ABSTRACT
In central Africa, conservationist efforts have led to the creation of numerous reserves to protect the region's floral and faunal diversity. Covering an area of 150–170 million hectares, the Congo Basin is the second-largest stand of tropical forest in the world, after the Amazon. The forests in this region attract global attention for a number of reasons. International support has gained momentum for both conservationist and indigenous rights movements. The Stern Review advised that to reduce global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions cheaply and quickly, further deforestation must be prevented. The situation is even worse in areas where indigenous Pygmy people live alongside the Bantu-speaking farmers. The improvement of infrastructure and forest-related legal reforms for the development of the logging industry were believed to lead toward poverty reduction in rural areas. In the New World, these criteria suffice in most cases because it is usually clear who are the indigenous people within a particular country.
