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Draft Outline CENTRAL AFRICA REGIONAL OPERATING UNIT (CAROU) Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) Salonga Semi-Annual Report Reporting Period: October 01, 2017 to March 31, 2018 Submission Date: April 30, 2018 Agreement Number: Cooperative Agreement #AID-660-A-13-00006 Activity Start Date and End Date: October 01, 2013 to September 30, 2018 AOR Name: Antoine Justin Eyebe Submitted by: Cary S. Farley, Chief of Party World Wildlife Fund 14, Avenue Sergent Moke Commune de Ngaliema Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Tel: +243 978 904 488 Email: [email protected] July 2008 1 LIST OF ACRONYMS AASD Action d’Aide Sanitaire et de Developpement-DRC BNS Basic necessities survey CAFEC Central Africa Forest Ecosystems Conservation CARPE Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment CBNRM Community-based natural resource management CLIP Consentement Libre Informé et Préalable CSO Civil society organization DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo EMAPS Environmental Monitoring and Policy Support ERZ Extractive resource zone EU European Union FARDC Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo FED11 Fonds européen de développement (11ème) FY Fiscal year GPS Global positioning system Groupe de Recherche et d’appui aux interventions intégrées de la GRAINES malnutrition dans la santé HQ Headquarters ICCN Institut national pour la conservation de la nature IR Intermediate result IP Indigenous Peoples KfW Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau LSA Landscape application LUP Land-use planning Ministère de l’environnement, conservation de la nature et développement MECNDD durable MIKE Monitoring the illegal killing of elephants MPI Max Planck Institute NGO Non-governmental organization NRGT Natural Resource Governance Tool OSFAC Observatoire satellitaire des forêts d’Afrique centrale PA Protected area REDD+ Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation SCAEMPS Central African Environmental Management and Policy Support SMART Spatial monitoring and reporting tool SNP Salonga National Park ToR Terms of reference TRAFFIC Thee Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network UNIKIN University of Kinshasa USAID United States Agency for International Development WCS World Conservation Society WRI World Resources Institute WWF World Wide Fund for Nature/World Wildlife Fund ZSM Zoological Society of Milwaukee April 2018 3 1. PROGRAM OVERVIEW/SUMMARY Program Name: FY18 Semi-Annual Report for LS8 Program Activity Start Date and October 01, 2013 to September 30, 2018 End Date: Name of Prime World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Implementing Partner: [Contract/Agreement] Cooperative Agreement #AID-660-A-13-0006 Number: Name of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Subcontractors/Sub- awardees: Zoological Society of Milwaukee (ZSM) Major Counterpart Institut National pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) Organizations Geographic Coverage CAFEC LANDSCAPE 08: SALONGA-LUKENIE-SANKURU (landscape, province(s) Provinces of Kasai, Maï Ndombe, Sankuru and Tshuapa, and countries) Democratic Republic of the Congo Reporting Period: October 01, 2017 to March 31, 2018 1.1 Program Description/Introduction Salonga-Lukenie-Sankuru, located in central DRC south of the Maringa-Lopori-Wamba and east of the Lac Télé-Lac Tumba Landscapes, is one of the largest CARPE Landscapes. Approximately the size of Virginia, it is centered on the Salonga National Park, which is divided into two almost equally sized north and south sections. The Salonga National Park (SNP) itself, has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984 and Africa's largest tropical rainforest park encompassing a nearly intact forest ecosystem of enormous ecological importance, sheltering the headwaters of seven major rivers, and home to the world’s largest bonobo population. If well protected, the Park holds the highest potential in the DRC for recovery of a long term viable forest elephant population. Furthermore, this pristine, barely explored forest covering an area of 33,000 km2 still includes the undisrupted floral and faunal assemblage of a lowland rainforest and is of untold importance for freshwater sources (including fisheries and drinking water) and carbon stocks. The landscape also includes three Community-Based Natural Resource Management Zones (CBNRMs) - Monkoto Corridor, Lotoi-Lokoro and Bolongo - in which community-based activities take place in an effort to support the preservation of the SNP and one Extractive Resource Zone (ERZ) - Oshwe. In 50 years, when large parts of Central African forests will likely have been converted, Salonga has the potential to remain one of the last refuges for biodiversity and carbon sequestration. It is in this context that the consortium has chosen the strategies described. Climate change strategies center around maintaining the current forest cover with the communities through prevention rather than through restoration, as deforestation rates are still low in and around the park. Biodiversity strategies focus on maintaining the current animal populations with the long-term aim of increasing those populations presently impacted by poaching, such as elephants. This is done through improved park management and law enforcement, as well as involving the local communities and political-administrative authorities in the four provinces in which the Salonga National Park is located. The continued and ever-increasing threat of illegal hunting for ivory and bush-meat is one of the main focuses of the consortium. The lack of sufficient park management capacity and law enforcement remain important challenges, especially given the enormous size of the Salonga National Park. Other major issues facing SNP include expensive and demanding logistics, a guard force that lacks skills, experience and the necessary equipment, and inadequate infrastructure. Fortunately, additional funds from the German Development Bank (KfW) and the Environmental Development Fund (EDF - from the EU) have been leveraged as a result of the co-management agreement signed on August 27, 2015. This agreement formalizes WWF’s role as a key partner of ICCN’s who will support major improvements in general park management. These leveraged funds, together with CAFEC funding, will help ensure that infrastructure, logistics and training needs are addressed - along with the development of alternative livelihoods and constituency building. Indeed, participation and buy-in from neighboring communities will be key to reducing pressures on SNP. Working with communities is key to achieving both our biodiversity Conservation and Climate Change, as educated, healthy and stable communities are less likely to enter the SNP to poach and overfish, or continue to practice slash and burn agriculture – a primary threat to forest cover throughout the Salonga Landscape. Under the WWF-ICCN co-management scheme and together with the CAFEC consortium partners’ WCS and ZSM, as well as Oxfam, the Max Planck Institute, the Italian based NGO ISCO, and the local NGOs AASD, activities are implemented to address these challenges – building on the main lessons learned from past experiences. April 2018 5 2. ACTIVITY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS 2.1 Overall progress Following the establishment of appropriate monitoring mechanisms for the Salonga National Park, FY18 has so far been dedicated to continue the setup of a working co- management scheme with funds from additional donors such as the German Development Bank (KfW) and the European Development Fund (EDF). Despite the logistical challenge of accessing the landscape, along with the delay in receiving the first USAID obligation to cover the implementation in the first half of the year, significant achievements have been observed – and specifically in certain macro-zones. The activities of all CAFEC partners for the first semester of FY18 focused on two main areas: Biodiversity conservation and combating wildlife trafficking as well as community development. The purpose of this phase was to consolidate on the successful approaches while at the same time focusing on the nine areas of focus that emerged from the results of the mid-term evaluation. To better understand the progress observed in the implementation of our activities and the provisional results obtained, we propose to analyze them according to the 5 intervention strategies in the Salonga landscape. Strengthen Protected Area (PA) management capacity (strategy 1) Concerning the Biodiversity Conservation and Combating Wildlife Trafficking, the CAFEC consortium partners continued to contribution to the patrols organized by the Park Management Unit (UGPNS). This support consists of planning and evaluating patrols, as well as providing fuel and rations for the six sectors. Significant support has also been provided to strengthen the capacity of ecoguards and increase their level of participation in wildlife surveys. Compared to previous years, the FY18 mid-term figures confirm the trend of improving patrol efforts initiated in FY17 (102 patrols, for an effort of 11,364 person days and 12,773.33 km of patrols). This is the result of the efforts of all partners through a harmonized approach. Though some delays have occurred in the completion of inventories in the Monkoto Corridor (24%), we note the availability of data concerning key species in the northern block, while analysis are pending for the southern block data where MPI have complete inventories. Also data from the re-survey of the Etate surveillance area is being analyzed as part of the training for the ICCN biomonitoring team. This team conducted a resurvey
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