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Biso na Biso

Biso na Biso, which means "Between Us" in Lingala, is the first ever indigenous peoples' language radio station in the Congo Basin. The station is located in Pokola, Republic of Congo, an area in which some 16,000 forest people live, of whom about 9,000 are from indigenous semi-nomadic Pygmy communities.

Radio broadcasting in indigenous languages will serve not only to promote the rights of these populations, but also will support their music, cultural identities and livelihoods. It will invigorate the unique and important traditional way of life in and around the forest and aid in its transfer between different generations. The radio has been designed to broadcast throughout the forest, to be picked up by small handheld, windup radios.

The radio has made possible through a unique project managed by TFT in partnership with Congolaise Industrielle des Bois (CIB) under its sustainable timber programme in 1.3 million hectares of forest in the north of the Republic of Congo. The station has also received generous funding through the Fondation Chirac and the World Bank's Development Marketplace.

KEY FACTS

25 programmes broadcast weekly with timings ranging from 5 to 30 minutes each
Close to 1,000 productions since 7 June 2009 - day of the launch - magazines, interviews, animations, stories, reports ... and several hundred of Pygmy and Bantu songs recorded live
Varied broadcast themes include participative management of natural resources (fauna and flora), environment (water, forest, living environment ...), climate change, hunting, fishing, agriculture, community life, AIDS, health and hygiene, oral traditions, education and community initiatives, women's issues, civic life, the FSC Principles, information on CIB etc...
Estimated 20,000 listeners in just the CIB concessions and nearly 50,000 with the audience in Ngombe, Ouesso, Mokéko Palm and Sangha.
Coverage of more than 100 kilometre radius

Biso Na Biso