Lac Télé Community Reserve

• Habitat loss: wildfires regularly set by local communities to create new paths or to clear land for agricultural purposes contribute to the destruction of gallery forests and the silting up of rivers.
• Unsustainable use of resources: overfishing and overhunting of monkeys, crocodiles and ungulates threaten to deplete the protein sources on which communities depend.
• Community remoteness: lack of accessibility means that some communities are entirely reliant on natural resources, and the absence of alternative livelihoods hampers their engagement in conservation.
• Poaching endangered species: criminal trafficking of wildlife products remains the main threat to protected animals, particularly elephants for their ivory.
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Our main objective in supporting the management of the Lac Télé Community Reserve is to ensure that the services delivered by the Reserve’s ecosystems at the local and glo- bal levels are not altered. Our approach is based on four pillars :

PROMOTING COMMUNITY-LED GOVERNANCE

Engaging communities in the governance of the Reserve for a better onwnership of the conservation objectives.

STRENGTHENING RESERVE MANAGEMENT

Developping management actions and tools for biodiver- sity and ecosystem services conservation.

SUPPORTING LOCAL COMMUNITIES

Supporting culturally appropriate solutions to improve use of natural ressources, living conditions and revenue-gene- rating activities.

DEVELOPING ACTION-ORIENTED RESEARCH

Using evidence-based socio-economic and biodiversity data to make sound management decisions.

In 2017, a landmark study revealed the presence of about 145,500 sq km of peatlands in Congo Basin, presumed to store 30 billion tons of carbon. The Lac Télé Community Reserve is home to the largest expanse of peatlands of any protected area in Central Africa. Its preservation is key to limit global warming, on top of regulating the region’s hydrology, significant for crucial wildlife and millions-person metropolises.