Globally, tourism is one of the sectors most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, with a negative impact on economies, livelihoods, public services and opportunities throughout the world. One of the consequences of this situation has been additional pressure on the protection of natural forest heritage and the ability to improve the socio-economic conditions of local and indigenous people in particular.
Within the context of biodiversity conservation, the suspension of tourism activities linked to quarantines has meant several months without income for many protected areas and their peripheral communities, which depend heavily on tourism for their survival. From the Congo to Cameroon and the Central African Republic, the TNS protected areas have all been affected by a series of events caused by the pandemic.
A difficult time for the 3 TNS parks
At the Dzanga Sangha Protected Areas (Central African Republic), the restriction of movement clearly put an end to all planned tourism activities. This was a major blow to the park, which had generated around CFAF 140 million in tourism revenue in 2019 and had historically achieved around CFAF 75 million from January to February 2020 alone.
This disruption has also negatively impacted the park’s Primate Habitation Programme (PHP), which relies heavily on tourism revenue, particularly from gorilla viewing (an activity suspended since the spread of the pandemic). In addition, hundreds of people who depend on the park directly or indirectly for their livelihoods (tour guides, cooks, monitoring assistants, etc.) have been left partially or entirely unemployed and the community’s share of tourism revenue greatly reduced. In addition to this financial deficit, the ecotourism unit has had to use a large part of its budget for the rehabilitation of the hosting infrastructures, which have been constantly deteriorating due to prolonged periods without use.
In the Republic of Congo, the recent approach to promote and develop of community-based ecotourism by the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park could not effectively take off due to the pandemic. Activities planned to welcome tourists were all cancelled throughout 2020 to avoid potential cases of contamination.
In the Lobéké National Park (Republic of Cameroon), no tourist visits were recorded throughout the year 2020. This is a first in the history of the park.
Adaptation mode is on!
In the absence of touristic visits, the three protected areas of the TNS have focused on a common aspect, adaptation and capacity building activities to better develop the sector in the future.
In the Nouabalé Ndoki National Park, many activities have been put in place to prepare for the post-pandemic period. Firstly, local community members have been empowered through exchange trips and training. Craftsmen, especially those from local communities, were supported through the provision of working equipment. To facilitate interaction with tourists, literacy courses were also organised for trackers and guides in particular. In terms of infrastructure, a new restaurant-bar, new accommodation facilities and watchtowers were built/rehabilitated.
At the Lobéké National Park, the Conservation Department has been in reinforcement and development mode. To this end, several craftsmen have had their capacities strengthened through training workshops, capped by the setting up of an exhibition room to promote their products and artistic talents. In order to promote a local tourism culture, the park’s conservation department has also carried out several activities to promote ecotourism in schools, including touristic visits to the forest by pupils and their teachers!
In the Dzanga Sangha Protected Areas, the rehabilitation of several tourist infrastructures and the creation of new activities were carried out. In terms of buildings, the Doli-Lodge has been rehabilitated to ensure an ideal reception environment for future tourists and visitors. The rehabilitation of access roads to certain sites was also carried out to significantly reduced access time, such as is the case with the road to the Bai Hokou gorilla camp. In order to enrich the Dzanga Sangha tourism experience, a new wharf on the banks of the Sangha and a new liana footbridge have been built. Scheduled training for Doli lodge staff, the design of other tourism activities and provisions to encourage local and regional tourism have also been put in place in anticipation of international tourism resumption in the park.
In order to increase tourism capacity, the research team also continued to work towards habituating a fourth group of primates.
A positive outlook?
Admittedly, the covid-19 pandemic has been a blow to TNS protected areas, which have seen one of their main financial sources paralysed. However, on the positive side, this unexpected situation has also been a period of introspection, planning, strengthening and restructuring, a decisive “push” for better management of future TNS tourists.