Support to the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN)’s Program for the Rehabilitation of the DRC’s National Parks Network

The global objective of the proposed GEF project is to support the biodiversity sub-program of the PNFC with an aim to raise the political profile of biodiversity conservation in DRC and enhance its linkage to the economic recovery agenda. It aims to rehabilitate long-term institutional capacity to manage and monitor DRC's national network of protected areas. Together with other donors the project will support the implementation of an institutional capacity building program at the national level; provide direct assistance to three high priority protected areas at the site-level and; lay the foundation for creation of new protected areas covering upto 15% of the national territory. The proposed alternative, the Protected Areas Management and Nature Conservation program, is one prong of DRC’s sector-wide multi-donors Forest and Biodiversity Program. Together with other operations simultaneously under preparation by major donors (UNDP, EU, CARPE, Germany) it constitutes the first phase of the national program. Given the post-conflict situation and the pressing need to save existing assets in the field, this first phase focuses on rehabilitation. It encompasses a limited number of priority actions which need to be conducted urgently to restore minimum management capacity; which are achievable in a short time period; and which are complementary to those already envisioned by other internationally funded operations. It targets well-defined, achievable objectives (Phase 1) that pave the way for further long-term more ambitious support to the development of DRC’s national protected areas network (Phase 2 and on).November 7, 2008- The scope of the project has been reduced to provide a support the ICCN to build financial capacities, to rehabilitate two PA (Garamba and Mikeno), and to develop studies and assessements to identify new protected areas.