Trou de Dieu turns green
Red earth dust still hung in the morning air as volunteer convoys rolled onto the spiritual site known locally as the Trou de Dieu, a limestone hollow a few kilometres outside Kinkala, Pool department, now earmarked for a new green chapter.
Across two cleared hectares, planting lines had been traced overnight. By noon, spade after spade opened the soil for more than 1,000 seedlings of safoutiers, acacias, fraké and young baobabs, chosen for their resilience under Pool’s alternating dry and monsoon seasons.
Why National Tree Day matters
Congo’s National Tree Day, created in 1986, encourages each citizen to plant at least one tree and nurture it as a civic responsibility. The thirty-ninth edition carried the theme “One tree, one forest, one plantation for a flourishing Congo”.
The date fits the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, giving local acts added global resonance. Officials see every planted seedling as insurance against erosion, charcoal pressure and rising temperatures felt in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire alike.
Strong community mobilisation
Pool’s prefect Jules Mounkala-Tchoumou led the march of hoes and watering cans, flanked by village elders, schoolchildren and scouts in khaki uniforms singing Lingala slogans about shade and rainfall.
Turnout impressed organisers. “People walked from neighbouring hamlets before dawn,” noted Maurice Mabiala, a forestry agent checking spacing between pits. “Seeing families tread the same path for a common goal builds the cohesion we need.”
The Baobab of Peace symbol
Mid-ceremony, all shovels paused for the planting of a four-year-old Adansonia digitata christened the “Baobab of Peace”. Its deep taproot and centuries-long lifespan were invoked as metaphors for reconciliation after the conflicts that once scarred Pool.
Prefect Mounkala-Tchoumou reminded the crowd that President Denis Sassou Nguesso “has made peace his credo”. He urged participants to water the sapling “so that, like the baobab, harmony becomes eternal in Pool”. Applause echoed across the hollow.
Voices from leaders and faith
Bélinda Ayessa, director-general of the Pierre-Savorgnan-de-Brazza memorial and president of the Grace association, travelled from Brazzaville with dozens of members. “The message is simple: the tree is life. Planting one is planting eternity,” she told reporters, wrist still muddy from digging.
Father Jean-Paul Massamba of Kinkala parish added a pastoral note. He welcomed the symbolism but called for accompanying development projects “so that peace also bears tangible fruit” in education, healthcare and jobs.
Spirituality meets ecology
Trou de Dieu has long attracted pilgrims who light candles beneath a natural skylight in the rock. Locals believe the cavity channels prayers upward. The new seedlings now frame that path, merging contemplation with climate action.
Environmental sociologist Clarisse Nkouka, observing the rite, said sacred sites often become conservation refuges. “When people attach spiritual value, they instinctively protect the space. That gives the young forest a head start against bushfires and illegal felling.”
Caretaking the young forest
Forestry technicians installed bamboo guards around the most delicate species and marked water points fed by a nearby stream. Weekly monitoring rosters were assigned to youth groups until the first rainy season takes over routine watering.
Grace association promised gardening tools and fuel for motor-pumps. The prefecture, for its part, said fines would target any grazing goats caught nibbling the saplings. Signs spelling “Nourish the roots of peace” in French and Kituba now dot the perimeter.
How citizens can join future drives
Organisers encouraged households to collect fruit seeds at home and hand them to local nurseries. A hotline number painted on a roadside billboard will connect volunteers to the forestry service for next month’s maintenance session.
Schools in Kinkala plan environmental clubs, while Brazzaville-based influencers have pledged short Reels explaining correct spacing and mulching. The aim is to make tree care as shareable as football highlights among Congo’s youth online.
Local act, national momentum
In 2024, Congo surpassed five million seedlings planted nationwide, according to the Ministry of Forest Economy, with Pool contributing nearly eight percent. Officials hope visible pockets like Trou de Dieu persuade more departments to allocate spiritual or historical landmarks for reforestation.
Economists say sustained tree cover can stabilise rural incomes by supplying fruit, medicinal bark and potential ecotourism. For young Planète School student Mireille, the motivation is simpler: “I want shade for my grandchildren during future pilgrimages here.”
As sunset fell over the hollow, final watering cans emptied on fresh soil. Crickets began their chorus, the new grove inhaled, and the Baobab of Peace stood outlined against a violet sky—an emblem of a community planting roots both literal and symbolic.
