Landscapes
Ndoki Likoula Landscape

Covering more than 34,000 sq km, the Ndoki-Likouala landscape is an area of high integrity and low fragmentation, home to 50,000 great apes and 9,500 elephants. It encompasses three conservation areas: the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, the Lac Télé Community Reserve and the Peripheral Ecosystem Management Project. The entire landscape is interdependent in terms of ecosystems and wildlife, including forest elephants that migrate over hundreds of kilometers. However, conservation models are adapted to the context of each area:
Challenges - Image

NOUABALÉ-NDOKI NATIONAL PARK

Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the PNNN is one of the best preserved forests in the Congo Basin. WCS supported its creation in 1993 and has been co-managing it ever since, through a Private-Public Partnership (PPP) since 2014.

PERIPHERAL ECOSYSTEMS MANAGEMENT PROJECT

Since 1999, our conservation efforts have extended to three forest concessions covering 1.3 million ha, thanks to an innovative partnership with a forestry company, Congolaise Industrielle des Bois (CIB), and the Congolese government.

Challenges - Image

LAC TÉLÉ COMMUNITY RESERVE

Sitting on the world’s largest tropical peatland, the LTCR is home to some 20,000 people and exceptional biodiversity. Since 2001, WCS has been co-managing the LTCR, contributing to a coexistence that benefits both wildlife and communities.

OUR APPROACH

CONSERVATION SCIENCE

To support decision-making and evaluate the effectiveness of its strategies, the WCS relies on science. Data collection at long-term research sites, comprehensive wildlife inventories and numerous scientific collaborations guarantee reliable analyses and a better understanding of our impact.

COMMUNITY CONSERVATION

Across the landscape, we promote inclusive and equitable management of natural resources, and improved livelihoods for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. By helping to facilitate access to jobs, healthcare and education, conservation benefits communities, making them key stakeholders.

Image
Image

SOCIAL SAFEGUARD

Tools such as Free, Prior and Informed Consent process and Grievance Redress Mechanisms are the norm for ensuring continuous dialogue and respect for the rights of the communities impacted by conservation. These tools complement our inclusion work and reinforce our Community-Rights Based Approach (CRBA)

WILDLIFE PROTECTION

Our approach to wildlife protection relies on a combination of interlocking elements, including ecoguards with extensive training and annual refresher courses, technological tools for data collection and communication, and intelligence, analysis and monitoring teams to optimize the impact of our landscape-wide efforts.

Image
Image

ONE HEALTH

Our «One Heath» program contributes to the research and prevention of diseases transmissible between wildlife and humans. Our actions include raising awareness of the risk of zoonoses, operating a community-based early warning system, improving diagnostic capabilities and caring for animals seized from poachers.

ENGAGING THE PRIVATE SECTOR

Identifying reliable, long-term private-sector partners in our area of intervention, and forging lasting commitments with them, helps us to sustain our actions and deepen our impact. Our main private-sector partners are Kamba Africa, a tourism partner in PNNN, the World Poultry Foundation, to develop the poultry sector, and CIB, a partner in PROGEPP.

Image
Image

BEYOND THE LANDSCAPE

The Ndoki-Likouala landscape borders several protected areas: the Lobéké National Park in Cameroon, the Dzanga-Sangha Protected Area in the Central African Republic, and Lake Tumba in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is thus part of a transboundary conservation dynamic at the heart of the Congo Basin, covering wilderness areas of global importance for climate change mitigation and the survival of critically endangered species.

DASHBOARD

To learn more about this landscape, click here to visit WCS’s Impact Platform to have an overview of our portfolio of Nature’s Strongholds and find metrics that measure our impact on the world’s wildlife and wild places.

Image