Deforestation Puts Mbali River Fish Stocks and Boali Livelihoods at Risk

Fishing communities along the Mbali River are facing declining catches, with residents of Boali reporting that fish are becoming both scarcer and smaller.

Local fisherman Jean-Romeo Senguemboli links the pressure on the river to the loss of trees, which are being cut to make charcoal for cooking and heating. He said the changes are making it increasingly difficult for fishermen to earn a living.

“Without trees, the land will burn, the water will dry up even more and there will soon be no fish left,” Senguemboli said.

Environmental pressure on the river

Experts cited in the source report say deforestation can lower water levels, increase turbidity and reduce oxygen in the water. Those conditions make it more difficult for fish to survive and reproduce.

Yves Kaengonza, an environment expert at the Central African Ministry of Water, Forests, Hunting and Fisheries, warned that tree felling also destroys fish breeding grounds.

Senguemboli additionally said fish have become smaller amid rising temperatures and climate change. The available information does not provide measurements for the changes in fish numbers, water levels, oxygen or fish size.

Demand adds to local shortages

Flore Ouagbele said fish are also becoming harder for Boali residents to obtain as buyers from Yaloké and Bangui travel to purchase supplies. Increasing demand from those towns is contributing to shortages for people who depend on the river for food or income.

The reported difficulties are part of wider environmental challenges facing the Congo Basin, described as the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest after the Amazon.

Deforestation, pollution and other threats to nature were being discussed at a United Nations biodiversity summit in Armenia attended by nearly 200 countries. No specific government response or programme addressing the situation along the Mbali River was identified in the supplied information.