Project description

Title: Protection of Nature Bayanga "Dzanga-Sangha"
Client: Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ)
Country: Central African Republic
Lead executing agency: Ministère des Eaux, Forets, Chasses et Peche
Overall term: August 1989 to December 2009

Context

The protected area Dzanga-Sangha (Réserve Spéciale des Forêts Denses de Dzanga-Sangha), set aside for this purpose in 1990, lies in the southwest of the Central African Republic. Its great biodiversity – and particularly its abundance of large mammals, such as forest elephants, forest buffalo and western lowland gorillas – lend it supraregional significance. Parts of the area are subject to a total ban on exploitation of any kind, whereas other zones have been opened up for commercial use such as wood felling and hunting, and for use in traditional ways by local population groups.

The original population in the area included the Aka pygmies and a group of Bantu fisher folk who inflicted no damage on their natural surroundings. However, immigrants have been attracted to the region from various parts of the country by the lure of employment with the timber companies. This group not only works for wages but also engages in farming, which often spreads beyond the zones designated for agriculture. There is a tendency toward illegal expansion of the areas bordering on the preserve and uncontrolled hunting.

Objective

WWF began with support for the administration of the protected area in 1989 in order to protect the natural resources of the Central African Republic. First came supervision of the reserve; later, development activities for the benefit of the population were begun in line with the concept of the Integrated Conservation and Development Project (ICDP).

German Technical Cooperation has been involved in the project since 1993. The project ensures the sustainability of biodiversity and ecosystems in a central area of the Congo basin, which is one of the partner country’s main political goals. In the charter of COMIFAC, the cross-border tropical forests initiative, the seven states adjoining the Congo basin have also set this as their goal and put it into practice by founding the tri-national nature preserve TNS (Tri-National de la Sangha), which includes Dzanga-Sangha park.

Target groups are the village populations and those active in the protection and management of natural resources in the Dzanga-Sangha reserve and surrounding areas.

Approach

The project is charged with the following tasks:

• Advice and support for park management in establishing sustainable, participatory and transparent administration of the reserve and in instituting development measures in the areas surrounding the park.
• Support for the ministry in regard to participatory and sustainable management of natural resources through the introduction of instruments for park management, promotion and control, and repression of illegal activity.
• Promotion of eco-tourism, an introduction to the Aka pygmy way of life, tours of clearings in the virgin forest with their plenteous wildlife (salines) and encounters with lowland gorillas (the only place in the world where this is possible), to gain income for the maintenance of the nature reserve.
• Process support and coordination of the regional initiatives (the COMIFAC initiative, AFLEC, etc.).

Further information

• Dzanga Sangha Reserve of Central African Republic
  www.dzanga-sangha.org