Assistant à l’Université Président Joseph Kasa-Vubu, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques et Environnement, Département des Ressources Naturelles, BP 314 Boma, RD Congo
A « quiet revolution » initiated in the 1990s gradually put ecological rationality at the forefront of environmental and economic policy concerns. Because most environmental problems continue to worsen and, in many countries, there is little reason to be optimistic. Considering the global environment in general, and that of the province of Kongo Central, in particular, we realize that there are many indicators of different forms of disruption of balance linked to several factors. which are interrelated, among which we can cite, savanization, erosion, loss of soil fertility, laterization, increased poverty, habitat destruction, pollution...
In addition, the impoverished population of the Selo Kimbungu village with obsolete techniques, without planning or forest management or reforestation, coupled with the improvised construction of housing, have caused very large-scale deforestation, symbolized by « circles of desolation », deforestation radii exceeding more than two kilometres. To this end, the following questions can be asked: in the environment of the Selo Kimbungu village, do the activities practiced by the population jeopardize the ecological capital? What are the key factors that permanently cause the degradation of ecosystems in this geographical area? What are the different facets of ecological capital that threaten people’s lives? These concerns have led us to presuppose that the activities practiced by the population are carried out without environmental standards, especially since the peasant community remains in ecological ignorance which does not allow it to fight against the regressive series of goods and services that the environment puts at his disposal. There is reason to say that the village studied is subservient to a complex set of economic, social and political pressures, on which are grafted problems of environmental management. However, the different facets of ecological capital at risk are multidimensional and interactive.