Blazing new trails: Can ecotourism save Central Africa’s iconic wildlife?
“Ecotourism may be the best hope for saving Central Africa’s rainforest — the world’s second-largest — by providing a long-term source of income that could spur communities and countries to protect it. But is it possible to meet the needs of wildlife, local people and tourists all at once? By boosting sustainable tourism development and enabling knowledge sharing between Central African parks, the U.S. government-funded Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) is working to maximize that chance.”
Young mountain gorilla in Virunga National Park, DRC. Despite instability in the region, the park has been the country’s most successful tourism site to date, with 10,000 visitors in 2017. Photo by Olivia Freeman, U.S. Forest Service International Programs.