Background

Spread over Cameroon, the Republic of Congo and Gabon, TRIDOM gets its name from the initials of Dja, Odzala and Minkébé - three famous protected areas, each in a different country. The huge TRIDOM forest covers 178,000 km², or 10% of the whole Congo Basin rainforest. The area is a haven for large mammals: it shelters up to 25,000 elephants and 40,000 gorillas and chimpanzees, and is also a habitat for of other species, including buffaloes, giant forest hogs, sitatunga, python, dwarf crocodiles, duikers and monkeys.

The Ngombé concession, managed by Interholco, is located in the Northern region of the Republic of Congo, bordering the national parks Odzala-Kokoua and Ntokou-Pikounda, home to large, medium and small mammals moving freely from the Ngombé forest management unit to the parks and vice versa. Together with the parks it covers an area roughly the size of Belgium (30,700 km2). The Ngombé forest is also home to Indigenous Peoples and local communities with an estimated 16,000 inhabitants. They live and in and from the forest, collecting medicinal plants, fishing and hunting for their livelihood and producing and selling non-timber forest products such as honey, fruits and caterpillars.

The Ngombé concession is FSC certified and is managed by the highest forestry standards. However, these forests are subject to emerging threats, such as artisanal mining, agricultural encroachment, and poaching.

Scope of Work

Working together with WWF, Interholco has committed to improving the forest conditions and reducing threats to biodiversity in its concession, while improving livelihoods of the local communities. Specifically, the work is aiming to:

• Reduce illegal poaching and agricultural encroachment.
• Generate revenues through Payment for Ecosystem Services initiatives.
• Sustainably manage the forest landscapes within the concession.
• Improve the inclusiveness of local communities through applying Free, Prior and Informed Consent principles.