On June 12, 2021, in the presence of the Minister of Water and Forests, the Sea, the Environment in charge of the Climate Plan and the Land Use Plan, Professor Lee White, Christel Bories, Chairwoman and CEO of Eramet, and Leod-Paul Batolo, Managing Director of Comilog, inaugurated the Lékédi Biodiversity Foundation in Gabon.
The preservation of biodiversity, particularly around its industrial sites, is a major challenge for the Group, which has made it one of the priority areas of its CSR roadmap.
The Lékédi Biodiversity Foundation, jointly created by Comilog (a Gabonese subsidiary of the Group) and Eramet, strengthens the status of the Lékédi park, which is now equipped with additional resources to preserve Gabon’s biodiversity, rehabilitate orphaned primates, and develop scientific research.
With 14,000 hectares, the Lékédi park remains the only secure wildlife park in Gabon and is home to exceptional flora and fauna.
Over the years, the protection of the site has allowed the development of local wildlife, including primates but also less common species such as red river hogs, harnessed bushbucks, or forest buffaloes. The ongoing inventory confirms the presence of around thirty gorillas and fifty chimpanzees. One of the park’s unique features remains the strong presence of more than 500 mandrills as well as rare and endangered species such as the giant pangolin, golden cats, panthers, false gharials, and more than a hundred bird species.
The park works with various Gabonese environmental protection organizations to carry out awareness-raising actions on biodiversity and combat poaching. The Lékédi Biodiversity Foundation aims to develop new partnerships in the field of research.
“I am delighted with today’s inauguration of the Lekedi Biodiversity Foundation in the presence of Prof. Lee White. This first for the Eramet group strengthens and sustains our commitments to preserving Gabonese biodiversity. Thanks to the experience gained with the teams from the Lekedi Park, we will now be able to accelerate our actions.”
Eric Willaume
Executive Director of the Lékédi Biodiversity Foundation
History of the Lékédi Park
The establishment of the railway, the Transgabonais, between Franceville-Moanda and Owendo put an end to the use of the cableway that had until then been used to transport manganese ore from Moanda to Mbinda in Congo. Industrial activity in the town of Bakoumba, the nerve center of the cableway transport facilities, almost came to a halt. Comilog thus conceived a conversion project to maintain activity and embarked on a large-scale livestock and fish farming program before ultimately focusing and actively investing in biodiversity conservation.
This is how the Lekedi Park was created in 1993. Managed by Sodepal (Société d’exploitation du parc de la Lékédi), a subsidiary of Comilog, it collaborates with various NGOs. Sodepal experts monitor the park’s ecosystem daily and work with local schools to raise awareness among young people about the importance of preserving biodiversity.
The park welcomes approximately 1,800 visitors per year.
In 2020, four major anti-poaching operations were carried out. These missions led to the destruction of illegal camps and gold mining sites. Six awareness missions targeting communities neighboring the park were also conducted in collaboration with the Water and Forests department.
One of the major challenges of the Park is the rehabilitation of primates and the reintroduction of endangered species into their natural habitat. In 2020, 7 African wild dogs were reintroduced into the Park after a 25-year absence in Gabon.
This operation is part of a large-scale program for the reintroduction and strengthening of Gabon’s Mega Fauna, a collaboration between the Aspinall Foundation, Gabonese National Parks, and the Lékédi Park. It involves many emblematic species such as gorillas, chimpanzees, mandrills, forest buffalos, Fassa waterbucks, red river hogs, and African wild dogs.
