Sustainable Management of critical wetlands ecosystems

Start & End Date: 2014-2020

Country/Countries: Gabon

Multilateral Institution(s) Involved: Global Environment Facility

In Gabon, lush green forests give way to expansive savannahs that teem with wildlife such as elephants, hippopotami, and water buffalos—just to name a few species. The incredible flora and fauna that call this 268,000 square kilometer country home make up a unique ecosystem that is part of the planet’s largest green lung after the Amazon. These tropical rainforests and wetlands are also a primary resource of food security, energy production, and agriculture for thousands of Gabonese. Many depend on these wetlands for their livelihoods, particularly fishing, the country’s main subsistence activity. The protection of wetlands of international importance has become a priority for Gabon, which is a member of the International Wetlands Convention (also known as the Ramsar Convention). Nine natural sites in Gabon, encompassing 2.8 million hectares and home to a wide variety of aquatic ecosystems, have therefore been added to the Ramsar List.

The objective of the Sustainable Management of Critical Wetlands Project for Gabon is to enhance protection of biodiversity in selected forested wetlands on the Ramsar list through knowledge creation and development of conservation measures for sustainable wetlands management. There are four components to the project, the first component being generating knowledge and monitoring selected critical wetland ecosystems. This component will generate knowledge on wetlands in Gabon and set up a reliable monitoring system to produce early warnings on potential alterations of wetland ecosystems. The second component is the support for sustainable management of selected critical wetland ecosystems. The third component is the strengthening institutional framework to support wetlands management. This component will establish an institutional framework favorable to the sustainable management of the Wetlands of International Importance (used interchangeably with 'Ramsar wetlands') WII in Gabon at both the national and local levels. Finally, the fourth component is the project management, monitoring, and evaluation (M&E). This component supports the overall daily administration of the project to ensure that regular M&E is carried out and that results are fed back into decision making on project implementation.

A research scheme for the three selected Ramsar sites was developed and being implemented, meeting the target. The project initiated eight specific studies to fill in priority information gaps, which increased the available historical data by nearly 25 percent. In total, the project conducted nine studies with a focus on: (i)environmental services of wetland ecosystems; (ii) wetland habitats; (iii) wetland fauna, including birds, fish, and large aquatic species; and (iv) flora and fauna of mountain wetlands. The research findings informed baseline data of an ecological monitoring system of wetlands. In addition, the research supported the development of the national strategy on wetlands that was about to be effective by the President’s signature. An ecological monitoring system of wetlands was implemented, meeting the target. The project initiated implementing the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tools that was already set up under the past GEF-funded project by the National Agency of National Parks by providing baseline data through the studies above. Land area of 12.01 hectares (ha) adopted sustainable land management practices as a result of the project, surpassing the target of 10 ha. Sustainable artisanal organic agricultural activities were developed, namely, the Haute Boumi cooperative (4 Ha of banana and cassava plantations); the Itsana agricultural cooperative on the outskirts of the Birougou National Park (3 ha); the Ebel Vert agricultural cooperative (3.01 ha); and the Moukimbi agricultural cooperative (4 ha) (ICR, para 55). These IGAs were provided with technical support on organic farming methods and agreed to stop the use of chemical pesticides and slash-and-burn agriculture techniques. The Income-Generating Activities induced positive changes in community behaviors by supporting the communities adjacent to the Ramsar sites to access non-destructive activities and related incomes. Following project closing, the beekeeping project continued to support livelihoods of the vulnerable population of Babongo through honey harvesting and commercialization. Forest area of 71,331 ha was under sustainable forestry management according to forest type, surpassing the target of 30,000 ha. This indicator was limited to the conservation efforts, sustainable monitoring, and management of forests degraded as a result of illegal mining activities in the Birougou area. This indicator was measured through the SMART patrol monitoring system, which tracked the rehabilitation of the old gold-mining activities sites in the premises of the national park covered by surveillance patrols. Direct project beneficiaries reached 524 people, surpassing the target of 100 people. Female beneficiaries were 68.9 percent of the direct beneficiaries, surpassing the target of 30 percent.