The site has also been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of waterbirds.
[4] Rio Pongo became a significant area for the setting up factories in the transatlantic slave trade.
[5] Sir George Collier listed 76 surnames of families involved in the slave trade in 1820.
[6]: 35 He was commodore of the British West Africa Squadron between 1818 and 1821 and as such organised anti-slaving patrols up the Pongo River and other surrounding areas.
The book's eponymous protagonist – an adventurous and highly capable young man – arrives from Cuba and in a brief time takes personal control of slave trading along the river.