A report published on Friday March 10 points to the serious violence suffered by the populations living near the Ntokou-Pikounda National Park, in the north of the country, in the Congo Basin, on the edge of the Sangha department and the central Cuvette.
After a survey of these communities, mostly fishermen, the Development Action Center (CAD) questioned, in a fifty-page reportthe management of this natural park by the authorities of Brazzaville and the WWF, the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Since the creation of the Ntokou-Pikounda National Park in 2012, its 8,000 inhabitants and residents have been excluded from its 5,000 km² without ever having been consulted. It is illegal, deplores Trésor Nzila, executive director of the CAD. Worse, these very poor fishing communities have recently suffered serious human rights violations at the hands of eco-guards.
” Members of the fishing communities have told us stories that can be described as torture. They were arrested, beaten. Those who wanted to resist the eviction operation were assaulted, their cash equipment destroyed, the camps burned. The existence of the Park and the conservation activities have greatly contributed to the deterioration of the living conditions of these communities, which were already living in unbearable poverty. It gives the feeling that the communities come after the animals. »
The report fears a rise in tensions if a participatory mapping is not carried out very quickly and points to the responsibility not only of the Congolese state, but also of WWF. Associated with the management of the park since 2018, the international environmental organization says ” unequivocally oppose the forced eviction of populations “. It is trying to bring in fixes, such as a community fishery and a complaints mechanism, but which so far, according to the report, are working very poorly.