Ivory Coast: the challenges of "ecotourism" in the Taï forest [2/4]
Audio 02:34
Fall of the Sassandra river, near Soubré.
© Taï National Park / World Heritage Côte d'Ivoire
By: François Hume-Ferkatadji Follow
3 min
Since 2014, the NGO World Chimpanzee Foundation has been offering tourist tours in Taï National Park.
Objective: to conserve flora and fauna, and offer work opportunities to neighboring populations.
Two nights in the heart of the primary forest, while respecting health constraints.
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From our correspondent in Abidjan,
Last sanitary instructions given by the guide to the address of the eight tourists - German, Spanish and French - who will spend two days in tents in the heart of the primary forest of Taï: “
I am going to recall the sanitary measures.
We must not touch the fruits, because afterwards they will stay on the ground and the animals can eat them, that is not good.
You can leave germs by touching them
”.
Gloves for touching trees or fruit, compulsory cleaning of boots with bleach before entering or leaving the camp.
Ecotourism promoted by WCF intends to promote forest conservation.
For Carole Colin, project manager, the human presence in the park, with 22 people directly employed, favors the preservation policy: “
In addition to showing tourists the park, it also means having plenty of time on site. people who are in the forest all the time, and who are pushing back a little all this poaching, and all the illegal activities that there may be in the park
”.
A limited number of tourists
The project is also an economic and political tool. For 40 years, researchers, mostly foreign, have been making observations and studies in the Taï forest. To avoid a feeling of exclusion, the WCF project relies on the population of the Taï department. Marlène Balou, assistant to the coordinator: “
The ecotourism project is a community project. The objective is first of all to protect the animals and the habitat, but also to allow the local population to benefit from the repercussions, the benefits of the park. And the community, having seen the benefits that the Taï National Park could bring
”.
14% of the revenue goes to the OIPR, the public body which manages the park, 3% for the town hall of Taï and 81% for the World Chimpanzee Foundation, which ensures the management and organization of the tourist stay.
In 2019, 150 tourists tried the experience.
“
Before the Covid, we had 150 tourists a year in 2019, that was our best score.
We don't want to make a profit on this tourism, our profit is the protection of nature, so we calculated how many tourists we need to cover our operating costs.
We would need between 400 and 450 tourists a year, so we are still quite a distance away.
The Covid did not help, we stopped at all for more than a year, but it resumes in 2021, and we said to ourselves that we could hold the bet within three years, we can do it .
"
450 tourists a year, but no more.
Beyond this number, the risks to flora and fauna are too great, such as a change in animal behavior or a dangerous transmission of bacteria.
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Ivory Coast
Wildlife
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