Congo pygmies Use GPS to Safeguard Sacred Sites, Trees From Loggers
by Russell Shaw
With deforestation, resource-related land grabs and other assorted woes, it is becoming increasingly difficult for many of the globe’s indigenous populations to hang on to the old ways.
That said, the Mbendjele Yaka people of the northern Congo in Africa are using new technology to hang on to the old ways.
The Tropical Forest Trust has given these people an unspecified number of GPS devices. The devices are not for helping the Mbendjele Yaka find their way. Instead, the Mbendjele Yaka (often referred to as northern pygmies) are using GPS to mark out forest areas and even specific trees that are sacred to them and which they would like to be preserved.
That’s Baka, a Mbenddjele Yaka, at the top of this post.
This information is then conveyed to logging companies such as Congolaise Industrielle des Bois, which has pledged tohonor the requests of the Mbendjele Yaka.
But why GPS, rather than verbal, illustrated, or written requests to save specific locations and trees?
For that we turn to Tropical Forst trust executive director Scott Poynton, who spoke to Reuters about this last Wednesday.
“The sets have icons on them, so they don’t have to be able to read and write. They basically go out and say OK, click, here is a sacred site, and a GPS point is taken and links up to the satellite,” Poynton told Reuters.
“They can wander through the forest and map all of the areas–the tombs of their ancestors, hunting grounds, sacred areas, water holes, areas of medicinal plants–these are all captured on GPS points, all downloaded on the computer,” he added.
“And suddenly, you’ve got a map.”
