Lac Télé Project
Lac Télé Community Reserve covers an area of 4,400km2, making it the second largest protected area in Congo, and takes its name from the ellipsoidal lake found at the centre of the swamp forest in the northern half of the reserve.
Lac Télé Community Reserve is situated in the north of Congo, and lies between the Sangha and Oubangui rivers, 85 km west of the town of Impfondo. Lac Télé contains an undisturbed and unique wetland ecosystem containing flooded forest and one of the highest densities of western lowland gorillas in the region. The area is part of a larger Ndoki-Likouala landscape management program supported by WCS which also includes the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park and the surrounding buffer zones of logging concessions.
The goal of the WCS Lac Télé Community Reserve project is to conserve the ecological character and biological diversity of the reserve and to develop sustainable use of the reserve's natural resources in collaboration with local communities. Activities in the first few years focused on establishing baseline biological and socio-economic information for this poorly known wetland, enabling management staff to determine priorities for the conservation of the zone.