Earning Trust in the Forests of Gabon

This story was published in observance of the International Day for People of African Descent, commemorated on 31 August. In southern Gabon, UN Volunteers are preserving traditional practices by engaging local communities and recording their knowledge of forests, rivers and the land. Just as these insights were passed down between generations through stories, ceremonies and lived experience, their conservation will benefit future generations in perpetuity. 

When Natacha Nzogho arrived in the village of Ndenguilila, people knew exactly who her grandmother was.

They still did not want to share their knowledge with her.

Village residents listened politely to her questions. Some avoided answering. Others kept their distance.

The information she had come to collect was not something people shared easily. It had been passed down through families and elders for generations, carried through stories, customs and daily practices.

Recognising the hesitation, the village chief called a meeting. Standing before residents, he introduced Natacha not as an outsider, but as a daughter of the village who had returned home.

Only then did conversations begin.

"People needed time," Natacha recalls. "They wanted to understand who I was and why I was there."

Little by little, doors opened. Elders shared stories. Families spoke about traditions they had inherited from previous generations. Community members who had initially remained silent began participating in discussions.

For Natacha, it was a lesson she would encounter repeatedly throughout her assignment: before information can be collected, relationships must come first.

A Place at the Table

Natacha, 40, is one of 22 UN Community Volunteers supporting the United Nations Development Programme's GEF7 across 17 rural communities in southern Gabon.

Since joining the programme in January 2024, she has conducted interviews with around 20 knowledge holders in the villages of Ndenguilila and Dikoutou.

Her work takes her into homes, community gatherings and informal discussions where information is often shared through conversation rather than written records.

Some of her most memorable experiences have come from participating in everyday activities.

She remembers learning how community members prepare musungu, a traditional sugarcane-based drink. On another occasion, she observed the production of a natural red colouring known locally as carolin rouge.

The moments that stayed with her most, however, were not the techniques themselves. They were the conversations behind them. Listening to elders explain how practices had been passed down through generations gave her a deeper appreciation of the connection between people, culture and the environment around them.

"The impact of these activities on people's daily lives really stayed with me," she says. "Hearing their experiences reminded me why this work matters."

The experience has also built up her confidence and communication skills.

Working in communities where relationships must be built over time has taught her the importance of patience, listening and respect.

“People share more when they feel listened to and respected. Loïde and Natacha understood that from the beginning. Their work helped document knowledge about local plants, seasonal changes, cultural practices and resource use that might otherwise never have been formally recorded.” – Simon Ndong, Environmental, Social Compliance Monitoring, Engagement & Capacity Development Specialist with UNDP in Gabon.

Different Journeys, the Same Challenge

Further south, in Tchibanga, Loïde Makindani has followed a different path toward the same goal.

Born with a mobility impairment, the 36-year-old spent years advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities as president of a local association before joining the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) in July 2025.

Today, he works across seven communities, helping document local knowledge through interviews and community engagement activities.

Since the start of his assignment, he has conducted interviews with more than 25 knowledge holders.

Like Natacha, he quickly learned that collecting information is rarely the most difficult part of the work. Some residents refused photographs. Others declined to be recorded. A few questioned why information was being collected at all.

"There were moments when people were suspicious," Loïde says. "Some thought I had come to take information and leave, like a spy."

Many people are surprised to see a person with reduced mobility carrying out fieldwork in areas where travel can be difficult. Some offer encouragement. Others admit they never expected to see someone with a disability conducting interviews across multiple communities.

For Loïde, the assignment has also been a chance to challenge assumptions.

"They are surprised to see me on the ground," he says. "For some people, it changes the way they think about what persons with disabilities can do."

What Communities Choose to Share

Across nine communities in southern Gabon, Natacha and Loïde have conducted interviews with more than 45 knowledge holders since the start of their assignments.

The conversations often begin with practical questions.

What plants are used for medicine?

How do elders identify changes in rainfall patterns or river levels?

Which signs in nature indicate when certain species can be harvested, planted or fished sustainably?

The answers rarely stop there. Discussions about plants often lead to stories about families, customs and beliefs passed down through generations. Community members describe traditional uses of local species, seasonal indicators used to guide farming and harvesting activities, and practices that regulate how natural resources are used.

Some speak of places considered sacred. Others explain customs requiring permission to be sought from ancestors before entering certain areas of the forest or carrying out specific activities. Stories of spirits, oral histories and cultural practices are often intertwined with observations about the natural world.

For many community members, these beliefs and traditions are not separate from daily life. They shape relationships with forests, rivers and wetlands, and influence how resources are used and passed from one generation to the next.

Much of this information exists nowhere in written form.

It is shared through stories, ceremonies, observation and lived experience.

As elders grow older, entire libraries of knowledge risk disappearing with them. Stories of how communities lived with forests, rivers and the land for generations were never written down, they were passed from one voice to another. Through these interviews, community volunteers are racing against time to preserve that knowledge before it is lost forever.

In Ndenguilila, it began when a village chief stood up and introduced Natacha as a daughter returning home. In Tchibanga, it continued through conversations that gradually replaced suspicion with dialogue. Together, the two UN Volunteers have documented experiences, practices and observations shared by more than 45 community members across southern Gabon.

One story at a time, they are ensuring centuries of knowledge do not fade into silence.

This story was originally published by UN Volunteers. Please visit the UN team's website for more information about the UN's work in Gabon.