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

Country: Gabon

Type and IUCN Category: National Park (IUCN category: not reported)

Size (hectares): 100,000

Date of creation: 30 August 2002 (decree No. 619/PR/MEFEPEPN)

CARPE landscape: Lopé-Chaillu-Louesse. Not covered by CARPE III.

Management plan: There is a national framework management plan for 2006-2020 (ANPN 2006), and the management plan for Waka was one of the objectives for the 2005-2015 period (ANPN 2011), however no document is publicly available.

Local communities: Local communities (Bantus: Tsogho, Akele) and indigenous people (Babongos) live around Waka National Park (Va selopoulos 2016: 35,42).

Administration: The park is administered by the Gabonese National Parks Agency (Agence Nationale de Parcs Nationaux, ANPN). Conservation activities are managed by technical advisors from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The conservation objectives include the biodiversity conservation of Chaillu Massif and its unique landscape, the integrity of Ikobe rift ecosystems and the development of the cultural heritage of local populations (WCS 2007 ; ANPN 2009: 41).

Biodiversity information: The park contains a high diversity of natural habitats (ANPN 2009: 41). A wildlife census conducted in 2005-2006 identified 15 species of large mammals in the park, including forest elephant, forest buffalo, leopard, giant pangolin, six species of duikers, and many primate species (Abitsi 2006: 7).

Neighbouring and overlapping extractive industries (Mapping for Rights):

Four logging concessions border Waka National Park:

(1) concession 01-013 (managed by Compagnie Forestière des Abeilles [Malaysia] since 2005);
(2) concession 01-018 (managed by Rimbunan Hijau [Malaysia] since 2004;
(3) concession 01-017 (managed by Societe Equatoriale d’Exploitation Forestière (SEEF) since 2004); and
(4) concession 01-020 (managed by Industrie Forestière de Lambarene (IFL) [France] since 2005).

One mining permit overlaps with the park, managed by MANAGEM since 2007.

Information available on funding:

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

Monitoring of landscape alteration and assessing risk of forest ecosystem degradation through remote sensing and data spatialisation (2012 – 2013)
(Suivi des modifications du milieu et diagnostic du risque de dégradation des écosystème forestiers par télédétection et spatialisation d’indicateurs, MORIDEF)
Funder: French Global Environment Facility (FFEM) through the GEOFORAFRI programme
Objective: Characterise changes in forest ecosystems, identify and map potential causes of degradation and develop indicators to monitor evolutions.
Grant Manager: Mapping and graphics laboratory, Omar Bongo University (Laboratoire de Graphique et de Cartographie, LAGRAC)
Funds: €24,390 (Specific amount dedicated to Waka unknown)

Enabling effective community participation in the management of national parks in Gabon (2010 – 2012)
Funders: FFEM, Rainforest Fund, others
Objective: To work with at least 20 communities to involve them in park management, with a particular focus on their roles within the management structure and their user rights
Project area: Minkébé, Waka, Pongara and Moukalaba-Doudou
Grant manager: Brainforest
Funds: €91,900 (FFEM: €40,000; Rainforest Fund: €23,000) (Specific amount dedicated to Waka unknown)

CARPE Phase II for the Lopé-Chaillu-Louesse Landscape (2006-2011)
Funder: US Agency for International Development (USAID)
Objective: Conservation of the Lopé-Chaillu-Louesse Landscape.
Grant Manager: Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
Funds: $1,787,500 (Specific amount dedicated to Waka unknown)