Historical and geographical context of the Sangha Trinational

The Sangha Trinational (TNS) is the first cross-border management initiative in Central Africa set up in the aftermath of the Yaoundé Declaration at the Summit of Heads of State held in 1999. It was established on 7 December 2000 through the signing of the Cooperation Agreement between the Governments of the Republic of Cameroon, the Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo. As provided for in this agreement, several specific regulatory texts were subsequently signed by the States Parties to facilitate the implementation of the axes and objectives of cooperation, notably the Memorandum of Understanding on the fight against poaching signed on 28 June 2002; the Memorandum of Understanding on the free movement of TNS personnel signed on 04 February 2005; the Memorandum of Understanding on the organisation and functioning of the Anti-Poaching Brigade (BLAB) signed on 12 November 2009 and more recently in October 2019, the Memoranda of Understanding on the movement of tourists and the Trinational Scientific Committee.

Located in the northern part of the Congo Basin, the TNS covers an area of about 4.4 million ha (see Figure 1). Its vegetation consists largely of dense semi-deciduous and evergreen forest, with three contiguous protected areas at its core: the Lobéké National Park (LNP) in Cameroon, the Dzanga Sangha Protected Areas (DSPA) in CAR and the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park (NNNP) in Congo.

Figure 1.
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The Sangha Trinational cross-border complex. Source: Achile Mengamenya Goué and and Romain Kana (The names and boundaries shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations).

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The TNS was inscribed on the World Heritage List under criteria (ix) and (x) on 1 July 2012 at the 36th session of the World Heritage Committee held in St Petersburg, Russia, under number 1380. The property and its buffer zone represent 2,542,586 ha, or about 57% of the total area of the TNS. Its established Outstanding Universal Value is reflected in the existence of ongoing ecological and evolutionary processes on a very large scale in an essentially intact forest landscape. Numerous and diverse habitats such as tropical deciduous and evergreen forests, a wide variety of wetland types including swamp forests and periodically flooded forests, and many types of forest clearings of major conservation importance are thus connected at the landscape level. This mosaic of ecosystems supports viable populations of complete assemblages of fauna and flora, including large predators and rare and endangered species such as forest elephants (Loxodonta africana cyclotis), gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and several species of antelope such as the sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekei) and the iconic bongo (Boecercus euryceros). Some clearings (still called Bais) attract several groups of these large and medium-sized mammals simultaneously (over 100 elephants at Dzanga Bai clearing) and others are home to thousands of pigeons and parrots, notably the red-tailed parrot (Psittacus erythacus). They are exceptional centres of social and genetic exchange (Figure 2).

Figure 2.
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Images of some attributes of the Outstanding Universal Value of the TNS. © FTNS.

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Regionally, the TNS Landscape is recognized by the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) as one of the highest priorities for forest conservation in Central Africa. It is also an exceptionally high priority site for chimpanzee and lowland gorilla conservation, with the latter species’ unparalleled characteristics, abundance and density according to several studies (Breuer et al., 2005; Sanz and Morgan, 2007, 2009, 2010; Sanz et al., 2010; Stokes et al., 2010).

The aim of this paper is to present the management model in place and the results of trinational cooperation that contribute to the preservation of the outstanding biodiversity of the TNS transboundary World Heritage site. We conclude by highlighting the important challenges that need to be addressed to improve and sustain the results achieved.

Management structures and operations

The management of the transnational complex involves two types of structures: the management bodies of the national parks and the governance bodies of the transnational cooperation. In addition, it incorporates special funding mechanisms.

Management of the three national parks

The three national parks are managed on the basis of a management plan drawn up and implemented by mandated structures.

  • In the Cameroon and Central African Republic segments, the management of the parks is carried out in a collegial manner, involving the state services and technical assistance represented by an international organization specializing in conservation;

  • In the Congo segment, the park is managed by the Nouabalé-Ndoki Foundation, under a public-private partnership agreement signed in April 2013 between the Government of Congo and WCS.

Cross-Border governance structure

The cross-border cooperation operates through four governance bodies:

  • The Tri-National Supervision and Arbitration Committee (CTSA), the supreme decision-making body, composed of the ministers in charge of wildlife and forests of the States Parties and its rapporteur, the Executive Secretary of the Organisation for the Conservation of Wildlife in Central Africa (OCFSA). The CTSA meets in principle once a year and is also responsible for signing specific protocols of agreement to regulate the various areas of cooperation. In this respect, five memoranda of understanding have already been signed and are being implemented;

  • The Tri-National Scientific Committee (CST), an advisory body, which can meet according to the needs expressed by the CTSA. After the signature of the protocol following its adoption in 2019, the CST is operational and must develop and ensure the implementation of a harmonized research programme across the landscape;

  • The Tri-National Monitoring Committee (CTS), a body for monitoring the implementation of the decisions of the CTSA and composed of various local political, technical and institutional representatives (Trinational Zone). The CTS meets in principle once a year and is also responsible for the prevention and resolution of potential border conflicts that may arise during the implementation of cross-border cooperation operations; and

  • The Tri-National Planning and Implementation Committee (CTPE), the planning and implementation body behind the TNS activities, which is composed of representatives of conservation projects in the protection and peripheral zones. The CTPE meets together in principle twice a year.

In addition to these four statutory governance bodies, the TNS landscape is governed by a common action plan for the conservation and sustainable management of natural resources. As such, periodic meetings are held between conservators and their TNS partners to consolidate TNS cooperation and to carry out joint patrols along the common borders, to conduct specific studies on transnational socio-economic activities and to seek long-term funding for its activities.

These joint efforts to combat illegal hunting were facilitated by the signing in 2002 of the anti-poaching Protocol Agreement and in 2005 of the Protocol on the free movement of personnel of institutions involved in the functioning of the TNS landscape. The TNS has also put in place surveillance infrastructure and equipment, as well as landscape-wide monitoring of elephant movements for planning and surveillance purposes (see Figure 3).

Figure 3.
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Elephant corridors in the TNS. Source: Achile Mengamenya Goué and Romain Kana (The names and boundaries shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations).

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In 2010, a TNS anti-poaching brigade (BLAB-TNS) was created in Nyangouté, on Central African territory, under the terms of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the organization and functioning of this brigade, which also has an operation manual and an autonomous command structure composed of officers from the three countries.

Dedicated and Stable Funding Structure

Globally, the number of protected areas listed by the UN has increased considerably over the last 50 years. The total coverage of protected areas has increased from 2.4 million km2 in 1962 to over 46 million km2 in 2018 (UNEP-WCMC, 2018). However, funding has not kept pace with this expansion. Estimates in 2004 showed a total annual funding gap for existing protected areas of US$1–1.7 billion, depending on the author (Bruner et al., 2004). The result of this funding shortfall is a lack of staff, vehicles, fuel and other basic management needs. A direct consequence of insufficient investment is often the progressive degradation of the biological resources for whose conservation the protected areas were established.

The implementation of a range of reliable funding mechanisms must therefore accompany the establishment and management of protected areas. In the case of the Sangha Trinational complex, a trust fund, supported by the Foundation for the Sangha Trinational (FTNS), was created in March 2007, some seven years after the creation of the TNS, to accompany the processes of trans-boundary management and cooperation. Its business model of mobilizing, investing and using capital revenues ensures a predictable and reliable source of funding that protects the three parks and cross-border operations from the fluctuations of project grant cycles, which are often unpredictable and subject to ‘donor fatigue’. With an initial target of €35 million at inception, the capital at the end of 2019 is around €60 million with a revised target of €100 million.

Apart from the FTNS, the Central Africa World Forest Heritage Initiative (CAWHFI) developed by UNESCO with the financial support of certain donors plays a major role in the structuring and operation of cooperation activities. For example, this programme supported the establishment of the BLAB-TNS in 2010 and has mobilized funding for cross-border patrols. In addition, the programme supports the implementation of harmonized monitoring and management tools for the three protected areas (Figure 4).

Figure 4.
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Group photo from the workshop for the elaboration of the TNS State of Conservation Report organized through CAWHFI/European Union funding in Douala in November 2018. © FTNS.

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Major achievements of the Sangha Trinational in the field of cooperation

The results of this cross-border cooperation are realized by regular patrols at cross-border level, the development of concerted tools for monitoring the effectiveness of management and, above all, the preservation of faunal and floral biodiversity.

Regular cross-border patrols

Cross-border patrols involving officers from the three countries and operating up to 5 km on either side of the borders help to secure wildlife migration corridors in the TNS and to contain illegal wildlife trafficking at the borders. Over the past five years, more than 300 patrols corresponding to 11,781 working days of surveillance effort have been mobilized as part of BLAB-TNS activities (see Figures 5 and 6). These patrols are characterized by their regularity and, above all, by a regular increase in effort in line with the evolution of the threat.

Figure 5.
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BLAB-TNS annual working day patrol efforts between 2015 and 2019. Source: Achile Mengamenya Goué and Romain Kana.

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Figure 6.
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SMART report on the spatial coverage of BLAB-TNS patrols in 2019. Source: Achile Mengamenya Goué and and Romain Kana (The names and boundaries shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations).

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The use of the SMART tool allows for good monitoring and adaptive management of threats on the ground.

Agreed monitoring and evaluation frameworks and tools

A key element of cooperation is the adoption of agreed tools for monitoring landscape management effectiveness. Important tools such as SMART (Spatial Management and Reporting Tool) and IMET (Integrated Management Effectiveness Tool) have been operational in the protected area management structures and BLAB-TNS since 2019. A central SMART database has been set up to share information on anti-poaching operations in real time. These tools are part of a monitoring and evaluation system adopted by all managers, which provides for the harmonized conduct of wildlife inventories and the setting up of a satellite monitoring system with a centralized database for the entire landscape by 2022 (Figure 7).

Figure 7.
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IMET results in the three TNS protected areas in 2019. Source: Achile Mengamenya Goué and Romain Kana.

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The Sangha Group, a multi-stakeholder assessment framework coordinated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has been running an information system for the TNS for more than ten years, providing information on socio-economic and conservation trends. This monitoring system is based on some 30 selected indicators that allow for the monitoring of evolutionary trends in conservation, governance and development aspects within the TNS landscape, thus serving as a tool to support decision-making on strategic orientations aimed at improving governance and achieving a functional balance between biodiversity conservation and the socio-economic development of local populations. The situation at the end of 2018 is shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8.
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Trends in nature protection and population well-being in the TNS between 2006 and 2018. Source: Achile Mengamenya Goué and Romain Kana.

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In 2016, for example, the overall situation seemed very worrying in terms of both conservation and human development. Actions were immediately initiated to readjust the situation in the TNS (reallocation of funding to sensitive areas, intensification of actions for sustainable resource extraction, taking into account the living conditions of the populations, etc.).

Maintaining outstanding values since its designation in 2012

The TNS was designated a World Heritage site under criteria (ix) and (x). The first criterion relates to the characteristics of the natural ecosystem and the second relates to the biodiversity of the fauna and flora.

The integrity of the property has remained intact. The rate of forest cover loss has remained at a fairly low level in the landscape.Footnote 1 The most recent wildlife inventories on threatened species (elephants, great apes …) show a stability in the overall population for about 10 years (N’Goran et al., 2016; Brncic et al., 2017; Beukou et al., 2019).

Major challenges and prospects

Despite the achievements presented above, challenges remain important and should be addressed to enable better cooperation and ensure the sustainability of the exceptional biodiversity of the TNS landscape.

Harmonization of wildlife legislation and stability of the socio-political framework

Although the transboundary complex of the Sangha Trinational is the foundation of subregional cooperation in conservation in Central Africa, it is currently facing two major challenges: the harmonization of forestry and wildlife legislation on the one hand, and the management of the security implications arising from the socio-political unrest in some member states on the other.

Indeed, national law enforcement is one of the weaknesses on which rogue traffickers rely to scour the biological resources of the TNS. Thus, they will tend to commit offences in segments where the penalty is lower.

Moreover, the socio-political unrest in some member states has encouraged the circulation of weapons and ammunition of war used for poaching, especially of elephants. Hundreds of weapons are seized annually in the context of the fight against poaching.

Heritage development

Compared to South Africa and Rwanda, which cover 70% of the management costs of their respective national protected areas through revenues generated by parks and reserves (Wilkie and Carpenter, 1998; GVTC, 2012), the TNS receives barely 1000 tourists per year despite its ecotourism potential. To enhance its potential natural attractions and its World Heritage label, the TNS can now rely on a favorable regulatory framework with the signing in October 2019 of an MoU on the movement of tourists that makes it possible to visit the three parks with a single visa from one of the TNS countries.

The feasibility of developing an incentive framework for private investment to foster a competitive tourism sector in the TNS is being considered. All the evidence suggests that the private sector could supplement the existing management structures by providing additional technical expertise and financial resources.

Integrated land use planning

In 2010, the States Parties adopted a land-use plan in order to have a comprehensive and coherent vision of current and future land use that meets the objectives of sustainable development and biodiversity conservation. However, this plan does not take into account the projects of all the other sectors of activity (major infrastructure works, mines, industries, etc.). This very often generates intersectoral conflicts, particularly between the forestry and wildlife sector and the mining sector. Over the past five years, the TNS governance bodies have requested and obtained the cancellation of several mining permits granted in the buffer zone of the property. Revising the present land-use plan by integrating other forms of use in a holistic vision with all the sectors involved would limit potential conflicts and ensure integrated management of the TNS landscape.