WWF Gamba technical progress report January-June 2007
WWF Technical Progress Report
|Project Title: |Gamba Programme, Gabon, Central Africa |
|International Project Number: |GA 0007 |
|Reporting Period: |January – June 2007 |
This report contains de following sections:
1. General narrative report
2. Project successes during the reporting period
3. Monitoring matrix
4. Annex with update brief on oil exploration in Loango National Park
Bas HUIJBREGTS
Principal Technical Advisor
PART 1: GENERAL NARRATIVE REPORT
1) Global Thematic Programme, Ecoregional Targets or Global Policy Initiatives: Which targets/ milestones does the project contribute to?
Forests, Fresh Water, Marine & Species (see Gamba Project input in: “CARPO Conservation Strategy and Action Plan 2006-2010”)
Habitats covered by the Gamba Project in the Gamba Complex:
|Marine habitats covered: |200 km of coastline along the Gamba Complex, outlets of lagoons and rivers, mangroves |
|Freshwater habitats covered: |Coastal lagoons, lakes and rivers (appr. 150,000 hectares) |
|Forest habitats covered: |Primary dense rainforest, Old growth secondary forest, |
| |Old growth secondary Okoumé or Saccoglottis forest, |
| |Young secondary forest, Young secondary Okoumé or Saccoglottis forest, Semi-montane forest, |
| |Swamp forest with Raphia, Temporarily inundated swamp forest, Permanently inundated swamp |
| |forest. |
|Other habitats covered: |Papyrus, Low mangrove, High mangrove, Savannah, Savannas and forest galleries, Coastal |
| |vegetation, Swamp |
Wildlife attended to:
|Flagship species covered: |Elephant; great apes (chimp/gorilla); marine turtles (leatherback/green/olive redly), hippopotamus |
|Other indicator species: |forest buffalo, leopard and manatee |
GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT
Project Location
The Gamba Complex of Protected Areas (1°50 - 3°10S; 9°15 - 10°50E), hereafter referred to as the “Complex”, is located in South Western Gabon. Along with the Conkouati area in Congo-Brazzaville, it is part of the Gamba-Conkouati Trans-boundary Forest Landscape selected as one of the eleven critical landscapes by the Congo Basin Forest Partnership launched at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2002 (see: ).
The current total surface area of the Complex is 1,228,144 hectares, including two of the 13 newly created National Parks (NP): Loango NP (Decree N°613/PR/MEFEPEPN of August 30, 2002 – 153,581 hectares) in the North-west, and Moukalaba-Doudou NP (Decree N° 616/PR/MEFEPEPN of August 30, 2002 – 502,805 hectares) in the East. In between these two Parks is an intermediate zone of protected areas totalling 571,758 hectares including the Hunting Reserve of Moukalaba (Arrêté no 1484/MEF/SF-5225 of November 17, 1962), the Hunting Reserve of Setté Cama (Arrêté no 01571/SF-CHPP of December 29, 1966), the Faunal Reserve of the Plaine Ouanga (Arrête no 01571/SF-CHPP of December 29,1966) and what has not been replaced by the NP in the Hunting Reserve of Iguéla (Arrêté no 01571/SF-CHPP of December 29, 1966), the Hunting Reserve of Ngové Ndogo (Arrêté no 01571/SF-CHPP of December 29, 1966), and the Area for the Rational Fauna Exploitation of Monts Doudou (Decree no 105/PR/MEFR of January 23, 1998). Elevation goes from sea level along the 200 km of pristine coastline of the Complex up to 700 meters in the Doudou Mountains within the Moukalaba-Doudou NP.
The Complex overlaps with village territories and community lands for agriculture, hunting and fishing, Gamba town and oil exploitation and exploration permits. A large oil export terminal, operated by Shell Gabon, is located on the coast near Gamba town. Some 30 small villages and settlements with populations ranging from 15 to 350 people are located within and around the Complex. The main towns around the Complex are Tchibanga, Mandji, Moabi, Mayumba and Omboué.
History of WWF presence in the area
WWF’s presence in the Gamba area goes back as far as the 1980s and since 1991 it has been working closely with governmental authorities to manage the Complex. Much of WWF’s initial work focused on the establishment of baseline information. Biological (both terrestrial and fresh water ecosystems) and socio-economic assessments throughout the Complex provided the Gabonese government with the necessary information for the creation, in 1998, of the Monts Doudou reserve within the Complex, followed by the creation of both Loango and Moukalaba-Doudou NP as part of the newly created National Park Network. This increased the total area of the Complex with 96,144 hectares to include, amongst others, formerly unprotected large papyrus swamps to the South of the Nyanga River, which form an important dry season refuge for large concentration of elephants and buffalos.
WWF also provided support to the construction of the Sette Cama Wildlife Brigade; thereby catalyzing the subsequent construction by the Government of the Mourindi and Iguela Brigades (three of the six Wildlife Brigades of Gabon are therefore located in the Gamba Complex). Since 1997, WWF has actively supported protected areas management authorities. Since the start of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership, launched at the Johannesburg Summit in 2002, WWF has been landscape leader for the Gamba-Conkouati trans-boundary forest landscape, one of the eleven priority forest landscapes selected by the partnership.
During this reporting period, WWF Gamba received financial support from the WWF Network, in particular WWF Netherlands and the on-line Gamba website: “Safe the Gamba” (gabon/gamba), the USAID-funded Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) contribution to the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP), the Alice Wheeler Foundation, the United Nations Foundation and the French Global Environment Fund-FFEM thru the Central Africa World Heritage Forest Initiative (CAWHFI), and the US Fish and Wildlife Service for their support to the Gabon National Turtle Partnership.
Biodiversity Value
The Gamba Complex has long been recognized as a key site for biodiversity conservation. The wildlife in the region is abundant with high densities of large mammals such as forest elephant (Loxodonta africana c.) whose population is estimated at 11,000 - 12,000, African forest buffalo (Syncerus caffer nanus), hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), and West African manatee (richechus senegalensis), Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes).
In terms of bird life, Sargeant (1993) has inventoried 380 species in the Gamba region. The most recent inventory of bird life inhabiting the Gamba Protected Areas Complex lists nearly 500 species (Christy, pers. comm.). Christy and Goodman (2004) noted 230 species, including 161 typically forest species in the Monts Doudou Mountain Range, which is also home to little-known birds such as the African green ibis Bostrychia olivacea, the Bates’ swift Apus batesi, the Angola pitta Pitta angolensis, the forest swallow Hirundo fuliginosa and notably the grey-necked rockfowl Picathartes oreas. Two hundred bird species have been inventoried in Loango National Park. They include the loango slender-billed weaver Ploceus subpersonatus, a known coastal species ranging from Gabon to Angola.
All three species of African crocodiles are found in the Complex. The 200 km long coastline of the Complex is of global importance as breeding area for several species of marine turtles, including the leatherback (Demochelys coriacea) and Olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), as well as for important populations of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Other whales species that occur in the coastal waters of the Complex and the nearby Mayumba Marine NP include Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus and killer whale (Orcinus orca).
The presence of sea turtles in Gabon has first been mentioned by Duméril (1860). In 1984, Fretey first recorded the existence of nesting sites of Dermochelys coriacea south of Libreville. Since then, the global importance of Gabonese beaches for the nesting of especially leatherbacks and to a lesser extent to three other species (Lepidochelys olivacea, Chelonia mydas and Eretmochelys imbricata) has been shown on several occasions (Billes & Huijbregts, 2003, Verhage & Moundjim, 2005). WWF Gamba, in collaboration with an EU-funded Central and Western Africa marine turtle monitoring program ‘Kuddu’ and a local NGO called IBONGA (meaning turtle in the local language), started systematic monitoring on a 5.75 km nest beach to the West of Gamba town since 2002, combined with irregular visits along the coastal beaches from Sette Cama down to Mayonami. The beach contains frequently nesting leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea), regular olive ridleys (Lepidochelys olivacea) and rarely visiting green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbills (Eretmochelys imbricata). The Ibonga/WWF turtle camp has become a popular tourism destination for resident Shell-Gabon expatriates, as well as for tourists coming from afar on their way from Gamba to Loango National Park. We refer to the Gamba website (gabon/gamba) for the report of the results of this year’s turtle season (Oct.2006 / April 2007).
The biodiversity value of Moukalaba Doudou NP is of particular significance. The abundance of gorillas and chimpanzees is thought to increase toward the east of the Complex, and according to spatial modelling results of Walsh (2002) reaches peak density in the Monts Doudou, which have the highest recorded density of gorillas in Gabon. Following further joint research between April 2004 and July 2005 by WWF Gamba and the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany, Moukalaba-Doudou NP is believed to be the second most important site for great apes in the world. Preliminary results suggest an average gorilla density in Moukalaba-Doudou of 1.13 individuals/ km². Projected to the entire park (4155km², excluding the Nyanga marshes) this adds up to 4690 individuals (confidence intervals 1168-18826 ind.) (Kuehl et. al. under press).
Moukalaba-Doudou NP also holds one of the last severely threatened protected waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) population in Gabon. Recent inventories of Smithsonian Institution recorded 70 species of amphibians in the Park, compared to 31 in Loango NP. Amongst the Moukalaba-Doudou species, several are new to science. The Park has the highest known amphibian diversity in Western and Central Africa (Pauwels, et al., 2004). The same research inventoried 42 species of reptiles, including at least one new species, in Moukalaba Doudou NP, compared to 36 species in Loango NP.
Fifty-four species of amphibians have been found in the Monts Doudou Mountain Range – a relatively high abundance of species for an African site. They include 6 species new to Gabon; the Hemisus and Kassina genera were also previously unrecorded at this site (Burger et al., 2004). Sixty-six species of amphibians have been found in the Gamba Complex as a whole (Burger et al., 2006).
Ecological Value
The Gamba Complex contains a rich and diverse succession of habitats. Coastal habitats include beaches, and the large Iguela and Ndougou lagoons, mangroves and littoral thickets, coastal forests and savannas. On moving inland, the coast gives way to lowland swamp forests, equatorial rainforest and, in the Monts Doudou, semi-montane forests. The dry-land forests are interspersed with large stretches of mixed swamp-forests and woodland patches in savannas. Grasslands are widespread both along the coast, where they include extensive seasonally flooded savannas and herbaceous swamps. Moukalaba NP partially sits on Kalahari sands of the Bateke Plateau and contains tall grass savannas and wooded grasslands to the north and east.
The relief formations of the Gamba Complex date from the quaternary. Along the coast at the Milango point within the Loango NP, erosive action of the ocean has exposed several fossils such as ammonites and fish. The Complex comprises the two principal soil types found in Gabon: sediment soils along the coast coming from the Congo, Nyanga and other rivers in the region, and ferruginous soils on a crystalline platform. The Monts Doudou mountains, a former Pleistocene rain forest refuge with altitudes between 300 and 700 meters, are a still poorly know (only 2500 specimens collected and held in herbaria) floristic biodiversity hotspot, with 11 % of the total species endemic to the area (Sosef et al. in press).
Socio-economic context
The Gamba Complex has a total population of 9,500 inhabitants and Gamba town is home to 7,200 of them (75%). Gamba grew up around the Shell Gabon oil production facilities attracting both Gabonese and foreign populations. One out of 4 urban household heads is directly employed by the oil companies or their contractors. The indigenous village population (2,300 inhabitants, 0,2 inhab./km2), has been deeply affected by the rural exodus, as in the rest of Gabon. Villages are mainly concentrated in three areas with little communication between them: the Iguela sector to the west, the Mourindi sector to the east and a central sector comprising the Ndougou lagoon, Gamba and Mayonami.
Gamba town developed near Shell Gabon oil facilities in an area where, in the early 1960s, only about ten people lived within a 10km radius. To develop the Gamba-Ivinga concession (1965-1974), Shell Gabon recruited several hundred workers in the surrounding areas and in the rest of Gabon. The policy at that period was to lodge workers in close proximity with the oil facilities. A decade later Shell developed the Rabi Kounga concession. The development of the site between 1987 and 1998 was the second biggest construction project ever undertaken in Gabon after the Transgabonais railway line. Personnel management was based on the “offshore” approach with onsite housing provided for personnel only. As a result Gamba had to house a new population of workers’ families and administrative staff.
The ethnical groups of the coastal basin going from the Rembo Bongo River to the Atlantic Ocean belong to the linguistic group of the Punu, originally from neighbouring Congo. These are the Vili, the Lumbu and the Ngové. Those living in around the water catchments of the Moukalaba-Doudou and Nyanga rivers are called Punu, Varama and Vungu, belonging to the Eshira group (Raponda-Walker et Sillans, 1995) and also originate from Congo (Aleko and Puech, 1988.). However, the Ngové living around Iguela (Northern periphery of Loango National Park) presently speak Nkomi, a Myéné language. Ethical groups are formed around autonomous subdivisions called clans or tribes. Clan membership is manifested through the occupation of a common territory as well as through the respects of common traditions. Clan membership is inherited via a matriarchal system within the coastal tribes, and patriarchal in some tribes in the interior.
The village populations, as well as a large number of Gamba residents, are involved in traditional subsistence activities in the three zones described above. Women tend the crops (manioc, banana, and yam).Total cultivated area per inhabitant ranges between 2,000 to 3,500 m². Hunting and fishing provide a sizeable proportion of animal protein intake, especially in villages. Animal husbandry is virtually non-existent. These activities, which are essential to the survival of the populations, are tolerated in the Gamba Complex although prohibited in protected areas by the Forestry Code.
Importance of Oil and Gas
Although the presence of oil in Gabon was known as early as 1928, the industry properly started in 1957. The oil sector expanded rapidly in the late 1960s and 1970s due to the discovery of the Gamba/Ivinga field, then the largest in Gabon, located in the Sette Cama Hunting Domain within the Gamba Complex, and offshore fields near Port Gentil. Shell began exploration work in the Gamba Complex of Protected Areas in 1960 under the name of “Companie Shell de Recherches et d’Exploitation au Gabon” (COSREG). In August 1963, COSREG discovered oil in a coastal concession near Gamba. This find was followed by a further discovery associated with the same reservoir in Ivinga. The Gamba-Ivinga oil field produced 50,000 barrels/day (b/d) in the seventies and dropped to 7,000 b/d in 2001. By mid 1980s, Gabon’s known reserves had declined and production had fallen to 150,000 b/d. The economic effect of this drop in production was exacerbated by a fall in the oil price. For Gabon the discovery of the Rabi field in the heart of the Gamba Complex in 1985 therefore came at a crucial time as it increased Gabon’s known reserves by 77 percent and reversed the downward trend. Rabi at the time the biggest sub-saharan onshore oil field came on stream in 1987. Production levels reached 240,000 b/d in 1997 (60% of Gabonese crude oil production). Combined daily production levels of all fields operated by Shell-Gabon are currently estimated at 70,000 barrels.
Other on-shore oil fields under production within the Gamba Complex include Atora (Total-Gabon), which has been on stream since 2001 ((15,000 b/d) Echira, Moukouti and Niango (Perenco). The gas reserves of Bende (Shell) supply the turbines of Shell and SEEG power stations in Gamba. Oil and gas exploration permits currently active within the Gamba Complex include Lotus (Sinopec), Eketamba (Transworld) and Nziembou-Dhighe (Perenco). Several other companies are present in the protected areas of the Gamba Complex, who either operate fields themselves or through joint ventures such as Amerada Hess, Transworld, Energy Africa, Marathon, PanAfrican Energy, and Sinopec.
The crude oil is transferred by pipeline to the Gamba and Cap Lopez terminals.
Shell-Gabon and Total-Gabon have shown important efforts to contribute to natural resources management and to limit their environmental footprint. For example, Shell-Gabon is not only ISO-14001 certified, but also currently is developing it’s Biodiversity Action Plan with scientific support from Smithsonian Institution. With help from WWF, it also developed its Shell-Gabon Bushmeat Action Plan. Finally, Shell also works with local and central government, universities, UNEP and WWF on the development of an after oil development strategy for the region (see below).
Serious concerns exist regarding environmental standards of those smaller companies, as well as the arrival of potential new players with less environmental standards such as the Chinese government-owned Sinopec (see section Problems & Constraints and a joint WCS/WWF update briefing note on Sinopec oil exploration activities in Loango National Park, Gabon dated May 21, 2007 in Annex 1).
Although new discoveries were made recently, Shell Gabon will, in the short- to mid-term be confronted with the decline in oil reserves and is in the process of winding down its operations in Gamba. The departure of Shell Gabon will have disastrous consequences on the socio-economic fabric of Gamba and central areas of the Gamba Complex. The withdrawal of Shell and that of its contractors will cause huge job losses and bring about the collapse of the local economy. Faced with a serious decline in fiscal revenues and logistic support the local authorities will have great difficulty maintaining present levels of amenities. Living conditions will deteriorate rapidly as will social cohesion. A sizeable proportion of the population - notably foreigners - affirms they will leave the city once Shell’s departure is confirmed. It is to be feared that city dwellers from the region will compensate the decline in income by a more intense exploitation of natural resources (agriculture, fishing and poaching).
Therefore, and in order to assist in the preparation of the “After Oil Era” for the Gamba region, Shell-Gabon and Shell-Foundation initiated the “After Oil Development Support Programme for the Ndougou Department”, which aims, through a participatory process involving local opinion leaders and other stakeholders, at catalyzing a development vision for the area up to 2015 while simultaneously supporting the creation of small enterprises. This support program is run through a Steering Committee, within which WWF membership focuses on biodiversity and environmental impact issues related to development vision and associated future development initiatives.
Conservation Value
Elephant and ape hunting is illegal in Gabon, however poaching for meat and ivory is next to habitat loss the greatest threat that these species face. For apes, the added threat from Ebola, which has wiped out almost entire populations of gorillas and chimpanzees in northern Gabon, is a serious concern throughout not just Gabon, but all of Central Africa. The ability to protect forest elephants, gorillas, and chimpanzees inside Gabon’s new National Parks and their peripheral zones is the only hope these species have of a long-term future.
With more than 1,200,000 hectares, the Gamba Complex is more than twice as large as the second largest protected area in Gabon (Minkebe NP). Due to its wide variety of vegetation types and floristic species richness, the Gamba Complex offers yearlong food availability of key indicators species such as primates and elephants. The distribution of the elephant population, assumed to be contiguous within the Complex, shows a distinct pattern of seasonal movement, forming high concentrations in lowland swamps and coastal areas during the dry season, and dispersing out into upland terra firma forests in the wet season. This is most likely due to high food availability and easy access into the swamps during the dry season, and an abundance of fruit in upland forests in the wet season. Recent research based on telemetry data from 6 GPS collared female elephants in Loango NP has revealed that elephants can exist in small home ranges in this coastal forest-savannah mosaic for extended periods (Blake, pers. comm.). The Complex, with its large surface area combined with high diversity of habitats, therefore offers a unique opportunity for long-term survival of even wide-ranging species such as forest elephants. Long-term survival of great apes is also likely to be greater in the Complex than anywhere else since it is further from the centres of known Ebola outbreaks than any other large protected area in Gabon, and, unlike in the rest of the country, there are no reports of obvious health problems in gorilla and chimpanzee populations.
Tourism Value
Due to above mentioned exceptional values and attractions, as well as relatively good accessibility in comparison to other National Parks in Gabon, tourism is a growing industry in the Complex, and in particular in Loango National Park. Several new operations started in the last couple of years. Four ground operators currently run lodges around Loango NP; (1) Société de Conservation et de Développement (SCD), working under the name of “Opération Loango” see , (2) Ngavilo, in the northern parts of the Park, and (3) Sette Cama Safaris, see , and (4) Africa Tours (formerly “Gamba Vacances”) in the south. Since November 2006, WWF has been working with Taresika group to prepare the installation of tourism infrastructure in Mouakaba-Doudou National Park (). For progress on tourism development in the Gamba Complex over the past 6 months, see section Tourism Development below.
Up to September 2006, the European Union has been funding a community-based ecotourism development project in the Gamba Complex, the “Programme Sectoriel de Valorisation des Aires Protégées” (PSVAP), which established a partnership with local authorities (Conseil Départemental du Département de Ndougou) and the village of Sette Cama to run the village guesthouse.
The WWF supported local NGO IBONGA-ACPE (), in partnership with management authorities of Loango National Park, have set up a tourism visitors centre at the southern entry of Loango NP.
In this land of the surfing hippo, it is evident that this sector still has considerable growth potential in the region. Also, currently, due to absence of a regulatory and legal framework, very little income from tourism flows back to either park management or local communities.
Direct and Indirect threats
Immediate Threats
The immediate threats to the Complex’ biodiversity include:
• Increased pressures from illegal hunting. About 7,500 people reside in Gamba town, and although their presence is mostly linked to the oil industry, their purchasing power has significantly increased demand for bush meat consumption. In addition, commercial bush meat hunting is a major problem in several parts of Complex, due to relatively close proximity of, and easy access to, the large bush meat markets of Port Gentil, Omboue and Mandji to the North of the Complex, Gamba town, and Tchibanga to the South-east.
• Unsustainable logging operations. Unsustainable logging operations are taking place throughout the landscape, with accidental illegal logging within the limits of the Complex, as well as occasional illegal trans-border logging in the landscape
• Illegal in-shore and offshore fishing. Illegal and unsustainable offshore commercial fishing by a growing national and international fishing fleet and the lack of Government capacity and techniques to monitor these activities is a major threat throughout the landscape. Unsustainable inland fishing by, mainly, illegal foreign fishermen is a major concern in the fresh water systems of the Complex.
• Lack of clear management systems and of human, technical and financial resources. The management authority in the Complex is currently the Ministry of Forest, but a presidential Decree has also created a National Park Council (“Conseil National des Parcs Nationaux”) responsible for supervising the development of the new National Park Network. It is hoped that during the last quarter of 2007, a Law on National Parks will be adopted and a para-statal entity responsible for management of the national parks network created. Today, within the Complex, three “conservateurs” (wardens) have been appointed, 2 of which are based in Loango NP, 1 in Moukalaba-Doudou NP but Park, Wildlife and Fisheries authorities are confronted with a serious lack of human, technical and financial resources, with under-equipped and ill-maintained infrastructures, offices, vehicles and boats. Roles and responsibilities need to be clarified, especially in the intermediate protected zone between the two Parks, as well as regarding interventions in the larger landscape outside the PAs, and the continuity over the various steps of law enforcement is weak. Park staff must be designated, trained and equipped. A GEF/WB-Gabon program is hoped to start at the end of 2007, which would provide direct support to Park and Wildlife authorities in the Gamba Complex as well as in Mayumba Marine NP (see section “significant partnerships” below).
• Oil exploration by Chinese oil company in Loango National Park. On September 13, 2005, an oil exploration contract for the LT 2000 bloc, covering the totality of Loango National Park, was signed between the Government of Gabon and a Chinese oil company called SINOPEC Overseas Oil and Gas Limited. The contract obliges Sinopec, amongst other, to conduct at least 500 km of seismic D2 transects, 100km of D3 seismic transects, as well as to drill at least 2 exploration wells. We refer to section “Constraints” and Annex 1 for more information on the current status of operations of Sinopec in the Park.
• Lack of legal framework for national parks and resulting absence of tourism management, zoning and visitor management plans. As reported in the previous progress reports (Jan/June 2006 and July/December 2006), we are still waiting for the adoption of the Law on National Parks, and the subsequent creation of a para-statal management authority of the national parks network. In the meantime, no legal framework exists to finalize management plans and tourism development plans for the individual parks. Interior regulations for tourism operation in the Parks have not yet been developed. This results in a lack of clarity and confusion amongst operators, park management, local populations and conservation partners regarding, amongst others:
✓ tourism zoning,
✓ level and management of park entry & guiding fees,
✓ conditions for construction, ownership rights and use of light tourism infrastructures in the Park,
✓ tourism planning (carrying capacity, reservations, product development),
Long-term Threats
On-shore oil production is in decline, whereas offshore oil exploitation and exploration activities in the landscape increase. Key threats linked to the decrease of oil exploitation in the Gamba Complex, in particular by the current major operator, Shell, include the risk that:
• lower environmental standards would be applied by smaller or less environmental sensitive operators (i.e. Sinopec), with the correlated increased risks for spills;
• the lack of economic opportunities “after oil” would compel many of the residents to turn to unsustainable exploitation of natural resources.
It is therefore critical that oil companies are closely involved in the planning and development of zoning and management plans for the protected areas, as part of their downsizing or exit strategy. Discussions are also underway to design scenarios for “after-Shell” accessibility to the Gamba area by road. One potential option still on the table is to build a road linking Gamba to Tchibanga cutting through Moukalaba Doudou NP. Another would be to build a road from Gamba to the North of the Complex, through the protected intermediate zones.
Main actors and stakeholders
Both at the national and the international levels, the Complex is seen as a showpiece of Gabon’s potential for nature conservation, tourism development, research and socio-economic development opportunities linked to biodiversity. This has resulted in the presence of a wide range of stakeholders with various objectives and expertise in conservation-related initiatives, and with whom WWF has developed several thematic working relations. Those players include, in particular:
• Started in 2001, the Smithsonian Institution (SI)/Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program (SIMAB) that is implementing in the Complex, with support from Shell, a Gabon Biodiversity Program to increase the knowledge of the country’s biodiversity through research, build national capacity for continued biodiversity work and advance conservation and sustainable development through partnerships among local stakeholders, scientists and industry. WWF and SI both work to support implementation by Ibonga of outreach and tourism promotion activities.
• Shell Gabon is providing support to the Gabon Biodiversity Program and the After Oil Development Support Program (the later in collaboration with Shell Foundation). WWF and Shell current working agenda includes the implementation of the Shell Gabon bush meat action plan and the implementation of the After Oil development project.
• The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). WWF and WCS are closely working together in connection with the Congo Basin forest Partnership and the Central Africa World Forest Heritage Initiative.
• Local groups, in particular the environmental education Association pour la Connaissance et la Protection de l’Environnement - Ibonga and the community-based organization of local fishermen, the Association des Pêcheurs Artisanaux du Département de Ndougou – APDN.
• In the tourism sector: Taresika, Sette Cama Safaris, Africa Tours Operator, SCD, etc.
• In the scientific national and international community: CENAREST, University Omar Bongo, Max Planck, Kyoto University, PROTOMAC, KUDDU, University of Wageningen and the National Herbarium.
Significant institutions, partnerships and programmes of work
This section describes major partnerships and cooperation agreements between WWF-Gamba, the Government of Gabon and other partners.
Apart from its technical assistance work to Park and Wildlife authorities in the 12,000 km² vast Gamba Complex, WWF Gamba is also landscape lead for the Gamba-Conkouati transborder Forest Landscape within the framework of the USAID funded Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE/CBFP) and Unesco’s World Heritage Centre sponsored Central Africa World Forest Heritage initiative (CAWFHI). This entails that WWF Gamba has the contractual obligation to coordinate technical progress in the field by programmes beneficiaries, as well as to coordinate technical progress reporting to the donor. The overall long term objective of CARPE/CBFP is to arrive at an overall land-use plan for this trans-boundary landscape, whereas CAWFHI also aims for nomination on the Natural World Heritage list of key areas within this landscape.
CARPE/CBFP partnership with Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
The first phase of the CARPE/CBFP programme started in October 1, 2004, for a total initial period of 3 years which ended on September 30, 2006, with a total 3 year budget WWF-US allocation for WWF-Gamba amounting to US$ 1,390,000. A second 5 year grant was approuved bu USAID and started in October 2006, with a total 5-year budget for WWF-US of US$ 3,800,000. The consortium for the Gamba-Conkouati Landscape is composed of the right mix of NGOs expertise necessary to address this landscape’s conservation and natural resource management challenges. Consortium members are WWF, who serves as Consortium Lead, and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), who serves as member in Gabon and the component coordinator for the Republic of Congo. WWF’s role includes: 1) overseeing and facilitating planning processes; 2) working with WCS and other partners to guide the development of the Landscape plan; 3) supporting protected area, logging and oil concession and community area management, including institutional strengthening of partners; 4) collecting baseline biological information across the landscape; 5) coordinating landscape database development and assuring linkages to CBFP initiatives such as the annual State of the Congo Basin Forests report (SOF). WCS’s role includes: 1) overseeing implementation in the Republic of Congo component which includes land-use planning; protected area management, working with oil and logging companies to development wildlife management plans, ecotourism development, community based management of natural resources, and monitoring for adaptive management 2) supporting protected area management in Gabon 2) collecting baseline biological information in the landscape.
Partnership with logging industry: Société “Compagnie des Bois du Gabon » (CBG)
CBG is active in the northern periphery of the Gamba Complex and has a “Sustainable Forestry Management Concession” (Concession Forestière sous Aménagement Durable-CFAD) of 350,000ha. The management plan for their concession area has been endorsed by the Government in December 2004. Hunting pressure in the area is heavy, with bushmeat being evacuated to Port Gentil and Libreville. Following discussions between CNPN, local MINEF staff, WWF and CBG management, it was agreed in early 2006 that WWF would assist the company with the development and implementation of its Wildlife Management Plan, within the framework of their overall management plan.
CBG is also preparing for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, and underwent successful pre-audits in 2006 and 2007.
CBG also has a CFAD of 180,000ha to the south of the Gamba Complex, which it will start to exploit between 2008 and 2010. Thus, with a total area surface of 540,000ha of forest concession under sustainable forest management in the heart of the Gabon segment of the Gamba-Conkouati landscape, this landscape has a huge opportunity to reconcile forest conservation and sustainable exploitation over an area half the size of the Netherlands.
Currently, WWF and CBG have finalized a collaboration agreement, which is currently being studied by the Government for its signature in August 2007. This has set the stage for WWF involvement in the concession area within the framework of the funding to WWF from the Fonds Français pour l'Environnement Mondial (FFEM) in support of the Central Africa World Heritage Forest Initiative (CAWHFI). The FFEM component of CAWHFI was adopted by the FFEM Council in November 2005 and started in March 2006 for a period of 3 years, with a total 3 YR budget for WWF-Gamba of Euro 242,000. First activities under this project have started, and WWF Gamba just opened a new field office to serve its goals in the local town of Mandji.
Partnership with oil and gas industry: Shell-Gabon
The purpose of WWF-Gamba relation with Shell-Gabon is to strengthen understanding of respective interests and optimize synergies for improved conservation and sustainable management of natural resources in the Gamba Complex. The current working agenda is focussed around two major themes; the Shell Gabon Bushmeat Action Plan, and the Shell Sustainable Livelihoods Program within the framework of Shell Gabon exit strategy.
The Bushmeat Policy, which implementation gradually started as of May 2004 and following a proposal of WWF, affirms Shells Zero Tolerance for bushmeat trade, bushmeat consumption in its restaurants, and bushmeat transport in its vehicles and on flights in and out Gamba airport.
The purpose of Shell’s Sustainable Livelihoods Program is to identify and implement a diversity of income generating initiatives that enhance the sustainable livelihoods of people living in and around Gamba town while assuring the long term management and protection of biodiversity in the Gamba Complex. Its objectives are to;
▪ Build scenarios for the Gamba region that consider alternative “after-oil” futures, by assisting local stakeholders to consider regional development needs as well as by stimulating new development opportunities,
▪ Provide appropriate training skills and support to local people so as to maximize opportunities for non-oil related employment in Gamba,
▪ Promote local economic diversification through business development and micro-finance support targeting the start-up or growth of non-oil related small-enterprises in ways consistent with the strategic management framework for the Gamba Complex of protected areas, and to,
▪ Support improved long term biodiversity protection and sustainable use of natural resources in the Gamba Complex.
In October 2004, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to set up a Steering Committee responsible for supervising the implementation of this program, and including Shell Gabon, Shell Foundation, WWF Gamba, le Fonds d’Expansion et de Développement des petites et moyennes Entreprises, Omar Bongo Ondimba University, National Empoyment Office, The After Oil Reflection Committee (local NGO), and the Municipality of Gamba Town. WWF’s role in the steering committee of this programme is to provide technical support on all issues related to biodiversity conservation arising in the course of the program’s implementation. During this reporting period, membership of the Steering committee was extended to include UNPD and the Ministries of Planning and Oil.
Coordinated management planning for the Gamba Complex and the Gamba Conkouati Forest Landscape
Following the creation in 2002 of the two National Parks within the limits of the existing configuration of eight protected areas within the Gamba Complex, three Park Wardens (Conservateurs) were appointed to Loango and Moukalaba-Doudou National Parks. This resulted in a more complex management configuration than before. Thereto, WWF initiated a series of consultations with CNPN, MINEF and other conservation partners to create a Technical Management Committee (CTG) and an Executive Committee (CE) for the Gamba Complex and proposed the terms of reference and composition of both committees. This coordination structure was endorsed by CNPN in December 2004. Since then, the CTG catalyzes the implementation of coordinated work of all parties active in the Gamba Complex. Pending finalization of the Management Plans for the national parks as well as the finalization of the restructuring process of the management authority in charge of National Parks, the members of the CTG are the 3 Conservateurs, the Head of Gamba Fisheries Brigade, WWF Project Manager and one other representative, WCS Project Manager, SI Project Manager, a Representative of Shell-Gabon, a representative of local government, and two representatives of local NGOs. Since its creation, the CTG meets bi-annually, whereas its Executive Committee meets on a quarterly basis on a rotational basis in Gamba, Tchibanga and Omboué. The latter is composed of the three (3) Conservateurs of the Gamba Complex, the Principal Technical Advisor of WWF-Gamba, the Project leader of WCS-Iguela and the Project leader of Smithsonian Institution in Gamba.
Since July 2005, the CTG has been enlarged to include all conservation partners in the Gabon segment of the Gamba-Conkouati Forest Landscape: the Conservateur of Mayumba National Park, the Project leader of WCS-Mayumba, and the Head of the Provincial Inspection of MINEF in the Nyanga Province. Also, since September 2005, three (4) cross-border landscape meetings have been organized with government and NGO participants of all protected areas within the landscape, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Water and Forests. The most recent landscape meeting took place in March 2007 in the margin of the annual steering committee meeting of the CAWFHI initiative in Libreville, Gabon. During the meeting, update versions of proposed draft action plans were discussed to address cross border threats to the landscape (illegal coastal trawling, off-shore oil pollution, marine & turtle research and protection, and illegal cross-border logging and poaching), as well as a draft Landscape agreement, prepared by WWF.
Other partnerships
WWF also works with;
• the local environmental education NGO Ibonga regarding environmental education, outreach, handicraft development, turtle work and the creation of a Loango National Park Visitor’s Centre and tourism guiding service,
• a local tourism lodge located to the south of Loango National Park called Sette Cama Safaris regarding joint use of their generator between their lodge and the Sette Cama Wildlife Brigade,
• MaxPlanck Institute in Leipzig regarding great ape inventories and ecological monitoring,
• The National Forestry School (Ecole National des Eaux et Forêts – ENEF), regarding financial and scientific support to field work and theses of their students,
• Local and national written press, radio and television.
Upcoming GEF/WB’s support to Gabon’s Forest and Environment Sector Program (PSFE)
The PSFE is piloted by the Gabonese Ministry of Forestry and Environment and builds on work already done by national working groups on forests, biodiversity, environment and tourism. The long term objective of the PSFE program is to help the country move away from oil dependency and to diversify the national economy on the basis of sustainable management of forests, fisheries and biodiversity resources. The objectives are of an economic, environmental and social nature and are articulated around 5 components: (i) Sustainable forest management, timber industry and community forestry, (ii) Biodiversity, national parks, and wildlife management, (iii) Fisheries and coastal zone management, (iv) Environmental goods and services and (v) Institutional strengthening, research and training.
The GEF/WB project will support PSFE component (ii). The objective statement is; “Biodiversity is protected and managed in a sustainable way and contributes to the diversification of the national economy, through strengthened capacities of parks and wildlife authorities”. By working in national parks and surrounding buffer zones and production landscapes the GEF intervention will adopt an integrated approach to biodiversity conservation. Implementation of concrete on-the-ground activities will strengthen organizational and operational capacities of national parks and wildlife authorities (the ANPN and the Ministry of Forests - MEFPEPN).
The project Appraisal Document on a grant from the GEF in the amount of US$10.0 million to the Republic of Gabon for the five-year project “Strengthening Capacity for Management National Parks and Biodiversity” was signed on March 6, 2006.
The PRODOC document was mainly written by an international consultant with long-term expertise in Gabon and Central Africa (Conrad Aveling). WWF Gabon (Brigitte Car-Dirick and Bas Huijbregts) have provided significant input to the document, resulting in important support by GEF to one of the 2 main WWF intervention sites in Gabon, the Gamba Complex of Protected Areas through component 3 of the grant: “Support to Selected National Parks”. The estimated cost of that component is US$ 8.87million, the Government’s estimated contribution is US$1.4, the external partners’ estimated contributions is US$ 2.25 and GEF contribution is US$ 5.22 million. As indicated in the Appraisal Document attached, it is expected that the Government of Gabon will sub-contract WWF for about US$ 1.65 under this Component.
Implementation of the GEF grant is subject to several conditions including the adoption of the abovementioned draft Law on National Parks and the appointment of key managers for the future National Parks Agency.
PART II: PROJECT SUCCESSES DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD
Flagship Species successes
(1) Marine Turtles
Since 2002 WWF has been training local staff to monitor marine turtle activities on the beach in the South West of Gabon, together with the local NGO Ibonga (). For the fifth consecutive season, a part of the world’s largest leatherback nesting population is being closely monitored to unravel the mostly still unknown population dynamics, foraging behaviour, nest ecology and threats by a six man strong team every night during the six months nesting period (October-March). Though olive ridleys are also present and even green turtles and hawksbills are recorded occasionally, the main focus of this programme is on leatherbacks because of their predominant presence in the area. The main objective of our Marine Turtle Programme is to conserve marine turtles by assisting the Government of Gabon in developing capacity to effectively manage the parks and reserves in the Gamba Complex by protection, monitoring, scientific research, building capacity and awareness raising.
Methodology
The Monitoring Programme is executed on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. The daily monitored zone is 5,75 km of beach near Gamba. 75 km of beach to the north and south of the daily monitored zone, is monitored on a weekly basis by quad. During the 2005/2006 and the 2006/2007 (last) season, the whole Gabonese coastline is monitored by plane every month between November and March in cooperation with all the partners of the “Marine Turtle Partnership of Gabon (see MTU 2)”. Thanks to increased funding from USFWS Marine Turtle Act for the Marine Turtle Partnership for this season (2006-2007), not only the aerial surveys, but also joint awareness raising material and capacity building to create a state owned national database were integrated in the Partnership’s budget.
Monitoring
Monitoring results show that leatherback nesting numbers are varying every year. Five years of monitoring effort is too short to be able to predict any population trends. In comparison, in Suriname long term data collection shows that the nesting population changes in numbers every year, but an upward trend can be confirmed after 37 years. A continuous monitoring programme is therefore of utmost importance in Gabon to confirm any conservation success or to suggest different protection approach.
Aerial surveys
Field presence of turtle conservation partners on four different sites in Gabon, i.e. Pongara, Iguela, Gamba and Mayumba, covers about 20% of the total Gabonese coastline of 800 km. The different teams record annual fluctuations on each site, but to confirm whether these are due to in-country migration or country or region wide fluctuations, a larger stretch of coastline needs to be monitored. The same goes for population estimates, as nest densities vary along the coast, data from the different field sites can not simply be extrapolated for the entire Gabonese coast to calculate the marine turtle nesting population for Gabon. Aerial surveys are therefore an important tool for marine turtle conservation, not only to observe change in marine turtle nesting patterns and to estimate the nesting population on 800 km of coast but even so to collect data on pollution (oil and tree trunks), habitat change and trawler fishing. In the 2005-2006 nesting season three aerial surveys have been executed per (peak) season with an average interval of one month. During the 06-07 season, three nation-wide aerial surveys have also been executed using the same protocol, in cooperation with Claude Caillet, a French forester, as our pilot in his Chesna aircraft.
Profound data analysis is still in process by Matthew Witt at the University of Exeter, but first results show higher densities of leatherback nests during the 06-07 season compared to the 05-06 season (table and graph below). The total number of nests counted during the last season has doubled compared to the 05-06 season. Beach survey data from the Gamba beach does not confirm this same trend (see graph above), meaning that the three days the aerial surveys were conducted are not fully representative for the overall seasonal nest densities for the entire coastline. Though other beach sites will probably confirm the trend the aerial surveys indicate.
The distribution of leatherback nests along the Gabonese coast is mostly concentrated in the four sites were field teams are present including an area south of Port Gentil. The maps below also show that distribution patterns don’t change significantly through the season.
For the entire season a total of 84,000 nets can be estimated. Considering an average of 5 nests per season per female we can consider that 16,800 individual female leatherbacks have used the Gabonese coast as nesting habitat during the last nesting season, stretching from November 2006 till March 2007.
These figures confirm that Gabon receives the largest leatherback population in the world.
For comparison, Hilterman and Goverse (2002) estimated 30,000 nests in Suriname in 2001, 15,000 in French Guyana, and a total of approximately 50,000 in Suriname, French Guyana and Guyana combined (Angela Formia, 2005). Even when using the same calculations for the 05-06 season a total of 43,000 nests, resulting in 8,600 female leatherbacks are estimated. This is still the largest nesting population recorded within the borders of one nation.
| |Season 05-06 |Season 06-07 |
|December |638 |594 |
|January |310 |949 |
|February |118 |584 |
|Total |1066 |2127 |
[pic]
Threats
Human activities in the Gamba Complex mostly concern egg poaching, as well as pollution of the beach with trash, light and oil. Thanks to long term field presence (since 1985) of the MEF (Ministry of Forest Economy), WWF and since 1999 also Ibonga, human activities are not at a level that endangers the survival of marine turtles in Gamba today. However important numbers of dead turtles are found every year on the beaches in the south of Gabon between September and October. This might be caused by a combination of several still very little monitored marine threats (i.e. fisheries, pollution). The greatest threat to the eggs and the hatchlings on the beach are natural threats; erosion, inundation, destructive roots and predation. The common predators are ghost crabs, monitor lizards and civet cats (Livingstone, 2007[1]). The hatchery has showed its effectiveness to protect the eggs from these threats and served at the same time as a tool to raise awareness amongst school children and tourists. The nest temperatures were higher in the nests in the hatchery than on the beach which led to shorter incubation periods. The temperature was not so high as to cause an impediment for development of the eggs, as the hatching success was comparable.
Migration
To get an insight in intra and inter-seasonal migration, external (Monel) tags and transponder (PIT) have shown that leatherbacks covered at least 100 km during intra-seasonal migrations and that inter-seasonal migrations covered the whole Atlantic basin. The latter was proved by the capture of a leatherback near the coast of Argentina in 2005 tagged in Gamba in 2003 (Billes et al. 2006). Furthermore WWF-LAC initiated the Trans Atlantic Migration Programme which is now entering his second year with two of the three satellite transmitters deployed on nesting leatherbacks in Gabon still operational and showing the extraordinary migration of the heaviest reptiles in the world. The two leatherbacks have travelled towards the coast of Brazil and seem to be on their way back to Gabon now, after only one year. See:
Thanks to funding of the European Union through RAPAC (Réseau des Aires Protégées d‘Afrique Central), the Dutch Cooperation through CAFPAP (Central African Forest and Poverty Alleviation Programme), the Dutch committee of IUCN and the United Nations Foundation through CAWFHI (Central African World Forest Heritage Initiative) WWF and Ibonga continue to work towards long term marine turtle monitoring to protect locally, to contribute nationally and to safe globally.
(4) General ecological monitoring with emphasis on flag ship species
At the start of FY06, WWF, WWF, in partnership with Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Department of Primatology of the German Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, finalized an innovative ecological monitoring protocol for Loango National Park (153,581 hectares). This innovative research methodology was adopted from the successfully tested great ape inventories research framework done in Moukalaba-Doudou National Park mentioned above. This monitoring protocol does not only serve to map the abundance and distribution of the key wildlife species, but also monitors human activities and their impact.
Six (6) more missions have been organized by WWF during the reporting period in the North of the Loango National park to help WCS to finish this larger part of the Park to be fully monitored, especially to serve as baseline data to measure the impact of the exploration activities of the oil company Synopec, who started the first activities in the park in July 2007.
Example of data analysis of the Loango NP data set: Elephant dung piles per km² (WWF, 2007)
PROGRESS ON OTHER FIELD ACTIVITIES
Overall, during the reporting period, the WWF Gamba Project established 140 mission orders, totalling 2656 man/days of field missions. For fiscal year 2007, this gives a total of 246 mission orders, resulting in a total field effort of 4490 man/days of field missions.
Table 1 below shows the number of man/days per intervention zone of the project, as well as per different types of missions corresponding to the organizational structure of the project. The intervention zones are aligned with the management zones for the Gamba Complex as proposed by a team of consultants in December 2003[2], (see map above).
Table 1: Number of missions per type and intervention zone expressed in man/days of WWF-Gamba from January to June 2007
| |Intervention Zone |Total |
|Department |Multiple Use Ecological Corridor |
|Confiscations |July - December 2006 |January – June 2007 |Totals FY 07 |
|Guns |22 |17 |49 |
|small game guns |19 |26 |45 |
|large game rifles |3 |1 |4 |
|Animals |32 |18 |50 |
|non-protected species |22 |23 |45 |
|protected species |11 |-6 |5 |
|Ammunitions |78 |59 |137 |
|small game |68 |52 |120 |
|large game |10 |7 |17 |
|Traps/snares |77 |364 |441 |
|small game |30 |177 |207 |
|large game |47 |187 |234 |
|Elephant tusks |0 |2 |2 |
|Chainsaws |2 |0 |2 |
Furthermore, 26 hunters were arrested during the reporting period. Also, eleven (11) poaching camps were destroyed, and 39 monofilament fishing nets were confiscated.
Human/Wildlife Conflict support
The partnership created with Haliburton-Gabon, the company that works as a contractor for Shell Gabon and maintains the oil wells in the area, has been continued and the use of iron flow lines to clean the oil pipes going into the wells have proven to be of excellent use in protecting agricultural plantations against crop raiding elephants during a six month testing period.
During the reporting period, 2 new community slash-and-burn agricultural plantation sites (Panga and Loubomo) have been added to the existing protected plantations by WWF/MINEF teams, in order to assist the farmers in setting up collective protection systems.
Also, agreements were developed by WWF that aim to set the rules for WWF/MINEF support to farmers, clearly specifying engagements of both the farmers and WWF/MINEF, in order to promote implication of local communities within these self defence systems prior to receiving of financial, material or technical support by WWF.
Socio-economic monitoring
Together with our ecological monitoring team, WWF socio-economical team executed one mission to the village of Igotchi to map the current social situation and to map all existing infrastructures and buildings, as well as to collect baseline data on selected species (great apes, elephant, large antelope, buffalo) and sites for tourism purposes to serve as a base line for the proposed tourism development in the area by Taresika (), which is meant to implicate the local population in all tourist activities including agricultural development, guiding, labour for construction and hospitality.
Assistance to traditional fisheries
The Gamba Complex counts more than 150,000 hectares of open fresh water bodies (lagoons, rivers). In the main town Gamba, fishing is the second most important economical activity for its inhabitants after oil. Because of the downsizing of the oil industry, traditional fisheries might be of the only income generating activities left for the local communities. In order to prepare an economical future for the area, and in order to avoid a potential important increase in illegal hunting when the oil runs out, WWF is working with local fishermen to set up a sustainable local fishing industry. Before stimulating local fisheries, WWF needed to get an insight in productivity of the coastal area and off-take efforts. To do so, WWF helped to organize the fishermen, and to jointly monitor their activities. A local fishermen’s association (APDN) was created, and this association extended its number of members throughout the villages along the Ndogo lagoon and lower Nyanga river and, helped by WWF, set-up a micro credit scheme. Members of the association can get fishing nets, ice boxes and motor parts from the association, which have to be paid back (in fish). The members of the association sell most of their catch in their own shop which is generating profits from which all the members benefit in terms of necessary equipment or reparations. In this way the association unites local fisherman around an economic incentive and at the same time their off take efforts can be monitored through the sale through their shop.
During the reporting period an additional two students from the ENEF (National School for Water and Forestry) have been contracted to analyze the existing available monitoring data collected by the APDN, the Fisheries Brigade and the WWF and the possibility to improve the functioning of the APDN. A consolidated approach was proposed by adapting the different existing data collection protocols to create a more coherent monitoring scheme, and the constraints to further develop the APDN were mapped and future steps proposed.
The lack of tradesman ship, knowledge on international hygiene and the inability to properly conserve fish straight after capture are three of the main factors that hinder the local fishing industry in the area to exploit this abundant resource more efficiently and export it to the rest of the region. A more organized fishing industry also facilitates the implementation of a monitoring scheme.
Therefore a collaboration between WWF and the Sodexho Company has been initiated which will entail training of local fishermen (of the APDN) on general hygiene to be able to sell their fish to Sodexho, which is the main supplier of food for Shell and his contractors, and to reinforce the local capacity on commercialization and conservation of fisheries products in the Ndogo Lagoon and the Nyanga river.
Outreach and environmental education
Since 2.5 years, all education and outreach activities that fall within WWF Gamba Programme’s objectives are outsourced to the local environmental NGO called Ibonga-ACPE (). During the reporting period, Ibonga has again been very productive and have has again expanded its team by the recruitment of a technical director, a handicraft manager, a tourist guide and a manager for the Loango NP visitor’s centre from August 2007 onwards.
The final evaluation and testing of the environmental curriculum for primary schools developed by Ibonga has taken place which will be fully implemented as from next year onwards in schools in the Gamba Complex.
The concept of the “Conservation Road Show” has been also finalized aiming to raise awareness on nature conservation using a puppet theatre, projection of films, presentations by agents of the Water and Forest Ministry on protected areas and several posters, brochures and publication, including a document with the Gabon Forestry Law, the Environment Law, the creation decrees of the national parks in the Gabon segment of the Gamba-Conkouati Landscape, and application decrees on hunting and wildlife management. During the reporting period, Ibonga’s first road show visited 6 villages and reached around 750 people and was a great success. The second mission has been executed in the largest towns in the Gamba Complex, Gamba and Tchibanga before and after World Environment Day with a participation of 1200 school children in Gamba and at least 600 in Tchibanga.
World Environment Day has become to be one of the largest yearly manifestations in Gamba. This year organized for the sixth time in Gamba and for the second time in Tchibanga. In Gamba at least 2500 people participated in the different events such as the opening ceremony, information stands, sport tournaments, city cleanup, and the closing ceremony animated by national celebrities attracted at least 1000 spectators, which is quite remarkable considering a total population of 7000 for Gamba town.
Training
The WWF-Gamba staff has benefited from several trainings during this reporting period. Form 19 to 21 February the WWF Data Base Manager followed the WWF Introduction Course in Gland.
The Database Manager benefited furthermore from a two-week GIS training (April 11-23) at the “Cybertracker Conservation Programme” head quarters in Cape Town, South Africa. The training, funded thru the EU-Cybertracker programme, aimed to update our GIS specialist on the new software and hardware required by the project and used during all field missions to constantly update the regional database.
The Database manager further trained at his turn 6 field staff to the use the new palm top equipment and software (Cybertracker version 3.0).
The WWF Gamba accountant was given an ACCPAC training in February. The training took place at the Country Programme Office in Libreville for all WWF accountants in Gabon and was given by our regional IT manager.
WWF also supported the mission cost for training for the head of our Anti Poaching Unit from May 7 to 21 at the National Training Centre in Lopé. The training was organised by ENEF (Ecole National des Eaux et Forêts) and ERAIFT (Ecole Régionale post-universitaire d’Aménagement et de gestion Intégrés des Forêts et Territoires tropicaux) on the implication of local population in protected area management and ecotourism.
Five National Students of the National School for Water and Forests (ENEF) were also tutored by the different Unit Managers of the Gamba programme during their field work and thesis (May, June and July). They thereby contributed to the programme by (i) developing a database for tourism management for the Loango Visitors Centre, (ii) studying the effectiveness of the environmental curriculum in the local schools, (iii) studying behaviour and habituation of the red capped mangabey monkey and (iv-v) the development of the fisheries sector.
Tourism development
Significant progress was made on two fronts; (i) the creation of the tourism visitors centre at the southern entry point of Laongo National Park, and (ii) collaboration with a group of Dutch tourism investors Taresika () to start model ecotourism operations in Moukalaba-Doudou National Park.
Loango Visitor Centre
In collaboration with national park authorities, the local NGO Ibonga and tour operators, significant progress was made to set up a tourism visitors centre at the Sette Cama Wildlife Brigade at the southern entry point of Loango National Park.
Progress was made in the following areas:
• Construction of extension of buildings (see photo to the right);
• 2 working sessions with park management and tour operators on TOR of the Centre and establishment of tented camp in the centre of the Park,
• Creation of list server for all actors involved to exchange information (tourisme_loangosud@yahoogroupes.fr);
• Permanent exhibition on marine turtles thru 12 interpretation panels,
• Assistance to Ibonga in fundraising with local Bank.
Taresika
Tariska is “committed to rural development and nature conservation in Gabon. To proof that a new way of development is possible. Increase economic activity whilst conserving Nature and convince the Gabonese people that their natural resources are of strategic and probably in the long term of immeasurable value within a global context. The concept is directed towards upmarket eco-tourism developments in Gabon national parks with the accent on intercultural exchange and personal development of the local population. Furthermore we foresee cooperation with different NGOs to enhance research, protection and conservation of national parks” (see: ).
Over the reporting period, WWF Gamba has been working with this group of Dutch investors in the following areas;
• Development of legal documents (cahier de change and convention de concession),
• Joint scoping mission to the proposed concession area near Igotchi rapids, Moukalaba-Doudou National Park,
• Developing areas of collaboration between Taresika and a community-based eco-tourism and conservation NGO called PROGRAM in the village of Doussala, Moukalaba-Doudou NP,
• Facilitation of contacts between investors and local and national authorities and local communities,
• Development of technical documents and detailed maps (see above),
• Socio-economic and ecological monitoring missions in their proposed concession area to inventory (i) presence, relative abundance and spatial distribution of key tourism species (great apes, elephants, large antelopes, and forest buffalo), (ii) presence of exceptional natural tourism features (i.e. natural clearings in the forest, salt licks, swamps, rapids, etc.) and (iii) mapping of potential hunting pressure, and (iv) mapping of all existing infrastructures and buildings.
PROBLEMS AND CONSTRAINTS
Institutional change and friction at the National Level: Three of the 13 National Parks, the Loango National Park, the Moukalaba-Doudou National Park and Mayumba National Park, created by the President of the Republic of Gabon in August 2002 are located in the Gabon Segment of the Gamba-Conkouati Landscape. Since their creation, an inter-ministerial council (CNPN), lead by the Presidency, has been charged to establish an overall national parks management framework and legal structure. As reporting in the previous reports, the creation of the CNPN has continued to lead to important conflicts between the Ministry and CNPN. The roles and responsibilities of the Ministry, previously fully in charge of protected areas, and of CNPN that is responsible for supervising the development of the National Park Network, still remain to be clarified. This tension continues to cause delays in the decision making process and has made assistance to Government for joint CNPN/MINEF/WWF action outside the geographical limits of the National Parks difficult. Also, Presidential elections were held in Gabon in December 2005, following which a new government has been appointed in January 2006. Legislative elections were held in December 2006, and another new government has been appointed on January 25, 2007. Institutional changes in the field of wildlife and protected area management in general, and regarding national parks in particular, were expected and reported during the Progress Reports of June-December 2005, January-June 2006 and July-December 2006. Law on National Parks which was expected to be adopted by Government during the first quarter of 2006, including the subsequent creation of a para-statal organization in charge of the management of the National Parks network, has still not been adopted. The current hope is that this will be done during the last quarter of 2007.
Oil exploration in Loango National Park
During the reporting period, WWF-Gabon has informed the WWF Network and its partners on an ongoing basis regarding progress on this very sensitive file. Annex 1 shows the latest briefing note WWF prepared in collaboration with WCS: “Update on Sinopec oil exploration activities in Loango National Park, Gabon, Briefing Note – May 21, 2007”.
Also during the reporting period, and following 32 hours of meetings between Sinopec, the Ministries of the environment and Hydrocarbons, Sinopec, CNPN and WCS and WWF, both conservation organizations were mandated by the Ministry of the Environment to audit the Environmental and Social management Plan (ESMP) of Sinopec. Thereto, WCS on behalf of both organizations submitted project proposal to USFWS Great Ape conservation Fund in June 2007 entitled Environmental and socio-economic audit of SINOPEC oil exploration activities in Loango National Park, Gabon (ref. GA-0424), which has been accepted. This will allow both organizations to have a permanent team on-site to control Sinopec’s mitigation measures, as written in their Environmental Impact assessment and ESMP. This team as been on site since June 2007.
Unexpected effects
As explained in the section “oil exploration” above, the fact that WCS and WWF have been mandated by the Government of Gabon to audit the environmental impact assessment and social and environmental management plan of the Chinese oil company Sinopec in Loango NP, has been a major breakthrough in trying to find suitable compromises between Gabon’s biodiversity conservation and development goals.
Learning and Sharing
See section on training above.
Adaptive Management
Nothing in particular to report
Communications/ Stories
Online appeal
The innovative on-line funding appeal for the Gamba Complex: “Safe the Gamba”, launched in early 2006 (see gabon/gamba) through a very positive collaboration between the communication department of WWF International and WWF Gamba, has yet again resulted in several thousands of CHF for Gamba. Particular thanks go again to Ste Drayton and his team, who not only made a great job of this website, but who also maintains regular contacts and provides feedback to the investors in Gamba. Thanks again Ste!
Communication tools developed
During this reporting period, the following main tools were developed, either by WWF Gamba itself, or through active participation of WWF Gamba;
• Ibonga, the local environmental education association, finalized their website: .
• Ibonga finalized editing of their conservation awareness raising movie, filmed by international conservation filmer Sarah Matthews and 4 local kids,
• A WWF awareness raising brochure and poster have been developed, showing general information about the Gamba Complex and WWF activities, as well as the principal protected animal species in the region and rules and regulations regarding their capture.
Future Issues/ Challenges
Institutional change process on the national level:
As mentioned in the former Progress Report and above, the creation of the CNPN has led to important conflicts between the Ministry and CNPN. The adoption of a new government in January 2006, as well as the adoption of the Law on National Parks and the creation of a para-statal agency responsible for the management of the Parks, will heavily influence WWF-Gamba’s intervention capacity, and mainly in the fields of management planning for Loango and Moukalaba-Doudou National Parks, zoning and management planning for the Gamba Complex, support to the development of a tourism plan for Laongo National Park, as well as concerning it’s CARPE landscape lead role for coordinated action in the Gabon segment of the Gamba-Conkouati Landscape.
Sustainable eco-tourism development:
As reported in the three previous Progress Reports, awaiting the adoption of the Law on National Park in Gabon and the subsequent creation of the institution in charge of the management of the national parks network, no legal mechanisms exist that guarantee that tourism activities and revenues contribute to park management and local communities. Current tourism development initiatives, amongst others by Société de Développement et de Conservation (SCD) in the area (branded as “Operation Loango”) therefore have no sound legal footage, and do not systematically contribute to park management of community development.
Largely because of the above, efforts by Taresika (), assisted by WWF, to acquire a tourism concession in the periphery of Moukalaba-Doudou National Park, have until now not resulted in an attributed concession for the area. During the next reporting period, important efforts will be deployed to try to further advance this situation, with the hope to have construction started in early 2008.
Overall Assessment of progress
Progress against action plans was satisfactory.
Finally, during the report period, and in collaboration with Christina M. Ellis, Coordinator, WWF African Great Apes Programme (WWF CARPO), we submitted a project proposal to the Great Apes Conservation Fund of US Fish and Wildlife Service. This proposal (1 year, total grand amount: $100,000), aims to reinforce protection status of great apes in Moukalaba-Doudou National Park and the CBG logging concession, has been positively reviewed, and funding is expected to start in the second quarter of FY08.
PART III: monitoring REPORT (targets same as July-December)
|Targets |Indicators |Baseline (Value and date of measurement) |
|1. (north-east) |Before September |- |
|2. (north-west apart from the « Max |Before September apart from the « Max |The « Max Planck » research zone should be |
|Planck » research zone) |Planck » research zone |included in zone 3 |
|3. (South) |As from September |Conditioned by feasibility study (see point3 |
| | |& 4 below) |
1. Test explosions in swamps. It is decided that test explosions are to be executed in the swamps prior to the start of the project in zone 3. These tests will be done in presence of experts of the DGE, CNPN, WWF and WCS,
2. Evaluation of the need for –and feasibility of- the installation of a fly-camp in the southern zone (zone 3), and the re-opening of additional roads. It is decided that prior to the start of works in zone 3, a joint DGE/CNPN/Sinopec/WWF/WCS field mission will be organized to select potential sites for the installation of the fly-camp and the potential trace of a road,
3. Fly-camp in zone 2 (North-west). It is decided that fly-camp in the North-western zone (zone 2) will be located in the savannah, and that the exact location will be decided in common agreement between Sinopec and conservation actors,
4. Costs. The costs related to the prescriptions in the PGES and in the Monitoring Plan are to be supported by Sinopec.
Extract of annex 2: “Monitoring Plan for the implementation of the Social and Environmental Management Plan (PGES) related to the Seismic 2D works in Bloc ‘Lotus’ attributed to Sinopec Overseas Oil&Gas Limited”.
Monitoring of the impacts mitigation measures is the responsibility of a committee established and mandated by the DGE. It is composed of representatives of DGE, CNPN, and Conservation NGOs working in Loango NP, notably WCS and WWF. The committee will have three intervention levels:
1. A field team composed of a permanent mixed team of WCS and WWF will work in close cooperation with the Conservateurs (Park Wardens) of Loango NP. This team’s mandate will be to;
▪ Evaluate, on a daily basis, the respect of the environmental and social clauses of the PGES, signal any shortcomings, and discuss with Sinopec appropriate corrective measures,
▪ Produce, on a bi-monthly basis, a written report to their respective hierarchies, evaluating systematically the application of the measures included in the PGES and the activities of the surveillance / anti-poaching team,
▪ Assist the “fly-camp and possible southern road establishment” identification mission n as well as the mission to control test explosions in the Akaka swamps.
2. WCS/WWF in Gabon will send a consolidated bi-monthly report to the DGE based on the information provided by the field team.
3. A monitoring team composed of the Directors or their representatives of DGE, CNPN, Sinopec and WCS/WWF will meet once a month, or more regularly if needed, to discuss the progress reports and to formulate monthly reports to be send by the DGE to Sinopec regarding progress on field monitoring, and, if needed, providing instructions to be taken in the case of incidents or non-respect of the PGES. The committee will occasionally perform field visits. The commission will equally discuss communication measures with all actors involved in Loango NP, including other Ministries concerned, the Government of Gabon, the donor community and local, national and international press.
WCS and WWF have committed to actively and constructively support this participatory monitoring framework but, in case of non application of corrective measures requested by the Monitoring Committee, they have expressly reserved their right to withdraw themselves of the Committee, upon consultation with the other members of the Committee.
Next steps
1. As per article 28 of the draft Law on National Parks, which states that mining exploration activities in a NP are normally prohibited unless special authorization is provided by the Administration in charge of NPs, Sinopec will need to receive an ‘special entry authoritzation’ from the National Parks Council (Conseil National des Parcs Nationaux – CNPN).
2. WCS and WWF will discuss technical implications and methodology on how practically to implement their monitoring role mentioned above.
3. WCS and WWF will have a meeting with the DGE in order to formalize their monitoring role.
Conclusion
The Government of Gabon is very much aware of the extreme sensitivity of this file, and understands that the international community is looking at how Gabon will manage to find acceptable trade-offs between biodiversity conservation and the need for further development of its mining and oil reserves. Gabon is also conscious of the increasing Chinese ecological footprint, and understands that the Sinopec case will set the stage for work with an increasing number of Chinese extractive industries in Gabon, starting with CMEC iron mining company in the Belinga Mountains, northern-Gabon, in the heart of the TRIDOM landscape.
WCS and WWF Gabon consider the outcome of the EIA process and the conditions attached to the delivery of the “Certificat de Conformité” by the DGE to Sinopec as a positive breakthrough in environmental mitigation planning in Gabon, and will devote time and expertise to work with the Government of Gabon and Sinopec to ensure that environmental and social impacts of this seismic campaign will be reduced to a minimum.
|Report completed by: |
|Name |Bas W.T. Huijbregts |
|Position/ Title |Principal Technical Advisor, Gamba Programme |
|Organisation |WWF-Central Africa Regional Programme Office (CARPO), Gabon Country Programme Office (GCPO), Gamba |
| |Programme |
|Date |July 29, 2007 |
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[1] R. Livingstone, 2007. Threats to leatherback and olive ridly nests in the Gamba Complex of Protected Areas, Gabon, with a focus on crab predation.
[2] Blom, a. & C. Geerling (2004). Zoning, protected area status and management regimes in the Gamba Protected Area Complex.
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Annexe 1 :
Numbers of leatherbacks and olive ridleys from 2002-2007 in Gamba, Gabon (WWF, 2007)
Nesting numbers in Suriname from M. Hliterman and E. Goverse (2004)
Distribution of leatherback nests during the 05-06 season per aerial survey (taux de rencontre=encounter rate)
Graph and Table 1. Number of leatherback nest per flight for the 05-06 & 06-07 season.
Graph and table 1. Representing the number of leatherback nests recorded during the three aerial surveys for two seasons (05-06 & 06-07).
Distribution of leatherback nests during the 06-07 season per aerial survey (taux de rencontre=encounter rate)
New WWF field office in the town of Mandji in the framework of the collaboration with CBG (photo: WWF Gamba, May 2007)
Proposed tourism concession area (above) and research design for faunal inventories (right) (WWF, June 2007)
Construction of Visitor Centre (WWF, March 2007)
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