Community Development

Community development is central to the long-term sustainability of Garamba National Park, with a key focus on education, healthcare and alternative livelihoods for the approximately 100,000 people living around the park. With the development of socio-economic initiatives in and around Garamba, making alternative sources of income available to local people, alongside effective conservation law enforcement, the benefits of stability are being realised for both wildlife and people.

Several dedicated community personnel work directly with local communities on a variety of community development projects and environmental awareness programmes. Permanent Dialogue Committees meet regularly, bringing together park staff, community leaders, and local administrators to discuss conservation, community ownership. A complaint management committee has been established as part of the park’s Grievance Mechanism; meetings were held to define its policy and to establish a communication system for receiving and managing community grievances.

In further awareness raising, broadcasts on community radio stations are aired on topics such as slash-and-burn practices and agroecology alternatives, reforestation and rhino reintroduction.

A workshop took place in 2024 on ancestral techniques for mitigating human-wildlife conflict, where 20 traditional methods to protect livestock and crops were shared by elders from local chiefdoms and Garamba staff.

Environmental education in local community schools has been a huge success © Marcus Westberg

Environmental education in local community schools has been successful, with thousands of schoolchildren and their teachers learning about conservation through guided park visits, school lessons, brochures and films. 

Camp Dungu, established to enhance environmental awareness, has hosted almost 2,000 people each year, while over 350 environmental awareness sessions reach over 18,000 community members. African Parks-supported primary schools are helping to provide education to over a thousand children in the region.

Working with local communities to identify alternative sources of income and to encourage less dependency on the park's limited resources is a priority, thus helping to provide local people with a sustainable future. 

One of the most successful initiatives has been the Farmer Field Schools (FFS) programme, which trains farmers in sustainable agriculture, market gardening and food crops. So far, over a thousand farmers have been certified, about half of which are then selected as “relay farmers” to train others and lead networks, ensuring continued application of their skills. This network has expanded agroecological practices to nearly 4,000 additional farmers across Garamba. Notably, lead farmer Jean-Pierre Tandema used his FFS income to build a maternity ward in Bilali, reducing the need for women to travel 15 km for medical care. In addition, students from 29 primary schools are undergoing training through Junior FFS programmes.

Beekeeping is one of the community enterprise development initiatives benefitting local people around Garamba © Marcus Westberg

Infrastructure projects in and around Garamba are improving community access to essential services, such as the African Parks-supported Nagero Hospital and Gangala health post just outside the park, which provide medical healthcare to over 10,000 people a year. Alongside this initiative, the procurement of medical supplies and equipment has meant hospital staff can perform surgeries and laboratory tests on-site, and educational sessions are organised for patients on a variety of topics including health and sexually transmitted diseases. 

The mobile clinic team visits some 31 villages annually, so that over 8,000 community members have access to medical help within the Garamba Complex.

Solar power is being provided through two solar mini-grids in Faradje and Tadu respectively to over 400 customers of which 45% are small and medium enterprises. A third mini-grid in Dungu town is being constructed. Once completed, this solar mini-grid will bring electricity to 772 users.