CAD calls for immediate action to prevent more rights abuses in the Ntokou-Pikounda National Park
13 enero 2025
The Centre d'Actions pour le Développement (CAD) has expressed renewed concern over the human impacts of the Ntokou-Pikounda National Park in the Republic of Congo, calling on the government and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to publish a participatory management plan and to allow local and Indigenous communities immediate access to the Bokiba River.
In 2023, CAD published an investigation into widespread abuses of local communities by the park’s rangers including displacement, physical violence and the burning of hundreds of fishing camps, a crucial livelihood for local people.
The continuing absence of a management plan for the park – twelve years after its creation – is not only a breach of Congolese law but is having real-world consequences. Without it, the boundaries of the park remain unclear, the management rules unknown and the fundamental rights of the communities difficult to obtain, fuelling significant frustrations among the local population.
“It is more urgent than ever to obtain a development plan for this park, in order to guarantee the dignity and respect of the fundamental rights of the communities,” said Trésor Nzila, Coordinator of CAD.
In addition, CAD has called for an immediate lifting of the ban on communities navigating the Bokiba River that has been in place since 2018. This measure hinders the free movement of people and goods in the area and poses serious risks to local populations and fisher peoples. In a tragic example of this, a thirteen-year-old boy is reported to have died on 26 October when he was unable to access urgent medical attention after falling ill at a fishing camp.
Please click aquí to read CAD's statement.

CAD examines a map with members of a community © CAD.
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