Strenghtening the involvement of local communities in the Reserve
With 27 villages and about 20,000 inhabitants, the Reserve is a dynamic territory. Involving the community representatives in the management of the Reserve is crucial to enhance the ownership of the Reserve objectives by local communities.
The presidential decree creating the Reserve in 2001 has set a Steering Comittee in charge of overseing the management of the Reserve. The Committee is made up of 10 members, all representatives of the governement.
To facilitate the dialogue with the local communities, we have supported the creation of an institutionnal body gathering all the community representatives of the Reserve. Officially created in 2020, the Local Management Committee (LMC) represents the local communities and it meets regularly with the Reserve to discuss local development issues.
While Congo committed to marine conservation and fisheries management in 2017, creating its 3 first MPAs in 2022, neighboring Gabon has become a model to follow in the region with the creation of 20 marine protected areas (MPAs) covering 26% of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in 2017.
The deep-water substrate of the Mayumba-Conkouati-Douli transboundary complex supports important populations of large pelagic fish and cetaceans, via the biologically rich edge of the continental shelf, to the shallow waters of the continental shelf itself. Regional collaboration is essential to effectively protect the marine wildlife of both countries.