Inspiration, discovery and conservation in action from Congo’s wild places.
Across the globe over three billion people rely on coastal and marine biodiversity for their livelihoods, but the ocean is now heavily affected by over-exploitation, climate change and pollution. This year’s theme for World Wildlife Day “Life below water: for people and planet” raises awareness on one of the most important environmental challenges currently being faced: the plight of the world’s oceans....
Pangolins are now considered to be the most trafficked animal, not only in the Republic of Congo, but across the globe. Population numbers of these scaly mammals are declining across Africa and Asia due to the high demand for pangolin scales and meat, which are used in traditional medicine and considered to be a delicacy in countries like China and Vietnam. It is estimated that over a million pangolins have been poached in the last...
The past year has seen some significant advancements in our projects in the Republic of Congo. We were involved in the creation of a new national park in the Bateke Plateau, worked with the Congolese government on the adoption of its National Action Plan for Elephants, and released exciting results showing that the wildlife populations in the areas we work in in northern Congo are stable. Take a look at some more of our 2018...
Conservation of wildlife requires the active support of local people. Ensuring that families tangibly benefit from the protection of wildlife populations is key to garnering support and building a local constituency for conservation. Finding ways to improve the wellbeing and secure the cultural identity of traditional and Indigenous Peoples is a challenge everywhere. In isolated places like northern Republic of Congo families have limited access to markets, lack social services like schools and health clinics,...
Congo’s coastline is dissected by the snaking mass of the world’s second largest river – the mighty Congo - pumping huge volumes of water into the ocean each second. It is here where the warmer more turbid Gulf of Guinea meets the cooler waters of southern Africa. This transition zone encompasses some of the world’s most productive fishing areas, and a wealth of marine biodiversity. Many communities living along Congo’s coastline depend on fishing for...
Hands covered by red rubber gloves clap in time with the women’s song, “Salongo… alinga mosala!” (Work together, we like to work hard!). Members of the community join the singing as they move through Bomassa collecting rubbish and cleaning up the town’s main street. Across the planet attention has recently been drawn to the plastic pollution crisis. We are emptying millions of tons of rubbish into the world’s oceans each year. Noticing an increase in...
Four poachers responsible for killing elephants in the periphery of the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park were sentenced to five years’ imprisonment by the local district court on Thursday the 22nd of November. Leonard Beckou, the gang leader, is a repeat wildlife crime offender, having been arrested twice before in 2015 and 2016. His latest poaching raids were conducted close to local villages, sparking fear within local communities, and highlighting the negative impact of elephant poaching...
On the 9th of November 2018 Her Excellency Rosalie Matondo, the Republic of Congo’s Minister of Forestry Economy; the US Ambassador, Todd Haskell; Paul Sabatine, Mission Director to USAID/DRC; the Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Congo program; and local authorities gathered in Sibiti in the Lekoumou Department to create, by official decree, Congo’s fifth national park - the Ogooué-Leketi National Park. ...
The Republic of Congo is home to 60% of the world’s remaining gorillas. A recent study led by the Wildlife Conservation Society pulled together survey data collected between 2003 and 2013 across central Africa and found that there are many more western lowland gorillas than previously estimated, but many of these gorillas are found beyond the boundaries of protected areas. In northern Congo, in and around the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, several research projects are working...
On Saturday the 8th of September 36 African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) were released from the Bomassa Rehabilitation Centre in the periphery of the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park. These parrots were part of a group of over fifty that had been recovering at the facility since late December last year. ...