dzanga_ndoki-description : Protected Areas in the Congo Basin: Failing both people and biodiversity?

Country: Central African Republic

Type and IUCN Category: National Park (IUCN category: II); RAPAC Pilot Site; The Sangha Trinational is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Size (hectares): 120,000

Date of creation: 29 December 1990

CARPE landscape: Sangha Tri-National

Management plan: A management plan for the Dzanga-Sangha Complex of Protected Areas, which includes the Dzangha-Sangha Special Reserve and the Dzangha-Ndoki National Park, is available online for the period 2011-2015 (MEFCP, 2011). However no current plan can be found.

Local communities: Local communities (Gbaya and Sangha-sangha) and indigenous peoples (Baka) live in and around the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park. There are 25 villages and camps in the Reserve and its periphery, totalling around 6,500 inhabitants (MEFCP, 2011 : 27, 30).

Administration: The national park is split into two non-continuous sectors, the northern Dzanga sector (or Dzanga Park) and the southern Ndoki sector (or Ndoki Park). Between the two sectors of the national park stretches the Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve. The national park and the special reserve, each with its own protective status, are a part of the Dzanga-Sangha Complex of Protected Areas.

The Ministry of Water, Forests, Hunting and Fishing (MEFCP) is the official administrator of the Dzangha Ndoki park. Several NGOs, in agreement with the government, have managed conservation projects in the park. The World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF), with whom a project agreement was signed in 1988, provides financial and technical backing (MEFCP, 2011: 55 : WWF, 2016). Past projects have been funded or managed by German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Central Africa World Heritage Forest Initiative, the United Nations Foundation (CAWHFI-UNF), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the European Union, and the Foundation for the Sangha Tri-National landscape (FTNS).

Biodiversity information: The Dzanga-Ndoki National Park is home to a diverse forest fauna, including the western lowland gorilla, African forest elephant, chimpanzee, giant forest hog, red river hog, sitatunga, bongo, African forest buffalo, and six species of duiker (MEFCP, 20 11: 22-23, 48). The gorilla density within the Dzanga sector is one of the highest densities ever reported for the western lowland gorilla. The Dzanga-Ndoki National Park has been designated an Important Bird Area, with over 350 bird species reported (BirdLife International, 2016).

Neighbouring and overlapping extractive industries (Mapping for Rights):

There are two logging concessions around Dzanga-Ndoki National Park:

(1) Concession PEA 189 in the north; and
(2) the Kabo concession in the south, on the border with the Republic of Congo, managed by CIB (Singapour) since 2007.

Three mining concessions in neighbouring countries also border the park:

(1) SAJATA SARL Lobeke 124 (in Cameroon);
(2) Mining Project Development; and
(3) Brazzaville Mining & Resources (in Congo).

Information available on funding:

(Please note that some of these grants may be covering several protected areas or landscapes.)

The annual budget amounts to c. $249,625 (FCFA 150,000,000) provided by the State, and an additional $1,157,657 (FCFA 695,636,465) made available by WWF (PAPACO, 2010: 144).

Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) Phase III, “Sangha Tri-National Forest Landscape”(2013-2018)
Funder: USAID
Objectives: Conservation of the Sangha Tri-National World Heritage Site, notably through implementation of effective wildlife protection and targeting of trade routes, tourism development, education and revenue sharing with local communities and ensuring that people are supplied with alternative food sources.
Grant manager: Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
Project area: Sangha Tri-National
Funds: $5,500,000 (Specific amount dedicated to Dzanga-Ndoki unknown).

SANGHA 2012: A Multi-Disciplinary Mass Biodiversity Assessment in the Dzangha-Ndoki National Park, Central African Republic (2010 – 2012)
Funder: Planet Action; others
Objective: The establishment of an accurate global biodiversity picture for the south-western lake region in the CAR
Grant Manager: No available information
Funds: No available information

Stabilizing Carbon Emissions in the Sangha Tri-National Forest Complex through Sustainable Financing and Improved Livelihoods (2009 – 2012)
Funder: Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF) (through the Climate Change Funds of Great Britain and Norway)
Objective: Created in 2000 to protect forests rich in biodiversity, the park has integrated a land-use strategy to stabilize forest carbon while generating revenues to reduce poverty in the region. The foundation was created in 2007 as a long-term funding mechanism to support park priorities, including community-based activities
Grant Manager: No available information
Funds: € 661,000

Sustainable Forest Management Program in the Congo Basin – Regional Support to COMIFAC (Programme de Gestion Durable des Forets dans le Bassin du Congo – Soutien Regional a la COMIFAC), 2014-2018
Funder: GIZ
Objective: Improve the technical and organisational capacities of the COMIFAC and other organising bodies, support for a policy dialogue and harmonisation of forest and environmental policies, modernisation of training provided in the forestry and environment sectors, support participatory processes involved in the revision of the COMIFAC Convergence Plan
Grant manager: COMIFAC
Funds: €11 300 000 out of a total €21 716 949 dedicated to the Sangha Trinational and the Dja-Odzaka-Minkebe Trinational (GIZ) (amount dedicated to Dzanga-Ndoki unknown)

Sustainable Forest Management Program in the Congo Basin – Implementation of access and benefit sharing agreements (ABS) in COMIFAC members countries(Programme de Gestion Durable des Forets dans le Bassin du Congo – Mise en Oeuvre de l’APA dans les pays membres de la COMIFAC ), 2014-2018
Funder: GIZ
Objective: Improved development and implementation of ABS regulations in the COMIFAC member countries.
Grant manager: COMIFAC, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Funds: €4 500 000 across all COMIFAC member countries, (amount dedicated to each National Park unknown)

Programme Environnemental et Forestier, 2016-2019
Bailleur de fonds: GIZ
Objectif: Les ministères de l’environnement et des forets, ainsi que leurs institutions spécialistes subordonnées, exercent leurs mandats en accord avec les autres acteurs
Gestionnaire de la subvention: COMIFAC, le Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Protection de la Nature et Développement Durable Camerounien (MINEPDED), le Ministere des Forets et de la Faune (MINFOF)
Montant du financement: € 22 000 000 (le montant spécifique consacré au Parc National de Dzanga-Ndoki n’est pas connu)

L’Alliance contre le Pochage et le Commerce Illégal de la Faune (Ivoire et Corne de Rhinocéros) en Afrique et en Asie , 2017-2020
Bailleur de fonds: GIZ
Objective: Améliorer le combat contre le pochage (à travers secteurs, frontières et continents).
Gestionnaire de la subvention: COMIFAC, le Ministère Fédéral Allemand pour la Coopération Economique et le Développement (BMZ). Mise en application par la Societe Zoologique de Frankfurt, Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS), le réseau de surveillance du commerce de la faune et de la flore sauvages (TRAFFIC), WWF, WCS, et le Fond Global pour la Nature (GNF)
Funds: €8 750 000 à travers l’Afrique et l’Asie (le montant spécifique consacré à chaque pays/Parc National n’est pas connu)

Sustainable Forest Management Program in the Congo Basin, indicated as active
Funder: KfW, The German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Sangha Trinational Foundation (FTNS)
Objective: Contributes to better protection and more sustainable use of forest resources in the Congo Basin. Provides funds to the FTNS to generate higher investment income, so they can finance the operating costs of the national parks. COMIFAC is the initial beneficiary of the budget and forwards the financial contributions as a grant to the FTNS.
Grant manager: COMIFAC, FTNS
Funds: €25 000 000 of a total of €45,500,000 mobilised by KfW (specific amount dedicated to Dzanga-Ndoki National Park unknown)