Nadège Nzoyem defends protected areas

Nadège Nzoyem, director of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for the Congo Basin, insists that protected areas are still safeguarded and that mining should not be allowed in regions designated for conservation.

Challenges in protecting regions

Despite these claims, stopping the expansion of extractive industries and ensuring the effective protection of these areas remain significant challenges throughout the region.

Study reveals resource conflicts

A recent study highlights conflicts between conservation goals and the interests tied to natural resource exploitation. In the tropical countries studied, oil and gas projects overlap nearly 62 million hectares of protected and conserved areas.

Mining overlaps with protected land

In addition to oil and gas, mining concessions encroach upon an extra 43 million hectares. In the Congo Basin, 29% of areas essential to terrestrial biodiversity still lack any form of protection.

Questions about protection effectiveness

These findings raise two key questions: which areas still require protection, and how well existing protection mechanisms can withstand pressure from industrial activities.

WWF report shows wildlife decline

The 2026 Living Planet Report by WWF reinforces these concerns, noting an average decline of 80% in the size of populations of wild animals monitored across the African continent between 1970 and 2022.