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

Country: Republic of Congo

Type and IUCN Category: Faunal Reserve (IUCN category: IV)

Size (hectares): 630,000

Date of creation: 26 November 1951

CARPE landscape: Léconi-Batéké-Léfini

Management plan: There is no management plan (IUCN/PACO 2012: 52).

Local communities: Teke, Lari (two Bantu groups) and other Congolese communities live in and around the reserve (IUCN/PACO 2012: 51).

Administration: The Reserve is administered by the Ministry of Forestry and Sustainable Development (MEFDD 2015). Conservation activities are managed by technical advisors from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), as part of the Bateke Plateaux programme (WCS Congo 2016). The Friends of Lefini Faunal Reserve have taken initiatives to develop tourism and ask for an official role in the Reserve’s management in absence of significant investment from the administration and due to lack of staff (Rayden et al 2014: 8).

Biodiversity information: The landscape includes hills and savannas with gallery forests. It is home to elephants, buffalos, and hippopotamus, among other species. However the last inventory was made by WCS in 1996, and there is currently no detailed information about natural resources (IUCN/PACO 2012: 54).

Neighbouring and overlapping extractive industries (Mapping for Rights):

There are no extractive industries bordering or overlapping with the Lefini Faunal Reserve.

Information available on funding:

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

There is no significant investment in Lefini from the forests administration and no operational budget (IUCN/PACO 2012: 52-54; Rayden 2014).

CARPE Phase III, “Central Africa Forest Ecosystems – Léconi-Batéké-Léfini Landscape” (2013-2018)
Funder: USAID
Objective: Central Africa’s transition to climate-resilient, low-emissions development accelerated through sustainable management of biodiverse forests.
Grant manager: WCS
Project area: Léconi-Batéké-Léfini Landscape
Funds: $ 6,549,999 (Specific amount dedicated to Léfini unknown).

Category V and VI protected areas as landscape mechanisms to improve biodiversity on agricultural land, ecological connectivity and the implementation of REDD + measures, 2017-2020
Funder: IUCN (Switzerland)
Objective: Protecting the local development and nature conservation through the improved use of the protected area categories “protected landscapes / marine areas” and “protected areas with sustainable use of natural resources” in four different areas (Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana)
Funds: €4,288,983 across 4 countries (Specific amount dedicated to the Republic of Congo unknown).