The Area - Ethnic Groups

Bagyeli pygmies, ostracized by other native groups

Ethnic groups include the Yasa and Batanga (fishermen), Bulu, Mvae and Ntumu (farmers and hunters), Mabea (freshwater fishermen), and the Bagyeli (or Bakola) pygmies (hunters and gatherers). The rest of the population consists of immigrant workers employed by the logging and agro-industrial companies.

There are 120 villages in the periphery of Campo-Ma'an National Park, located mainly along the roads. In addition, there are 25 pygmies encampments disseminated in the forests, and worker settlements within the logging and agro-industrial concessions.

The total population is estimated at 60,338 inhabitants, with 24,189 of them living within the two agro-industrial concessions. There are 614 Bagyeli pygmies.

The area's demography rate of 5.3 per cent between 1987 and 2002 is one of the country's highest. Still, with 7.3 inhabitants per square kilometre, the population density of the area remains very low. People aged less than 25 make up 60 per cent of the rural population.

All of the seven ethnic groups practice slash-and-burn subsistence agriculture either as their main activity or as a secondary activity. The size of the plots used for agriculture is very small - rarely more than 2.5ha - which means that their expansion at the expense of the forest remains minimal. The risk that agriculture will penetrate the park is almost non existent.

All these groups have a centralized political organization - typical of forest people - where elders hold the power. However, as elsewhere in Cameroon, there is also an administrative organization in the Campo-Ma'an buffer zone, which sometimes conflicts with traditional beliefs and rites in villages inhabited by local people.

In addition, the 25 Bagyéli encampments are totally excluded from official legislation. In each of the camps, a chief - called "mfumu" - is recognized as the representative of the community but does not hold any official title. This makes it very hard for the Bagyéli pygmies to properly defend their interests. As they have a nomadic way of life throughout vast patches of forest, they do not hold any property title, which increases their marginalization. They are also ostracized by other native groups.