Created in 1990, the landscape known as the Dzanga-Sangha Protected Areas (DSPA) is in the south-western region of the Central African Republic (CAR), and the northern edge of the Congo Basin forest. The area is well known for its impressive biodiversity and is the biggest intact forest remaining in the country. Despite three coups and recurring instability, WWF has kept an ongoing presence in this region, thus decisively contributing to the preservation of this unique landscape. The DSPA is part of the Tri-National Sangha landscape, which is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
WWF-CAR has a field base in DSPA, as well as a support office in capital city Bangui. Both remained functional, albeit at reduced capacity, throghout the latest political crisis of 2013. All staff resumed full-time duties in
July 2014.
Main activities
WWF in Dzanga-Sangha
The long-term goals for DSPA are to protect the forest ecosystem and to promote sustainable development in the region.
Eco-tourism is very important to Dzanga-Sangha. 50% of the revenues from park entry fees go towards park management, 10% to a governmental found to develop forestry and tourism in the country, and 40% to the local communities to promote rural development projects based on the sustainable use of natural resources.
Our main efforts are focused on the DSPA and Ndoki National Park in the southwest of the country, where exceptional concentrations of wildlife still thrive. We support conservation on many fronts:
- Anti-poaching and ecological monitoring
- Reduction of illegal wildlife trade
- Sustainable development and effective protection of DSPA
- The most successful western lowland gorilla habituation program of Central Africa
WWF works in partnership with the DSPA administration, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Ministry of Water and Forest Resources and Tourism.
We also work with local environmental civil society organisations and forest companies engaged in sustainable forest management.
Finally, we seek to promote indigenous rights and include the BaAka pygmies into community development programs, as well as further explore their exceptional knowledge of the forest and tracking skills in our anti-poaching and gorilla tracking programmes.
