Gorilla Journal 18, June 1999
Lowland Gorilla Tourism in Central Africa
The EC-funded central African forest conservation program ECOFAC
(Conservation et utilisation rationelle des Ecosystèmes Forestiers
en Afrique Centrale), has been running since early 1992. It focuses
on a protected area in 6 countries of the sub-region (Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville,
Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tomé e Príncipe).
In the course of the survey work undertaken by the program, certain sites
have been shown to harbour unexpectedly high numbers of lowland gorillas
(Gorilla gorilla gorilla). This is particularly true of the Odzala
National Park in northern Congo which has very extensive areas of open
canopy Marantaceae forest, a habitat particularly favoured by gorillas.
In certain areas the density may be as high as 10 gorillas/km².
The surveys in the north of the park also revealed the presence of over
100 forest clearings (called "bais" or salines) some of which
attract astonishingly high numbers of large mammals, in particular forest
elephants, gorillas, forest buffalo, bongo, sitatunga, giant forest hog
and bush-pig. Observations over an 8-month period in one of these salines
(called Maya North) showed that it was visited by at least 36 different
gorilla families and
18 solitary males, representing some 420 individuals. Furthermore it was
shown that gorillas were present on over 80% of the days!
First Steps to Tourism
Simultaneously to the survey work in the park, a Spanish couple of primatologists,
Magdalena Bermejo and Germain Ilera had been undertaking a study of gorillas
in an area of Marantaceae forest some 30 km to the southwest of the park
at a site called Lossi. In the course of their work since 1993 they have
succeeded in habituating a couple of gorilla families using the classic
method of tracking them day in and day out with the help of skilled Congolese
trackers. This has been a major breakthrough as until now nobody had ever
succeeded in habituating lowland gorillas, and many people had begun to
believe that it would never be possible to propose the Virunga-style gorilla
tourism in the lowland forests of central Africa.
These discoveries mean that Odzala now has genuine tourist potential as
it offers on the one hand the rare possibility of good-quality viewing
of spectacular rain forest mammal species in the salines, and on the other
the classic close-up experience of gorilla tracking in the forest. Over
the last three years ECOFAC has, therefore, invested a considerable proportion
of its energy to developing the tourist potential of Odzala National Park
and its buffer zone. The outbreak of the war in Brazzaville in June 1997
could not have come at a worse time as tourism was just beginning to take
off in Odzala with visitors coming in on the weekly flight into the park's
air strip at Mboko in the savannah/forest mosaic section of the south
of the park. Since then the security situation has meant that it has not
been possible to bring in visitors on a regular basis but all park management
activities (anti-poaching, monitoring of salines, gorilla tracking etc.)
have continued almost without interruption and once the situation normalises
tourism activities will be able to resume rapidly. The war has meant that
road links between Odzala and Brazzaville (750 km) have deteriorated very
considerably and the park is now virtually cut off from the capital. However,
Odzala is only 60 km from the Gabonese border, where roads and communications
are excellent, so paradoxically this has meant that ECOFAC's logistical
problems have been considerably eased as the project has had to develop
its links to Gabon (rehabilitation of the old, abandoned border road).
Currently all the logistics for the park are now run directly out of Gabon
(thanks to the support of the Gabonese authorities).
Tourist Activities in Odzala
The salines A trip up the Mambili river by motorised dug-out canoe to
the area of salines in the north of the park. To get the best out of this
trip 6 or 7 days are required. The trip starts out from the tented camp
(east African style) at Mboko in the forest/savannah zone of the south
of the park. The trip up the river is a pleasant 6-hour ride (excluding
stops) passing through forest all the way and with plenty of opportunities
for observing wildlife. From the tented camp at Ekania a large number
of salines are within easy reach, all of which are regularly visited by
the large mammal fauna including gorillas. At the Maya north saline (1
hour pirogue, followed by a 3-hour walk) there is another, more basic,
camp. In the saline a 4 m high observation hide provides excellent viewing.
Gorilla tracking at Lossi. Lossi is just outside the Odzala National
Park some 28 km to the south of the village of Lengui-Lengui on the road
between Mbomo (park headquarter) and the border with Gabon. The walk to
Lossi is currently long (9 hours) but not difficult. A motorable track
of 16 km will be reopened once tourism resumes. The accommodation is basic
(local style cabins). A team of 5 highly experienced trackers follow the
gorillas every day thus ensuring an almost 100% guarantee of seeing them.
Two families are habituated. The vegetation is extremely thick so viewing
conditions are not like those of the Virunga, although these gorillas,
being mainly fruit eaters, spend a lot of time in trees where they are
easily observed.
The interesting aspect of Lossi is that this area of forest "belongs"
to the villagers of Lengui-Lengui who have asked ECOFAC to help them develop
tourism in the forest where they and their ancestors have practised their
traditional activities. The tourist revenue from the tourism will thus
go directly to the traditional "owners" of the forest who have
understood that conservation of the forest for gorilla tourism may well
bring much greater long-term benefits to them than hunting the wildlife
- a perfect example of community conservation. A visit to Lossi, with
2 gorilla visits, would thus take 4 days allowing for the walk in and
out.
Currently, access to Odzala is by road from Gabon, via Makokou and Mekambo.
There are regular weekly flights from Libreville to Makokou and three
flights a month to Mekambo. The road trip from Makokou to Odzala Park
HQ at Mbomo takes some 6 hours.
More Sites for Visitors
Encouraged by the success in Congo, 2 other components of the ECOFAC
program, Gabon (Lopé Reserve) and Equatorial Guinea (Monte Alen National
Park) have also decided to develop gorilla tourism programs. These are
both protected areas where tourism (on a small scale) already takes place
so the addition of gorillas to the attractions proposed will be a considerable
asset. Magdalena Bermejo has helped identify suitable areas in both protected
areas and work has already progressed well in Monte Alen although the
hilly terrain makes the task of keeping track of the gorillas every day
somewhat more difficult than in Congo. However, despite the fact that
no family has yet been habituated, during the 1998 summer period all those
visitors who opted to spend 2 or 3 nights in the park in the gorilla area
all managed to see gorillas.
In Lopé work is only just beginning to habituate a family but it is hoped
that by the end of year 2000 it may be possible to propose gorilla tourism
here also. Lopé has very good communications (good road from Libreville,
as well as train) and an excellent hotel on the shores of the majestic
Oogoué river.
Conservationists' eternal problem is how to make sure that their activities
translate into real long-term improvements in protected area management
and conservation. Making protected areas pay is certainly one of the ways
of demonstrating the value of conservation and thus convincing national
decision-makers to take wildlife conservation seriously. Rarely, however,
has this been achieved in the rain forest environment and eco-tourism
has perhaps too often been held up as the panacea for conservation. However,
the special case of gorilla tourism really is different because of its
ability to generate very large amounts of revenue as has been repeatedly
demonstrated in ex-Zaire, Rwanda and Uganda. ECOFAC also hopes that the
development of gorilla tourism in Congo, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea will
help focus international attention on the extraordinary riches of the
Congo basin forests and the threats that they are facing (logging, bushmeat
trade).
Conrad Aveling
Dr. Conrad Aveling worked on conservation in Sumatra (orang utans), Rwanda and Zaire (mountain gorillas) and Sudan before moving to central Africa in 1992 to coordinate ECOFAC, a program centred on protected areas in Congo, Gabon, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and São Tomé e Príncipe.
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