The Government of Congo has recently designated three wetland areas, which provide essential habitat to a range of notable and threatened species, as Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites). These are the Loubetsi-Nyanga biological reserve, the Leketi-Mbama floodplains, and the biodiversity-rich Tchikapika-Owando wetland.
With these new designations Congo now has 13 Ramsar Sites within its territory, with the total surface of all the Sites covering nearly 137,000 km2. These zones make a significant contribution to the local economies by supporting water supply, fishing and agriculture. They are also of exceptional value to the region’s biodiversity.
Characterized by a range of habitats including dryland gallery forests, swamp forests and river bodies, the Loubetsi-Nyanga is an important biological reserve which supports varied flora, macroinvertebrates, fish, reptiles, birds and terrestrial mammals, and provides refuge for several notable species including the forest elephant, gorilla, chimpanzee, hippopotamus, hyena, leopard, and the giant ground pangolin.
The Site is also home to the Nile crocodile, African dwarf crocodile and the critically endangered slender-snouted crocodile. The local communities, estimated at 12,500 inhabitants, are highly dependent on the numerous resources of the Site for food, medicine, transportation and goods for trading with nearby towns.
The Leketi-Mbama is a unique inland wetland with a mixture of varied habitats including lakes, marshes and floodplains. It supports a wide range of animals including the critically endangered western lowland gorilla, the endangered chimpanzee, the vulnerable hippopotamus and the African elephant. Its floating meadows, savannah and swamp forests also provide a safe haven for migratory bird species, the African darter and the woolly-necked stork. Traditional agriculture, fishing, hunting and collection of non-timber forest products are some of the activities in the Site.
The Tchikapika-Owando is a biodiversity-rich wetland which supports fish, reptiles, birds, mammals, and invertebrate species and plays an important role in the hydrological regulation of the Congo river basin. The Site is known to support a multitude of species of fauna and flora, with its grassy savannah, rainforest and rural complexes particularly characteristic of the Guinean-Congolese/Zambezian biogeographic region.
Notable species include the leopard, water chevrotain, forest elephant, hippopotamus, African civet, side-striped jackal, the critically endangered western gorilla, crocodiles, tortoises and reptiles. The local population depends on the resources of the Site for its livelihoods, such as traditional fishing, hunting, subsistence farming, livestock rearing, collection of non-timber forest products and medicinal plants.
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