Surveying and preserving biodiversity in Conkouati-Douli

Nina Giotto

HELP Congo

Dear supporters,

Thanks to you, HELP Congo is continuing to monitor wild chimpanzees and the initial results are encouraging: more than 5 groups have been identified and densities appear to be high!

This result may prevent future reintroductions in the area but represents good news for local biodiversity.

Meanwhile in Conkouati-Douli National Park...

Beauval Nature

Dear difteur-ses,

Thanks to your support, HELP Congo carried out multiple actions in 2024:

Care for island chimpanzees

As they do every year, HELP Congo teams provided all the care they needed for the 18 chimpanzees on the 3 islands of the Conkouati lagoon. They are fed and monitored daily.

Camp life

Several training courses have been offered to staff: first aid, tour guide and data collection. In addition, the camp is now self-sufficient in water, and HELP teams have re-demarcated the main camp area, protecting it with a large firebreak.

Environmental awareness

On the occasion of World Wetlands Day, HELP Congo carried out awareness-raising actions in several elementary school and one middle school.

Support for local development

Various projects are carried out to encourage local economic development.
▪️ Village beekeeping project
▪️ Projet Plages Propres et Protégées: 9 people are hired, collecting over 800 kg per week.
▪️ Ecotourism: the aim is to raise awareness among as many people as possible of the importance of preserving chimpanzees and the rainforest, while ensuring the sustainability of the actions carried out.

Research and monitoring of biodiversity
Several studies were carried out in 2024, thanks to the establishment of a permanent scientific team:
▪️ Analysis of data from photographic traps installed on the ground
▪️ Canopy species census.

▪️ Study of African manatees

▪️ Inventory of the herpetofauna

Ready to discover HELP Congo's 2024 report?

Dear donors,

HELP Congo has just launched a ecotourism trip specially designed for the French and European public.

The aim?To raise awareness among as many people as possible of the importance of preserving chimpanzees and the rainforest, while ensuring the sustainability of the actions undertaken. Indeed, this stay enables participants to immerse themselves in the work of the NGO and finance its day-to-day operations: chimpanzee care, biodiversity studies, environmental preservation, environmental education etc.

For the more curious, here's an overview of the program for the stay:
- Meeting the chimpanzees on the islands,
- Boat trips, kayaking down the river,
- Walks on the beaches and swimming in the lagoons,
- Animal tracking in the savannah and hikes,
- Moments of conviviality with the team on site.

This stay also offers an introduction to ethological note-taking, the secrets of the mangroves and the legends of the local communities. A unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the daily life of an association dedicated to conservation!

A big thank you to you, dear donors, for your invaluable support and donations ✨

Launch of a new ecotourism offer in Conkouati

Dear difteurs,

The analysis of data, collected by photographic traps installed by HELP Congo between May 2022 and September 2023, has delivered its first results. One of the aims of this analysis was to find out what influence the forest elephant had on biodiversity in Conkouati-Douli National Park, Republic of Congo. The results show that biodiversity and species richness are maximized for intermediate levels of forest elephant frequentation.

Also, teams from the Plages Propres et Protégées project have completed the collection of stranded plastics on the beaches south of the La Noumbi river. The site can now accommodate the Renatura team, which is beginning to monitor turtle egg-laying.

Following the recruitment of Sara, Tourism and Communications Manager, HELP Congo welcomed its first group of international tourists who came especially from France to visit Conkouati and take part in the association's activities.

Finally, thanks to the team's intervention, an illegally captured Gabon grey, bound for Pointe-Noire, was seized by the national park.

A big thank you to you for your precious support and difts!

Do elephants impact biodiversity?

Aquatic acoustic recordings of the African manatee population are continuing throughout the lagoon's water system. This technique seems promising, since of the 40 listening sites, a third recorded manatee sounds and thus confirmed the presence of the species.

Since mid-June, the Clean and Protected Beaches project has moved its camp to Kondi. In 2 months, the 8 employees have collected over 5 tonnes of plastic from the beaches south of the La Noumbi river.

News from Conkouati-Douli

The herpetofauna study project has begun, in order to make an initial census of the reptile and amphibian species present in Conkouati-Douli National Park. The project also plans to compare the biodiversity of different environments: savannahs, gallery forests, replanted forests and primary forests. A second study began at the start of the year, focusing on the African manatee. Recorders and aquatic cameras have been installed in areas where the species may be present. The recent discovery of this animal in the waters of the national park inspired the HELP Congo education team. Indeed, the association presented the lifestyle and threats facing the African manatee in schools in 3 nearby villages: Ngumbi, TandouGoma and Nzambi.

Surveying and preserving biodiversity in Conkouati-Douli

The project

Use of the money