Enter this walk-through diorama, and the sights and sounds of a
dense, tropical rainforest are revealed to you. Saplings, shrubs,
herbs and ferns emerge from the leaf litter that blankets the forest
floor, concealing insects, reptiles, and small ground mammals. A
stream runs out from a partially-obscured clearing in the distance,
where elephants can occasionally be glimpsed moving around. Glancing
upward through the tangled vines, branches, and tree trunks, you
can see birds and primates. This is a recreation of the Dzanga-Sangha
rainforest of the Central African Republic (C.A.R.). This wild forest
is home to some of the greatest concentrations of forest elephants
and lowland gorillas in Africa, as well as to other mammals, many
species of birds, and other vertebrates. Also found here are hundreds
of plant species, and thousands of insects and microorganisms.
Like tropical forests everywhere, Dzanga-Sangha is threatened
by human activities. Foreign timber and mining concessions drain
natural resources from the region, while the local people clear
land for agriculture and use the forest for other basic needs.
To protect this ecosystem, the government of C.A.R. established
the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park and the Dzanga-Sangha Dense Forest
Reserve. The national park is sheltered against all human impacts,
while the forest reserve allows limited exploitation of the local
flora and fauna. Dzanga-Sangha is an example of a conservation
effort designed to preserve biodiversity by enlisting local people
as partners in the management of a protected area. Benefits that
arise from activities such as ecotourism are then shared between
the C.A.R. government and the local communities. The success of
this project will be saving Dzanga-Sangha for future generations.
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