Travel Guide Parc National De Conkouati-Douli

Around 130 km from Pointe-Noire, straddling the two districts of Nzambi and Madingo-Kayes, the Conkouati-Douli National Park (PNCD), created in 1999, is the country's richest in biodiversity. Bordered to the north and west by the Gabonese border, and to the south-west by the ocean, it currently covers 795,500 ha, including a sizeable area of ocean, the only marine protected area in the Congo. Conkouati is a mosaic of habitats uniquely rich in the Congo: the coastline, with its savannahs and mangroves; the lagoons and lakes between which the sub-littoral forest lies; the Mayombe forest, whose areas away from villages have been untouched since logging began over twenty years ago; and finally, the savannah of the Niari plains. The richness of the fauna reflects these conservation conditions and habitat diversity: gorillas, chimpanzees, hippos, elephants and buffalo, Nile crocodiles, sea turtles, manatees, dolphins and whales, as well as a multitude of migratory birds. Some 7,800 people live in the 31 villages in and around the park: the coastal fishermen, mainly Vili, are thought to have settled here since the 13th century. As for the populations of the villages bordering the forest roads, they are ethnically heterogeneous, thanks to the industrial concessions. The inhabitants have traditionally lived by hunting, fishing and farming, which still poses problems of cohabitation.