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

Country: Central African Republic

Type and IUCN Category: Special Reserve (IUCN category: VI)

Size (hectares): 335,900

Date of creation: 29 December 1990

CARPE landscape: Sangha Tri-National buffer zone

Management plan: A management plan for the 2011-2015 period is available online (MEFCP 2011), however no current management plan was found.

Local communities: Local communities and indigenous people live in and around the Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve. The estimated population is 7,000 people across eight villages (WWF 2013: 15). The main subsistence activities of these communities are hunting and gathering. There are indigenous peoples living in and around the park — semi-nomadic groups in the area establishing temporary forest camps (Woodburne 2009: 9).

Administration: The Reserve is part of the transboundary conservation complex Sangha Tri-National, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012 (UNESCO 2016). The Reserve is administered by the Central African Ministry of Water, Forests, Hunting and Fishing (MEFCP). Conservation activities are managed by technical advisors from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) (Woodburne 2009: 5).

The German Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) has commissioned the German Consulting firm GFA to implement the Protection of nature project in Bayanga (Dzanga Sangha) which includes “planning and sector studies, project implementation, market analyses as well as support/advice for enterprises and administrations” (Dzanga-Sangha Website).

Biodiversity information: Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve includes forests, savannas, rivers and swamps (MEFCP 2011). Large mammals such as forest elephants, forest buffalos, giant forest hogs, gorillas and bongos can be found in large numbers (Dzanga-Sangha Website).

Neighbouring and overlapping extractive industries (MappingForRights):

There are two logging concessions bordering the Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve:

(1) PEA 189 and
(2) PEA 188.

Four mining permits in neighbouring countries are also bordering the reserve:

(1) SAJATA SARL Lobeke 124;
(2) C&K Mining Inc. Mobilong 105;
(3) Permis Reconn HDS in Cameroon; and
(4) Brazzaville Mining & Resources in the Republic of Congo.

Information available on funding:

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

Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) Phase III, 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)
Funds: $5,500,000 (Specific amount dedicated to Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve unknown)

Krombacher brewery, 2003-current
Funder: German brewery Krombacher through the WWF-Krombacher Rainforest Foundation (Sangha – Regenwald-Stiftung).
Objective: Support nature conservation in the Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve
Funds: €3,000,000

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Africa (REDDAF) project, 2011-2013
Funder: European Commission (7th Framework Programme) under grant agreement n° 262775
Objective: Support for the sustainable development of local populations, notably in the Dzanga-Sangha reserve
Project area: CAR and Cameroon
Funds: €2,469,596 (Specific amount dedicated to Dzanga-Sangha unknown).

A sustainable way of life for the population of the Dzangha-Sangha Special Reserve in Central African Republic (Un mode de vie durable pour les populations de la Réserve Spéciale Dzanga Sangha en République Centrafricaine), 2007-2009
Funder: European Commission, among others.
Objective: Support for the sustainable development of local populations in the Dzanga-Sangha reserve.
Grant manager: WWF and Forest Peoples Programme (FPP)
Funds: €780,390 (grant no. 135572) from the European Commission out of a total cost of €1,040,520.

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-Sangha 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)

Sustainable Forest Management Program in the Congo Basin, indicated as active
Funder: 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 (specific amount dedicated to the Dzanga-Sangha National Park unknown)

Sustainable Forest Management Program in the Congo Basin — Investment Measures (Dzanga-Sangha and Nouabale-Ndoki National Parks), indicated as active
Funder: 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 finance necessary investments in the APDS and PNNN national parks as well as technical advisory services for the FTNS and three national parks in the TNS. COMIFAC is the initial beneficiary of the budget and forwards the financial contributions as a grant to the FTNS.
Grant manager: COMIFAC, FTNS
Funds: €5 000 000 (specific amount dedicated to the Dzanga-Sangha National Park unknown)