Global warming threatens former slave trade route in Congo

By Omotayo Edubi

Sea level rise caused by global warming is threatening Loango bay on the west coast of Congo located 20 kilometres north of Pointe-Noire.

Loango Bay, which was a significant slave trading post, is at risk of washing away along with its important history. Loango bay has being exposed to the commanding, open waters and currents of the Atlantic Ocean and years of history could be washed away with it.

Mampassi Albert, a resident said, “I see how the sea advances, it breaks everything. Even the tombs up there are no longer there, everything is gone.”

Mango trees grew along the “Slave Route,” during the slavery era. Only three of the original trees survived. To make sure that this powerful symbol of slave trade doesn’t die, a project called Matatchebo is cloning the remaining trees.

According to Batota Kissala, Matatchebo project promoter “We are cloning these mango trees, so that we can continue the memory of the two million slaves who have passed through this bay, through each mango tree that we will clone and distribute all over the world.”

Today, the historic site has fallen into disrepair and attracts only a few tourists a year. Kimfoko Madoungou, a local historian, is urging authorities to act.

“When you want to develop a site, you need material and human resources, but what if the material means are lacking in the first place, what about the human resources? They (the authorities) come to the site, they speak and they speak, make announcements and then they leave. But during this time, the erosion continues to advance.”

In Loango Bay, one of the main embarking points, the route along which enslaved people were bought and sold and marched to waiting ships is still visible today, known as the “Slave Route.”