Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) Semi-Annual Report

Spanning approximately 33,000 km2, it is centered on the Salonga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984. The park is Africa's largest tropical rainforest and shelters the world's largest bonobo population, as well as the headwaters of seven major rivers. The landscape also includes three Community-Based Natural Resource Management Zones (CBNRMs) and one Extractive Resource Zone (ERZ). Climate change strategies focus on maintaining the current forest cover through prevention rather than restoration, as deforestation rates are still low in and around the park. Biodiversity strategies aim to maintain current animal populations, particularly elephants, through improved park management and law enforcement, as well as community involvement. The continued threat of illegal hunting for ivory and bush-meat is a major focus of the consortium. Park management capacity and law enforcement remain significant challenges, particularly due to the park's enormous size. Additional funds from the German Development Bank (KfW) and the Environmental Development Fund (EDF) have been leveraged to address infrastructure, logistics, and training needs, as well as develop alternative livelihoods and constituency building. Participation and buy-in from neighboring communities are crucial to reducing pressures on the Salonga National Park. Working with communities is key to achieving both biodiversity conservation and climate change goals, as educated, healthy, and stable communities are less likely to engage in activities that harm the park. Under the WWF-ICCN co-management scheme, activities are implemented to address these challenges, building on lessons learned from past experiences. The FY18 semi-annual report highlights significant achievements in the implementation of activities in the Salonga landscape. Despite logistical challenges and delays in receiving USAID funding, the CAFEC consortium partners have made progress in biodiversity conservation and combating wildlife trafficking, as well as community development. The activities focused on two main areas: strengthening protected area management capacity and combating wildlife trafficking, as well as community development. The CAFEC consortium partners continued to support patrols organized by the Park Management Unit (UGPNS), providing planning, evaluation, fuel, and rations for the six sectors. Significant support was also provided to strengthen the capacity of ecoguards and increase their level of participation in wildlife surveys. The FY18 mid-term figures confirm the trend of improving patrol efforts initiated in FY17, with 102 patrols conducted, covering 11,364 person days and 12,773.33 km of patrols. Inventories in the Monkoto Corridor are still pending, but data on key species in the northern block is available, while analysis is pending for the southern block data. The ICCN biomonitoring team conducted a resurvey of the Etate surveillance area and completed the task at the end of October 2017. The consortium's efforts have been focused on consolidating successful approaches while focusing on the nine areas of focus that emerged from the mid-term evaluation results.