Mr. Richard Malonga has been appointed Director of WCS’s Republic of Congo Program, succeeding Mr. Mark Gately. Richard Malonga’s experience with WCS Congo began almost 25 years ago in 1995, when Richard first worked as a volunteer for WCS, helping to set up our very first database to track bushmeat consumption. He then played a key role in the launch of the PROGEPP project in the buffer zone of Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, an innovative model for wildlife conservation in forest concessions. A model that he later extended to the Ngombe Forest Concession, located in the buffer zone of Odzala National Park. In 2003, Richard Malonga received a WCS/Beinecke scholarship to pursue his studies abroad, at which time he obtained a Master’s degree from the University of Minnesota in the United States. This research was based on the Ecology of the Forest Buffalo in northern Congo.

Upon his return to Congo, Richard played an important role in the creation of two of Congo’s five national parks, conducting feasibility studies in the future Ntokou-Pikounda and Ogooué-Lekiti national parks. In 2014, Richard was appointed Director of Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, and played a key role in the launch of the Nouabalé-Ndoki Foundation’s activities. Over the past two years, Richard has worked closely with Mark Gately and the management team in Brazzaville as a senior advisor on biodiversity and protected areas. This has enabled it to provide technical support to a wide range of national, international and cross-cutting programmes.