Brainforest Calls On Government To Review National Parks Law Amendment

Gabon's national government have recently proposed an amendment to the national parks law which threatens to further undermine community rights around protected areas and risks the politicisation of the national parks system. RFUK's Gabonese partner organisation Brainforest have delivered a public reaction including comments from local indigenous communities. "We are not against the national park, but it has to allow us to exist because our lives depend on the forest" - the community of Doumassi (pictured), on the periphery of Minkebé National Park, the largest in Gabon.

In 2002, Gabon made a commitment to global conservation efforts by declaring over 11% of the national territory as 13 national parks. Although the national parks system marks an important contribution towards preserving Gabon's biodiversity, it was created without the consultation of the estimated 15,000 local and indigenous peoples, who have since been denied access to their traditional lands and resources. While the National Parks Law passed in 2007 contains important provisions concerning the rights of affected communities to participate in the management of these areas, the current proposals, which advocate the imposing of further restrictions and penalties on resource use in the peripheral areas, risk seriously undermining this work and further alienating local and indigenous peoples.

For more info, please read Brainforest's response in full (in French) HERE.