A field mission to the Lobéké National Park (PNL) and Dzanga Sangha Protected Areas cAPDS) was carried out by a delegation consisting of BMZ (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), KfW (German Development Bank), and the FTNS Executive Office. The trip, which took place from May 4 to 12, 2019, is part of the monitoring and evaluation of the grants awarded by the German cooperation for the management and protection of the transboundary World Heritage forest site.
More specifically, the mission’s objectives were to enable the delegation to understand park and local community issues, to have an overview of current and future park activities, to verify the proper use of allocated funds, the respect for human rights, and to understand the parks’ vision and strategy.
Consisting of Ms. B. Steinbrinker (BMZ), Mr. Ivan Schad (BMZ, German Embassy), Mr. Martin Bostroem (KfW), Christelle Itoumbou (KfW) and Mr. Alix Noiraud (FTNS), the team also took this opportunity to meet park managers to discuss TNS issues and challenges. Particular emphasis was also placed on the issue of respect for human rights and eco-development in the TNS.
At the end of the visit, the team was able to successfully visit the PNL and APDS parks, learn about anti-poaching and conservation strategies, get an overview of ecotourism activities, see the progress of the infrastructure project, and discuss eco-development with local communities and associations.
The German cooperation has a long history of working to preserve and develop the TNS. To date, the TNS through FTNS has received numerous financial supports for the implementation of several social, economic and infrastructure projects as well as for the regular functioning of the management and anti-poaching bodies of this forest complex. The German Cooperation remains to this day the main contributor to FTNS capital, with a continuous contribution amounting to more than 45 million euros to its capital.