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AGSAC-Newsletter I English.pdf (485.5 KiB)

On October 20, 2016 in Limbe, Cameroon, a network called the Alliance for the Conservation of Great Apes in Central Africa (A-GSAC) was created to improve the conservation of great apes in the sub-region.

The six African CSOs behind the initiative, ERUDEF and TF-RD for Cameroon, ESI-Congo in Congo Brazzaville, GACEBB and MMT in the DRC and PROGRAM in Gabon, are all partners of the Small Initiatives Program (PPI) funded by the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM) and implemented by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

This collective initiative has been built step by step and does not fall out of nowhere. A first strategic workshop held in Nkala, DRC, at the headquarters of the OSC Mbou Mon Tour (MMT) in April 2016, laid the foundations for the identity, vision and mission of the network as well as strategic objectives and a first 6-month action plan. Exchange visits were then made between representatives of the six actors in order to strengthen cohesion and to learn more about the actions and specificities of the other members of the network. An important first step ...

Only after these preliminary steps took place in October 2016 this first constituent AG, paving the way for the legalization of the Alliance in Cameroonian association, status officially obtained in February 2017. Each of these six NGOs is active in the field and works in a specific context by addressing the conservation of great apes with its own priorities (research, monitoring and habituation, community support, ecotourism, etc.). Nevertheless, there are commonalities between them, notably on aspects relating to credibility, the feeling of marginalization within the conservation community, organizational difficulties and the raising of funding. All these aspects explain this strong desire to share experiences, to act on these common problems and to explore new methods of promoting their work.

The Alliance will function as a platform for exchanges and learning on technical and strategic issues. It will, among other things, enable exchanges visits, make available technical tools to its members, support project writing and porting, especially on a regional scale, build capacity, and promote good governance inside the network. The logic associated with the network is based on the collegiality of decisions and the collective construction of actions and solutions.

The world of conservation is changing step by step, technical and institutional innovations are now available, and good governance and citizen engagement are now recognized as determining factors for the success of conservation and development processes. African civil society has a major role to play in these areas, and if not the case, the conservation objectives set at national, regional and global levels could not be sustainably achieved.

These six NGOs have strong local legitimacy, intervene in territories with major ecological stakes, and progressively accumulate valuable expertise and credibility. National and international mechanisms are increasingly demanding local ownership of conservation processes, which promises real prospects for the A- GSAC and its members ... For the benefit of the conservation of Great Apes living in the ecosystems of the Congo Basin and the local populations living in their direct proximity ...

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