(NewsWatch
Cameroon)--Evicted from their ancestral land and consigned to a resettlement camp,
the Bagyeli Pygmies of Bissiang situated some 30km south of Kribi in the Ocean
division of the South region of Cameroon are decrying mistreatment.
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| A typical Bagyeli home in the forest of Bissiang |
They blame agro industrial
giant HEVECAM which they claim has been illegally operating on their ancestral land
for the past two years for their plight.
The forest they lived in before
was given to a timber firm forcing them to migrate to their current site.
After 30 years in the
Bissiang forest, the land was leased to rubber producer HEVECAM which began
operations activities in 2012.
Access to the Bagyeli
community has since become difficult because entrance has to be authorized by
the concession holder.
The community mainly hunts
unprotected animal species and harvests non timber forest products which they
sell to neighbouring Bantu communities, says Albert, the community head.
Getting alternative sources
of living is almost impossible, he adds.
Their lives, they say, are in
danger as the forest phases out because the rubber production company is keeps
felling trees.
On the sidelines of a recent
land rights reporting training workshop in Kribi, organized by US-based Rights
and Resources Institute (RRI) together with a coalition of its Cameroon
partners, this reporter and some colleagues visited the Bagyeli community in
their forest habitat.
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| Some Journalists from Cameroon, DRC, Mali and USA attending a workshop on land rights reporting in Kribi |
“We lived in the forest
there, when the government handed the forest to a timber firm, we were forced
to move into this area. The government again gave the land to HEVECAM and we were
forced to move again but to where?”questions the community head.
The head of the Bagyelis of
Bissiang lamented that they can’t earn any income as their activities have been
disrupted with their settlement.
Ngo Bell Elise, HEVECAM Hygiene,
Security and Environment official argued that HEVECAM does not own the land.
She said the land had been
leased to the multinational for a given period which may be renewed or
terminated at the end of the project period.
Ngo who had earlier denied
reporters access into the concession said she was not authorized to state the
specific number of hectares and the lease period in the agreement.
She explained that according
to the agreement, the indigenous people had to be resettled.
A resettlement camp was thus
chosen by a follow up committee of the of the terms of reference binding the
indigenous people of Bissiang and HEVECAM. The follow up committee comprised
representatives of the indigenous people, HEVECAM and the government of Cameroon,
she said.
Though still in the forest,
the Bagyelis think the resettlement camp does not suit their initial forest
home.
In their environmental
impact assessment, Ngo said HEVECAM pledged to protect the forest, provide
social amenities to the indigenous people and “today we are building the resettlement
camp, we will provide bore holes and farms and teach them how to practice
agriculture” she said.
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| After threatening, Madam Ngo Elise explains to journalists what HEVECAM has done to better lives of Bagyelis |
Relationship with other communities
The closest community to the
Bagyelis is the Bantus-another group of indigenous people. But the relationship
between the Bagyelis and the Bantus has not been always cordial.
“Bantus force us to sell our
hunted animals to them at very cheap rates whereas food they sell to us is very
expensive.”
The head of the Bagyeli
Pygmy community explained that it is common for Bantus to buy a big animal from
a Bagyeli for just CFA 250 Frs but when a Bagyeli wants to buy ‘batong’ (a cassava
derivative) they ask him to pay 1000Frs.
However, given that Bagyelis
are few in Bissiang, they get married to Bantus. Agnes aka Mapouka, a Bagyeli
mother of one says “we don’t marry within our community as were are all blood
relations, our husbands are Bantus.”
Though a forest people, the
Bagyelis know there are politicians from that area as well as the government. “We
know the senator, but other people we don’t know.”
New Lifestyle, Brighter Future
With a new settlement camp
under construction, the Bagyelis will have to adopt a new lifestyle when they
finally settle.
The community head who
looked edgy said their way of life is now very different.
Albert said they have lost
their values but was optimistic that it would not continue when they finally
settle on the resettlement camp.
“We will still be going to
the forest for our customary activities before coming back to the camp when we
finally settle here,” he said.
The Bagyelis have very
little knowledge about land titles and land ownership.
“Our parents did not teach
us anything about land titles, so we just own the land; women and men own land
here,” says the village head.
HEVECAM has however promised
to give them land ownership permits when construction of the resettlement camp
is completed.
The land grab problem faced
by the Bagyeli community is just one of many that local communities in Cameroon
and around Africa face due to land leases to either agro industrials or forest
exploitation companies.
In the Southwest region of
Cameroon for example, the population of Nguti is still seething with rage after
73 hectares of their land was leased to American agro industrial
company Herakles Farms through its Cameroon subsidiary, Seith Global Sustainable
Oils Cameroon (SG SOC) Ltd.
Experts say the sufferings these
indigenous communities go through is as a result of the weak land and forestry
laws that fail to protect indigenous communities.
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| Resettlement camp of the Bagyelis, constructed by HEVECAM |
Samuel Nguiffo, secretary
general of the Centre for Environment and Development (CED) Cameroon thinks
that “rather than giving away land and resources to companies to the detriment
of their citizens, African governments -Cameroon included- must respect the
rights of citizens and let them negotiate with investors on their own terms.
And the companies themselves should be asking who owns the land they obtain on
such good terms”.
Indigenous people who live
and depend on the forest could in the nearer future enjoy their rights.
The government has announced
that forestry reforms will be produced by the end of the year to replace the obsolete
two-decade old forestry law currently in use.
The Minister of Forestry and
wildlife, Ngole Philip Ngwesse announced during an international workshop recently
in Buea that the new forest law will better preserve Cameroon’s rich forests
and the communities that depend on them.
The Buea meeting that was organized
by the Rights and Resources Institute, focused on forest tenure, governance,
policy and regulation.
It is hoped that when the
new law is eventually put in place, indigenous forest people will heave sighs
of relief.
By Ndi Eugene Ndi, back from
Bissiang
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