Africa’s Eden in jeopardy

News just in… Africa’s Eden, the eco-tourism project in Loango National Park in Gabon, is closed due to a dispute between the Gabonese government and the tourism operator / regional airline.

The press release from Africa’s Eden says Loango Lodge will be closed to international visitors until at least 20 September this year. Catherine Eviter, spokeswoman for Société de Conservation et Développement (SCD SA), says:

“Sadly, due to the dispute between the current Gabonese government and SCD SA, we can no longer guarantee our guests a safe and convenient journey to Loango National Park. Although our tourism operations will be suspended, we will continue making every effort to ensure there is no negative impact on our conservation projects in and around Loango National Park.”

I wrote about Africa’s Eden last year for EcoSalon. It’s an award-winning eco-tourism project that is directly helping to preserve the forest in the West African country of Gabon, near Senegal. For tourists it offers a unique safari experience -  how often do you see whales and elephants on the same beach? The park covers a mosaic of grassland, rivers, forest and mangroves and the wildlife also includes hippos, leopards, reptiles and primates.

Sadly the forward-thinking president who set aside 11% of his country as national park and made projects like Africa’s Eden possible, is now dead. I hope that his dream of making Gabon an international eco-tourism destination won’t die with him, but this latest development doesn’t bode well. It’s a great pity because while tourism can be hugely destructive to some natural and historical wonders – Machu Picchu in Peru, for example, and even so-called eco-tourism isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be – this project seemed to be doing everything right in terms of limiting tourism numbers and putting conservation first.

I don’t know the ins and outs of the disagreement between the government and SCD SA but frankly, I don’t care. It’s important for the future of Gabon, its people and its wilderness, that they get their act together and sort it out.

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The photograph is from Huguesn on Flickr and published under a Creative Commons licence.