The Mikongo Conservation Centre is located in the Lopé National Park, deep in the equatorial rainforest of central Gabon. Our goal is to make good use of the forest without compromising its conservation value, through low impact ecotourism. This offers employment for local people, provides some income for conservation action as well as providing permanent surveillance system.

Funds from the European Union, US Fish and Wildlife Service and ZSL currently support Mikongo by providing the financial means to train staff, provide salaries for the gorilla habituation team, procure equipment and uniforms, set the project up for biannual human impact surveys and build a laboratory to monitor gorilla health.

The project is active in and protects an area of 100km2, is a forest-experience and educational facility for tourists and village school groups, and crucially monitors trends in gorilla populations and health.

By giving value to the forest, and the animals therein, we hope to improve the chances that governments and local communities will support unlogged and unhunted forests.
The park fees paid by the tourists are used to support park management and local community projects and ultimately it is hoped that a high percentage of Mikongo’s running costs will be supported through the revenues from tourism, so that the project is sustainable over the long-term.