| Lac Télé Community Reserve | |
|---|---|
  Location in the Congo Republic | |
| Nearest city | Mbandaka |
| Coordinates | 1°20′51″N 17°09′15″E / 1.347589°N 17.154121°E / 1.347589; 17.154121 |
| Area | 4,389 square kilometres (1,695 sq mi) |
| Established | 10 May 2001 |
| Ramsar Wetland | |
| Official name | Lac Télé / Likouala-aux-herbes |
| Designated | 18 June 1998 |
| Reference no. | 950 |
The Lake Télé Community Reserve is a protected area in the Republic of the Congo.
History
The reserve was established on the 10 May 2001. In August 2010, the Cooperation Agreement between the governments of the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on the Lake Tele - Lake Tumba landscape provided for creation of a trans-national protected area including the Lake Télé Community Reserve and the Ngiri-Tumba-Maindombe area in the DRC.
Geography and environment
The reserve is a huge area of inaccessible swamp forest, with no roads. Ite covers 4,389 square kilometres (1,695 sq mi) around Lake Télé. The soil under the reserve contains major stores of peat which is rich in carbon. This discovery makes conservation of the area even more crucial, as if disturbed the carbon could escape into the atmosphere exacerbating global warming. In light of this discovery, the Wildlife Conservation Society advocated expansion of the reserve.
Wildlife
In 2006 and 2007 researchers from the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society investigated the region, finding evidence of an estimated population of 125,000 Western lowland gorillas. This was more than the current estimated total population of the species. The park has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of many bird species.
References
- "Sangha-Nouabalé-Ndoki". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- "Accord de coopération entre les gouvernements de la République démocratique du Congo et la République du Congo relatif à la mise en place de la binationale lac Télé - lac Tumba" (PDF) (in French). COMMISSION DES FORETS D'AFMOUE CENTRALE. 5 August 2010. Retrieved 2012-01-30.
- "Lac Télé Community Reserve". Protected Planet. Retrieved 2012-01-30.
- Harvey, Chelsea (11 January 2017). "Scientists just discovered a massive pool of carbon in central Africa that nobody knew was there". Washington Post. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
- "More than 100,000 rare gorillas found in Congo". CNN World. August 5, 2008. Archived from the original on January 20, 2012. Retrieved 2012-01-30.
- "Lake Télé Community Reserve". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
| Protected areas of the Republic of the Congo | |
|---|---|
| National Parks | |
| Nature reserves | |
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