Emergence of a network of 6 local NGOs in Central Africa for the conservation of gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos

AGSAC was created in 2016 by six NGOs from four countries of the Central Africa sub-region, (Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Gabon, DRC), with the objectives of strengthening the credibility and legitimacy of this category of actors within the Nature conservation process in the region. The six NGOs members of the network are currently implementing actions on the ground for the conservation of great apes in sites of high ecological value, which are: Moukalaba-Doudou National Park (PNMD), in the Gamba Protected Areas complex. , in the south-east of Gabon, where the PROGRAM association works for the conservation of western lowland gorillas, chimpanzees and all of the biodiversity of this park with the local community. It also supports these communities in poverty reduction activities; Southern Congo-Brazzaville, 150 km from Pointe-Noire, in an area between Conkouati National Park, the Dimonika Reserve and the Tchimpounga chimpanzee sanctuary.

This area where the NGO ESI CONGO works includes an important biodiversity, including gorillas and chimpanzees, which coexist with the local populations, remaining, for the time being, dependent on natural resources for their subsistence; Mai-Ndombe province in the Batéké chiefdom, 2 km from Nkala village in the DRC, where the MBOU MON TOUR association ensures the protection of Bonobos through participatory biodiversity conservation; The equator zone in the DRC, precisely in part of Basankusu territory, and the whole of Bolomba, GACEBB works to protect Bonobos through community development, awareness-raising and ecological monitoring activities; The southwest and west of Cameroon where ERuDeF works for the protection of Cross River gorillas, the conservation of wildlife and the protection of fragile environments through support for community development and the creation of Protected Areas (AP ); The northern periphery of the Dja Biosphere Reserve (RBD) in Cameroon, where TF-RD works to conserve western lowland gorillas and biodiversity, and to support the development of economic sectors for biodiversity in partnership with local communities.

These six NGOs seek, through this collective dynamic, to strengthen their capacity to achieve greater long-term impacts both in terms of great ape conservation and local development, themes to which each of these NGOs attach particular importance. With regard to this overall objective, the intermediate objectives of AGSAC are to contribute to the capacity building of the members of the network, to the promotion of their work and their results, to the mobilization of funds and to the promotion of good governance. associative within the network and members. The project thus aims to contribute to the gradual operationalization of AGSAC after a one-year pilot phase, supported by the PPI, which essentially enabled the NGOs in the network to get to know each other and to develop mutual trust between members.