Community Management in Lac Télé
The Lac Télé Community Reserve is part of a larger landscape management program supported by WCS which also includes the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park and the surrounding buffer zone of logging concessions. Twenty-seven villages are located in or around the reserve, and local populations depend heavily on its biological resources for fish, agriculture, meat, construction materials, canoes, and medicines.
Growing demand for bushmeat is threatening the many wildlife species in Lac Télé Community Reserve, including species such as duikers, which are important sources of protein for local people. Automatic weapons are increasingly available and used for hunting, while unrestricted access to fisheries is reducing densities of fish, many species of which are poorly known.
As the main stakeholders in this conservation effort, local communities play an important role in managing the natural resources of the reserve. An important program being developed by WCS-Congo and MEFE staff in Lac Télé is the establishment of community management of traditional hunting and fishing territories. Local village hunting territories have been mapped by WCS-Congo staff, and local people are encouraged to manage their own resources using traditional techniques, restricting hunting in a village territory to people from that village.