There are many different 'Pygmy' peoples living across a huge area of central and western Africa. The Pygmies are forest dwellers, and know the forest, its plants and its animals intimately.
In many places they are
recognised as being the first inhabitants of the region. The different Pygmy
groups speak different languages, mostly related to those of neighbouring
non-Pygmy peoples. However there are a few words which are shared between even
widely separated Pygmy tribes, suggesting they may have shared a language in the
past. One of these shared words is the name of the forest spirit,
Jengi.
How do they live? The 'Pygmy' peoples live
by hunting animals such as antelopes, pigs and monkeys, fishing, and gathering
honey, wild yams, berries and other plants. For them, the forest is a kindly
personal god, who provides for their needs. All Pygmy groups have close ties to
neighbouring farming villagers, and work for them or exchange forest produce for
crops and other goods. At its best this is a fair exchange, but it can involve
exploitation of the Pygmies, especially where they have lost control of the
forest and its resources.
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What problems do they face?
'Pygmy' peoples see their rainforest homes threatened by logging, and are driven
out by settlers. In some places they have been evicted and their land has been
designated as national parks. They are routinely deprived of their rights by
governments, which do not see these forest-dwellers as equal citizens. In
Cameroon, the life of the Bagyeli pygmies is being disrupted by a World Bank-sponsored
oil pipeline which is to be built through their land. The Batwa pygmies of eastern DRC,
Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda have seen nearly all their forest destroyed, and
barely survive as labourers and beggars.
How does Survival
help? Survival is calling on the governments of the DRC, Rwanda, Uganda
and Cameroon to recognise the rights of the 'Pygmy' peoples. We vigorously
opposed the building of the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline, lobbying governments,
oil companies and the World Bank. The World Bank did respond to Bagyeli concerns
by promising that an independent social and environmental watchdog would be
involved. Survival is continuing to monitor this promise as well as the building
of the pipeline itself.
