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

Country: Republic of Congo

Type and IUCN Category: National Park, IUCN category II, UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve (MAB) since January 1977. RAPAC Pilot Site.

Size (hectares): 1,360,000

Date of creation: Originally protected in 1935 but given full national park status on 10 May 2001 (presidential decree No. 221-2001)

CARPE landscape: Dja-Odzala-Minkebe (TRIDOM)

Management plan: The first management plan was adopted under the ECOFAC programme, originally for the period 2010-2014, but it was only formally adopted in February 2015. It is not publicly available. A new management plan was reportedly adopted in August 2016 but is not available (RFUK and OCDH field work).

Local communities: Bantu local communities and indigenous groups (Baka and Bakola), comprising more than 10,000 individuals, live around Odzala-Kokoua National Park with restricted access for their subsistence (Mavah 2011; RFUK 2016).

Administration: In 2010, the Congolese government granted management responsibilities to African Parks Network. The conservation objectives are to: 1) Ensure biodiversity conservation and the functioning of natural ecosystems; 2) Promote the sustainable use of natural resources in favour of local communities; 3) Valorisation of touristic activities; 4) Support research; 5) Promote environmental education; and 6) Ensure good governance and sustainable funding (IUCN/PACO 2012).

Biodiversity information: According to African Parks Network “Odzala Kokoua harbours some of the last extensive blocks of contiguous, undamaged, lowland forest ecosystems in Republic of Congo that are capable of supporting viable populations of large mammals. The southern part of the park is predominantly a savannah-forest mosaic and forest gallery ecosystem. The centre of the park is dominated by marantaceae forest. Further north, the park is covered by mature rainforest… The biological diversity is exceptional, including more than 400 bird species, 114 mammal species and in excess of 4,400 varieties of plants” (APN, 2015)

Neighbouring and overlapping extractive industries (Mapping for Rights):

The park faces pressures from extractive activities including five bordering logging concessions:

(1) Ngombe, managed by IFO, a subsidiary of the German Danzer group, since 1999;
(2) Tala-Tala, managed by Lebanese company SIFCO since 2005;
(3) Jua-Ikie managed by SEFYD (Chinese) since 2005;
(4) Kelle-Mbomo concession managed by Congo Dejia Wood Industry (Chinese) since 2007; and
(5) Tsama-Mbama managed by the Congolese Entreprise Christelle.

In addition, six mining permits currently overlap with the park. Two permits have been present in the park since 2005, managed by Mining Project Development and Alassane-Geomines. In August 2016 the Ministry of Mines and Energy issued four more permits that allow companies to prospect– or in some cases begin extracting – gold from sections of the park (Mongabay 2016). In December 2016 the Minister of Mines suspended all mining permits in the Sangha (FERN, 2017).The northern portion of oil palm plantation granted to Atama in 2011 also borders the park (RFUK 2013).

Information available on funding:

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

Odzala-Kokoua benefitted from ECOFAC funding from 1992 to 2010, and it was one of the programme flagship sites. It presently has a diversity of funding sources, including the European Union, the Chinese government, RAPAC and WWF-The Netherlands. Records of past donations also exist for CARPE, the World Bank (via GEF), United Nations funds, the Jane Goodall Institute, Conservation International, the Central Africa World Heritage Forest Initiative (CAWHFI), and the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP).Specific grants and projects include:

TRIDOM Project (2007-2014)
Funders: GEF, CBFP, UNF, ECOFAC, JGI, CI
Objective: Conservation of Transboundary Biodiversity in the Minkébé-Odzala-Dja Inter-zone in Gabon, Congo, and Cameroon
Project area: Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Gabon
Funds: in total US$ 44,473,600, including US$ 10,117,500 from GEF and US$ 34,356,100 from other donors. Amount dedicated to Odzala Kokoua unknown

ECOFAC phases I to IV (1992-2010)
Funder: European Union
Objective: Anti-poaching, maintenance and construction of infrastructure, research (ecological monitoring, socio-economic research), writing of management plans and institutional setting, implementation of alternative activities
Project area: Odzala-Kokoua and Lossi Animal Sanctuary
Funds: €2,675,000

Ecological monitoring (2005-present)
Funders: CAWHFI and CBFP
Objective: Ecological monitoring and research
Project area: Odzala-Kokoua and Lossi Animal Sanctuary
Funds: €275,523

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).