Africa’s “Last Eden” to become national park

The minister of forestry economy of the Republic of Congo (ROC) Henri Djombo has announced the protection of what scientists are calling “the most pristine rain forest left in Africa,” according to a statement from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the parent organisation of the Bronx Zoo in New York. At a ceremony held earlier this month at the Bronx Zoo’s Congo Gorilla Forest exhibit, Congolaise Industrielle des Bois (CIB), a private timber company, announced that it would forfeit its harvesting rights to a 160 square km swathe of rainforest known as the Goualogo Triangle. The agreement marks the first time a timber company working in Africa has voluntarily turned over virgin forest in the name of conservation.

The Goualogo Triangle contains some of the highest densities of gorillas, chimpanzees and forest elephants in central Africa, according to WCS, which along with CIB conducted intensive wildlife surveys of the region. After learning of the Goualogo’s biological richness, CIB gave up its legal rights to harvest the forest, which were leased from the government. Instead, the government of Congo will add the Goualogo Triangle to the already existing Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, which WCS helped create in 1993.

Dr. John G. Robinson, a WCS senior vice president called the agreement, “An unprecedented victory for conservation in tropical Africa. CIB and the government of Congo have shown extraordinary leadership in setting aside this wildlife area of global significance.”