PARIS, 6 May 2013 (UN News Service): The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has expressed deep concern over the rise of poaching, armed violence and destruction in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) Dzanga-Sangha National Park, which is on the agency’s World Heritage List (http://www.dzanga-sangha.org).
Last month, men in uniform carried out repeated attacks around the Park, looting (plyndrer) equipment from the administration buildings and destroying the facilities.
The park is part of the Sangha Trinational Site (TNS) situated in the north-western Congo Basin, where Cameroon, CAR and (former French) Congo meet, and encompasses three contiguous (sammenhængende) national parks totalling around 750.000 hectares.
Much of the TNS is unaffected by human activity and features a wide range of humid tropical forest ecosystems with rich flora and fauna.
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Lowland gorillas and forest elephants are two unique species living within the park. The site was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List last year.
“I ask the Central African authorities to act quickly and to do everything possible to restore order in the region and to ensure the conservation of the protected area of Dzanga-Sangha,” said UNESCO’s Director-General Irina Bokova.
Ms. Bokova called on the Governments of the Republic of Congo and the Republic of Cameroon, which share the World Heritage site with CAR, “to share this message with the authorities in Bangui and to take all necessary measures to ensure the protection of the Nouabalé-Ndoki and Lobéké National Parks in facing this new threat.”
She also sent a message to the CAR’s Prime Minister, Nicolas Tiangaye, asking him to take urgent measures to ensure the protection of the park and the safety of its people.
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