Deep in the rainforest of Cameroon, south of Lomié, lives a community of Baka pygmies. These different families depend on what the forest offers them.
Text: Angelique van Os & Henk Bothof | Photography: Henk Bothof
The forest is the spiritual and physical cradle of the Baka people. This is a source for their religion, livelihood and cultural identity. Traditionally they live from collecting wild honey, bananas, nuts, wood, fruits, medicinal herbs and hunting. They use hunting techniques such as bows and arrows, nets, spears and traps.
Pygmies have a lot of knowledge of the more than 8000 different plant species that occur in the rain forests of Cameroon.
The greatest threats to their existence as hunter-gatherers are discrimination, logging and nature conservation projects. They can easily be expelled from the forests because they have no land rights. Training and medical assistance is often unreachable for them.
Do you want to know more about the Baka people? Then take a look here .
