The 1979 inauguration of the Mountain Gorilla Project of the African Wildlife Foundation and other conservation organizations saw the authorities in Rwanda and Uganda establish contact, although generally on an informal basis (Weber and Vedder 1990). Later, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Frankfurt Zoological Society and the WWF later initiated ad hoc bilateral meetings, primarily between Rwanda and Uganda and between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, to deal with the development of regional tourism or with specific problems linked to tourists that hoped to visit the gorilla groups that move along and across the frontier zone between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
It was only in 1989, however, that the conservation of afromontane forest ecosystems became the subject of a regional forum, with the organization of a seminar and workshop at Cyangugu in Rwanda. Other conferences subsequently were organized at Bujumbura (Burundi) in 1992 and at Mbarara (Uganda) in 1994. These workshops provided the opportunity for countries with afromontane forests to forge links and for some to initiate, or reinforce, contacts with the objective of improving the management of transfrontier protected areas such as Kibira–Nyungwe, the Virunga massif, Mount Elgon, and the Ruwenzori massif. The conferences provided the opportunity to formally bring together protected-area managers and the national authorities of a number of African countries, but they were organized sporadically. Follow-up after the different sessions of the workshops was generally superficial, and was limited to the drafting of reports of each session and the organization of the next workshop. There was no monitoring or supervision of the implementation of recommendations.
In response to government concern about illegal cross-border use of wildlife and other protected-area resources, a number of other transboundary resource management activities have since been initiated in Central Africa. These include the following:
A. Trinational park project among the Central African Republic, Cameroon, and the Republic of Congo
This informal initiative, initiated by international conservation NGOs working in the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, and Cameroon, is designed to help reduce elephant and bushmeat poaching within a group of three contiguous protected areas in the Western Congolian lowland ecoregion forest. Where possible, the initiative seeks also to reduce management and training costs by sharing project resources. The protected areas addressed by the initiative are the as-yet ungazetted Lac Lobéké in Cameroon, the Dzanga–Sangha Special Forest Reserve that includes the Dzanga and Ndoki National Parks of the Central African Republic and the Nouabale–Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo. Management of this trinational area is facilitated by the international organizations WWF, WCS, and GTZ. Park managers collaborate informally on antipoaching patrols and in sharing capital equipment and training facilities.
As this region of the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, and Gabon is relatively sparsely populated and as no physical barriers to wildlife movements exist, the trinational protected areas are also connected by lived-in corridors to the Boumba–Bek and Nki (Cameroon); Odzala (Republic of Congo), and Minkébé (Gabon) protected areas. These corridors do not, at present, receive any formal resource conservation investments, although local communities may have self-regulatory systems in place.
B. Transboundary biodiversity conservation in the zone connecting Gabon, the Republic of Congo, and Cameroon
This informal initiative has been promoted by Pauwel de Wachter of WWF–Gabon, and aims to preserve the biological diversity and the ecological process of the transboundary landscape, estimated at 160,000 square kilometers, in northeast Gabon, southeast Cameroon, and northwest Republic of Congo. The region encompasses the Dja Faunal Reserve and the Nki and Boumba-Bek Forest Reserves in Cameroon, the Odzala National Park in the Republic of Congo, the Minkébé Reserve in Gabon, and the lived-in corridors that interconnect these protected areas. The relative remoteness and sparse human population of the region mean there is little human influence on the landscape, and as a result large populations of elephant, buffalo, and primate thrive in the area. The protected areas included in this landscape receive financial support from external donors including the EC, WWF, GTZ, the Government of the Netherlands, and GEF. GEF—the Global Environment Facility of the United Nations Development Programme—recently committed substantial funds, to be jointly managed by ECOFAC and the WWF–Minkébé Project, to pilot a landscape approach to management of this transboundary area (de Wachter, pers. comm).
C. Parks for Peace initiative in the countries of the Great Lakes region
The Parks for Peace project (Projet Parc dans les Pays de la Région des Grands Lacs) covers two groups of contiguous protected areas. The first group comprises Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. The second group comprises the Kibira National Park in Burundi, which is contiguous to Nyungwe Forest Reserve in Rwanda. The overall objective of this initiative is to promote the conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity during armed conflicts by setting up a network of protected areas for peace; the project also aims to contribute to improving the welfare of local communities in a region that is plagued by armed conflicts. Financial support comes from the McArthur Foundation; the initiative is implemented by the IUCN Regional Office for Central Africa (IUCN–ROCA).
D. Albertine Rift Conservation Society (ARCOS)
The Albertine Rift, which extends through the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi, contains a biologically diverse and endemic assemblage of species. Its montane forests constitute part of the headwaters of two of the largest river systems in Africa: the Nile and the Congo. The legal status of some of these forests remains unknown.
ARCOS is a pilot project to promote networking, information sharing, and the raising of awareness of the need for the conservation and sustainable use of Albertine Rift montane forests. The objectives of ARCOS are to:
ARCOS was founded in 1995, originally as the Organization for Biodiversity Information and Conservation in the Albertine Rift (OBICO). The name was changed in 1997 to reflect more clearly the regional focus of the initiative (http://www.wcmc.org.uk/arcos/whattop.html).
The project is coordinated by Sam Kanyamibwa of the World Conservation Monitoring Center (WCMC) and Nature Uganda (Makerere University, Kampala), under the auspices of IUCN. It has established a network of individuals and institutions interested in Albertine Rift montane forest conservation, and actively seeks dialogue and collaboration between local conservation initiatives. Some early collaboration was achieved through a regional priority-setting workshop held in Kampala in July 1999. ARCOS works with local NGOs and other institutions involved in conservation in the region, including Nature Uganda, the East Africa Natural History Society, the Uganda Wildlife Society, Wildlife Clubs of Uganda, the Association for Nature Conservation in Rwanda, and others.
E. International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP)
The International Gorilla Conservation Programme was established in 1991 by a coalition of the African Wildlife Foundation, Fauna and Flora International, and the WWF. The program builds on the Mountain Gorilla Project started by the African Wildlife Foundation and the Wildlife Conservation Society in 1978. The goal of IGCP is to ensure the protection and long-term conservation of mountain gorillas and their habitat across the entire region in which mountain gorillas are found. The program is working toward this goal in close collaboration with the protected-area authorities in the three range states: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda.
To date, IGCP has had to work in unusually difficult circumstances, as its conception coincided with the beginning of the “Great Lakes crisis.” It has nevertheless made a number of achievements at the regional level, including the following:
F. Current initiatives for the management of water resources
A few water resource management initiatives are underway in the region. ECOFAC is sponsoring a program for the protection of marine tortoise in Central Africa (PROTOMAC); the OAU is seeking ways to control water hyacinth throughout Africa; and GEF is financing development of a convention on fishing in Lake Tanganyika that is soon to be adopted by Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, and Tanzania as a component of a five-year project entitled “Pollution Control and Other Measures to Protect the Biodiversity of Lake Tanganyika.” The objectives of the GEF project are defined as follows:
[To] improve understanding of the ecosystem function and of the effect of stresses on the lake system; to take action on all other measures necessary to maintain the health and biodiversity of the ecosystem; and to coordinate the efforts of the four countries to control pollution and to prevent the loss of the exceptional diversity of Lake Tanganyika. This will be done by establishing a regional framework for cooperation, including endeavors to harmonize legislation; investigating pollution including sources, effects, and control; and investigating biodiversity and conservation measures leading to the setting up of protected areas as underwater parks. Activities will closely involve government environmental ministries and agencies and sectoral departments; a major objective is to strengthen national capabilities and community participation. The project will be supported by international and local staff and contractors. NGOs will be involved particularly through community education and conservation, and the private sector through promotion of tourism and the control of industrial pollution. Provision will be made to continue the work of the project after its life by a regionally cooperating organization. (http://www.ltbp.org)