Still with the Benga community at Cape Esterias, on the Gabonese coast, we move forward in our exploration of the sea resources of this paradise-like stretch of land.

These past weeks we went over the threats bearing upon turtles and crabs because of the exploitation of sand and the destruction of the mangrove for construction. Yet crabs are one of this community’s main resource, and their eradication would certainly contribute to weaken these populations who live on nothing but what nature provides.

Now well aware of these issues, we’re off picking traps in the mangrove with a group of trappers. A chance to discover the skill of these young men who build efficient traps out of bits and pieces…

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Linguist : Patrick Mouguiama-Daouda

Image and sound : Muriel Lutz

Editing : Caroline Laurent

As a reminder: Benga is spoken on the Gabonese coastal zone (Cap Esterias and Cap Santa Clara), north of Libreville. Benga people also live in Equatorial Guinea, especially on Corisco island. Fishing is their main traditional activity.

Benga is a Bantu language from the Niger-Congo family. The extensive linguistic classification of the language remains complicated: there are similarities with languages spoken further north, but also with languages spoken in the east (languages of the Kota-kele group).

Today, less than 1,000 people are capable of using the language and this figure is constantly decreasing, partly because the community is progressively merging with the Myéné community nearby.