildlife diversity. It should also be remembered that floristic diversity very often depends on faunal richness, as many plant species in Central Africa are swarmed by certain animals. With sedentarization, the traditional hunting practices of the Bakola/Bagielli are less and less practiced, and there is greater use of firearms supplied by the Bantu, which accentuates poaching, which is directly linked to deforestation. This poaching is intensified by the desire to supply urban populations with game meat, which is increasingly prized by these populations, especially those of the town of Kribi, which, thanks to its new deep-water port, has become a major metropolis in the southern part of Cameroon.