Pokola

Pokola is a town and a commune[1] located in the northern Republic of Congo in the Sangha Department. In 2018, the town had a population of 14,726.

Pokola
Town and commune
Pokola in 2023
Pokola
Location in the Republic of the Congo
Coordinates: 1°24′42″N 16°19′22″E
Country Republic of the Congo
DepartmentSangha Department
DistrictKabo District
CommunePokola
Area
 • Total3.6 sq mi (9.3 km2)
Population
 (2023)
 • Total23,283
 • Density6,500/sq mi (2,500/km2)

Economy

Pokola relies on extractive industries, such as logging and hunting, for its economy.[2]

Bushmeat

The Pokola area has not been anthropized, making agriculture difficult.[2]

Because of the little access to farmland, Pokola residents rely on illegal bushmeat for food,[3][4] with over 5% of meals eaten in Pokola being bushmeat in 2002, a rise from 1% in 2001.[5] Pokola is hunted for ivory to then trade in Ouésso and Cameroon.[6] Bushmeat is often brought and sold directly in the city.[7]

Local police rarely interfere with the bushmeat trade, and the United States Agency for International Development often has to perform investigations to slow down trade.[4][8]

Logging

The town is the headquarters of one of the largest logging companies in the country, the Congolaise Industrielle des Bois (CIB), a subsidiary of a Singapore group. The company owns 1.8 million hectares of forest,[9] and funds most of the construction in the town.[10]

In 2010, the Parliament of the Republic of the Congo passed a law to protect the country's Baka people and their lands. This made it more difficult to harvest wood.[11]

Transportation

Pokola lies along the Sangha river, and is connected to Ouésso by ferry,[12] until 2023, when the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission built the Sanha Bridge and the Ouésso-Pokola Road, which connected the Pokola with Ouésso. The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by president Denis Sassou Nguesso.[13]

References
  1. "Loi n° 13-2017 du 16 mars 2017 portant érection de certaines communautés urbaines en communes" (PDF). sgg.cg. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  2. Bakouetila, Gilles Freddy Mialoundama; Massamba, Rostand Loïck; Ngandzo, Hippolyte Pepin Ndey; Koubouana, Felix; Bitsindou, Harley Bittson (2022-11-20). "Analysis of Anthropogenic Pressure in the UFA Pokola Production Series, Sangha, Congo". European Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. 2 (6): 40–47. doi:10.24018/ejsocial.2022.2.6.347. ISSN 2736-5522.
  3. Guynup, Sharon (7 July 2017). "African great ape bushmeat crisis intensifies; few solutions in sight". Mongabay.
  4. U.S. Government Publishing Office (11 July 2002). "THE DEVELOPING CRISIS FACING WILDLIFE SPECIES DUE TO BUSHMEAT CONSUMPTION".
  5. Laurance, William F.; Peres, Carlos A. (October 2006). Emerging Threats to Tropical Forests. University of Chicago Press. p. 406. ISBN 978-0-226-47022-1.
  6. Hennessey, A. Bennett; Rogers, Jessica (2008). "A Study of the Bushmeat Trade in Ouesso, Republic of Congo". Conservation and Society. 6 (2): 179–184. doi:10.4103/0972-4923.49211. ISSN 0972-4923. JSTOR 26392925.
  7. "The African Bushmeat Trade – A Recipe For Extinction" (PDF). 1998. p. 29.
  8. "Biodiversity Conservation at the Landscape Scale" (PDF). September 2001. p. 8.
  9. "Logging Concessions of Northern Congo - CONGO-APES - GTAP". CONGO-APES. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
  10. "Congopage online newspaper, article from October 9, 2008J". congopage.com. 9 October 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  11. "How the Indigenous Baaka of the Congo are saving forests". Forest Stewardship Council. 2 August 2022.
  12. "Adiac newspaper, article from July 25, 2022J". .adiac-congo.com. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  13. "Congolese president lays foundation stone for Chinese-built road project". National Development and Reform Commission. 13 June 2023.
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