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Young Reporter's Story Ideas
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Turtles Get Logged Down
by Renee Griffith
The logging industry in Gabon may be causing problems for an unlikely group-leatherback sea turtles! The Republic of Gabon is a richly forested country on the western coast of Africa. Logs harvested inland are floated downriver to be collected, but stray logs end up going out to sea. When they wash onto beaches, these logs become barriers to the leatherbacks trying to reach their nesting sites.
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute reports that one-third of Pongara Beach, an important nesting site, is littered with logs. These obstacles may cause some leatherbacks to return to the ocean without laying their eggs or to build nests too close to the water.
Gabon is a diverse mix of cultures. Pygmies may have been the earliest inhabitants, but many other groups now live in this rainforest region. Over 40 languages are spoken, including Fang-the Fang are the largest tribal group, accounting for 25 percent of the population. The Portugese arrived in the 1400s and Dutch, British and French traders followed. "Gabon" comes from the Portugese word gabao, a type of coat with a hood and sleeves that traders thought the Komo River estuary resembled.
This area of coastline was a major site for the slave trade. In 1849, the French captured a slave ship and released its passengers at the mouth of the Komo River. They named the settlement Libreville, or "free town."
Gabon became a French territory in 1888 and was established as an independent republic in 1960. The country has been ruled by one leader since 1967-President El Hadj Omar Bongo. In 2003, he changed the country's constitution so that he can rule indefinitely.
Gabon is about the size of Colorado. This tropical region is hot and rainy all year with two wet and two dry seasons. Gabon's economy is dominated by the oil industry, which is responsible for 81 percent of all the country's exports.
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