COVID-19 and Indigenous Forest Communities: untold stories from the Congo Basin
Cameroon's indigenous peoples make up about 0.4% of its population. With approximately 40,000 people, the Baka is the largest among them. For many decades, Baka have been moving instead to roadside settlements, after their forests have been destroyed due to donor-subsidized multinational logging, as well as rubber and palm oil plantations. "We are not really sure about transmission. All we know is that it's transmitted from one person to another. That is why we limit contact with people outside our community. No one in the community has contracted COVID-19 so far, so we try and use preventive methods by using forest herbs and ensuring external visitors", said Nkolo Thade from Baka Community.
