Deal #3795 Version #92399

"Our land was granted to the CIB by the state. But nothing comes back to us. We have filed a complaint against this company, which must recognize that this land belongs to a family. The complaint against the CIB is pending at the court of Ouesso. "The authorities are turning a blind eye so that our land rights are not recognized,"

"Our land was granted to the CIB by the state. But nothing comes back to us. We have filed a complaint against this company, which must recognize that this land belongs to a family. The complaint against the CIB is pending at the court of Ouesso. "The authorities are turning a blind eye so that our land rights are not recognized,"

“They will send us away when they get here,” a woman replies. “Gazelles and monkeys will leave before us. The loggers will take away the trees and cut a swath through the forest. The road is only the beginning.” These peoples are thus suffering the full force of increasing deforestation and the destruction of biodiversity, in addition to the marginalization and historical discrimination to which they are subjected...

Behind CIB’s factory in Pokola, Ladwig and Reutter find another small town. This is where the Pygmies live who have moved to Pokola, attracted by the promises the company gave. But they still have no electricity and no running water in their houses. Neither do they have any work. “Nobody from this village works for the company,” the village chief says. “The company employs people from far away from our village.”

On the way back to their village, they walk along a logging road. They don’t know what the road will bring, but they sense that their lives could change quickly. They’ve heard that roads brought disease to other villages. But there are also advantages. One man points out that it used to take them three days to get to the city. Now it only takes five hours. Construction of a restaurant for employees of the Wildlife Conservation Society Congo (WCS) and Fondation Nouabale Ndoki (FNN) Some indigenous Bakas in Pokola are enthusiastic about the changes in their lives resulting from the expansion of logging. "The CIB is building houses for us. Our children's education is free. Our health care is also taken care of," reported by a CIB-run community radio station Biso na Biso.

The community have filed a complaint against this company for infringement of land rights. The complaint against the CIB is pending at the court of Ouesso.