Pokola

Pokola
Town and commune
Pokola in 2023
Pokola Location in the Republic of the Congo
Coordinates: 1°24′42″N16°19′22″E / 1.41167°N 16.32278°E / 1.41167; 16.32278
Country	Republic of the Congo
Department	Sangha Department
District	Kabo District
Commune	Pokola
Area
• Total	3.6 sq mi (9.3 km2)
Population  (2023)
• Total	28,570
• Density	8,000/sq mi (3,100/km2)

Pokola is a town and a commune ^[1] located in the northern Republic of Congo in the Sangha Department. In 2023, the town had a population of 28,570. ^[2]

Economy

Pokola relies on extractive industries, such as logging and hunting, for its economy. ^[3]

Bushmeat

The Pokola area has not been anthropized, making agriculture difficult. ^[3]

Because of the little access to farmland, Pokola residents rely on illegal bushmeat for food, ^{[4] [5]} with over 5% of meals eaten in Pokola being bushmeat in 2002, a rise from 1% in 2001. ^[6] Pokola is hunted for ivory to then trade in Ouésso and Cameroon. ^[7] Bushmeat is often brought and sold directly in the city. ^[8]

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. ^{[5] [9]}

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, ^[10] and funds most of the construction in the town. ^[11]

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. ^[12]

Transportation

Pokola lies along the Sangha river, and is connected to Ouésso by ferry, ^[13] 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. ^[14]

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. "Congo (Rep.): Departments, Major Cities & Urban Localities - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 2024-10-19.
3. 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.
4. Guynup, Sharon (7 July 2017). "African great ape bushmeat crisis intensifies; few solutions in sight". Mongabay .
5. U.S. Government Publishing Office (11 July 2002). "THE DEVELOPING CRISIS FACING WILDLIFE SPECIES DUE TO BUSHMEAT CONSUMPTION".
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. "The African Bushmeat Trade – A Recipe For Extinction" (PDF). 1998. p. 29.
9. "Biodiversity Conservation at the Landscape Scale" (PDF). September 2001. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 10, 2017.
10. "Logging Concessions of Northern Congo - CONGO-APES - GTAP". CONGO-APES. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
11. "Congopage online newspaper, article from October 9, 2008J". congopage.com. 9 October 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
12. "How the Indigenous Baaka of the Congo are saving forests". Forest Stewardship Council . 2 August 2022.
13. "Adiac newspaper, article from July 25, 2022J". .adiac-congo.com. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
14. "Congolese president lays foundation stone for Chinese-built road project". National Development and Reform Commission . 13 June 2023.