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addition to the 65-acre (26-ha) sanctuary site, an 18,000-acre
(7284-ha) reserve was created in March 1999 and officially
classified by the government of the Republic of Congo
and entrusted to JGI to maintain. A field
research census was conducted by the Ministrère
de l’Economie Forestière, Republic of Congo,
which found that approximately 50-60 chimpanzees are
living within the reserve. In the future, JGI plans
to conduct another census for the area outside of the
designated reserve, where chimpanzee populations are
known to live along the Kouilou River. The adjacent
reserve is patrolled by eco-guards from neighboring
villages to prevent poaching.
Tchimpounga is working to improve the lives of the
human population in the surrounding area and to address
the root causes of the bushmeat crisis. Through funding
by the Economic Support Fund (ESF), JGI is currently
developing a long-term program based on the same Community-Centered
Conservation (CCC) principles as our TACARE
program in Tanzania. The sanctuary also conducts awareness
campaigns around the problem of eating primates and
the importance of biodiversity.
Our new CCC program specifically focuses on enhancing
the role of these communities in assuring the protection
of the reserve and local natural resources while favoring
their own social and economic development. To this end,
the project combines various activities that address
the many issues affecting the life of these communities:
the strengthening of the civil society and local government
organizations; establishing coordination mechanisms
between the reserve management and the villages; promoting
sustainable agricultural techniques; fostering formal
and environmental educational levels; introduction of
new farming activities and alternatives to local bushmeat
trade; improvement of social infrastructures and their
administration by the villagers; and lots of education.
To date, the project has been well accepted by the
communities and regional authorities. JGI has received
very positive and encouraging feedback and has been
offered the opportunity to support development actions
that are led by the local authorities at all levels.
Our JGI team in the field acts as a facilitator between
the various regional departments responsible for education,
health, public works, agriculture, and the environment,
as well as local village committees. Several visits
to the villages have already been organized by these
departments. Village committees are currently working
to renew relations with regional authorities while organizing
realistic and locally-driven programs.
Our program’s successes within the education
sector are as follows;
- A school was financed and constructed for the people
of Tchikafi, a village which never had a school before.
- The school in Mpili was renovated and the number
of pupils doubled.
- A new teacher’s house was built in Notoupou
enabling lessons all week long.
- The project assigned two new education inspectors
to the area who will work to enhance the quality of
formal education and administrative capacities of
school committees.
- JGI provided school books and other class materials
to village schools.
JGI has also developed a pilot environmental education
program in which students visit both the Tchimpounga
Reserve and Sanctuary. The main target groups of this
new and exciting experience are poor, orphaned, refugee,
and village children between 10 and 17 years of age.
Excursions are regularly organized from both the city
and neighboring villages. The Tchimpounga Sanctuary
has been described by thechildren as one of their most
exciting experiences, as it marks the first time that
many of them have seen a chimpanzee. This experience
will ultimately help the Congolese people to value their
unique natural heritage.
The UNDP’s local program for AIDS Prevention
and Awareness Raising in Schools (PRESIEC) has helped
JGI a great deal. Our program relies on a team of 23
eco-educators and a pilot education manual that puts
children at the center of the learning experience. The
IRC and UNHCR also provide assistance to our program
through their knowledge of marginalized groups.
In order to improve the Reserve, JGI has hired an additional
team of village eco-guards to help protect against non-local
poachers while working to raise environmental awareness
in each of their respective communities. Educational
training, fauna and flora inventories, and visitor tours
are other important areas of work.
Social infrastructure is also an important component
of our CCC program through Tchimpounga. The government
is providing its technical knowledge and support to
this end. JGI has established a health dispensary to
serve the Tchimpounga communities. This facility is
run by two local nurses who were allocated by the Congolese
Ministry of Health.
The Ministries of the Environment and Agriculture have
also helped to produce a thorough socio-economic study
of the area which was prepared by the communities themselves
and led by their new local development agents. This
census will help JGI to better understand local issues
and to plan future actions for the area.
Our project is also working to establish long-term
natural resource management strategies for all of the
villages. One of the main objectives of our program
is to create an understanding within the community that
their long-term economic and social prosperity depends
on the sustainable use of natural resources.
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