Posted on February, 02 2025

By Martina Lippuner, WWF Africa’s Head of Communications, with WWF’s Alfred Yoko and Christian Mpassi
First published on WWF's Freshwater Practice blog

My recent visit to Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was eye-opening — demonstrating how completely its forest and wetlands are interlinked, and how dependent local communities are on the wealth of its waters.

Africa’s largest tropical forest park is a vital sanctuary not only for terrestrial animals, such as the Congo peafowl, forest elephants, bongos and bonobos, and 430 known (and many more unknown) plant species, but also for its diverse wetlands. It is a world where meandering rivers, extensive swamps and peat bogs play a crucial role in the health and balance of the entire ecosystem — sustaining extraordinary biodiversity and supporting more than 500 local communities around the park.© Salonga.orgDuring my trip to Salonga, I spent much of my time on the many mighty rivers in and around the park, visiting remote villages as well as conservation and rural development projects that WWF supports in the area, and observing the critical role of these ecosystems and their biodiversity in people’s lives.

And the diversity is truly extraordinary. Let’s just take fish. During surveys conducted in 2006, 2007 and 2010, researchers from the university of Kinshasa and the American Museum of Natural History identified 152 fishes from 24 families in the rivers around Salonga — a list that is very likely incomplete. Many of these are vital for the food security of the people around the park.

Local communities, who are heavily reliant on the region’s freshwater fisheries for their subsistence, practice artisanal fishing. The dark, acidic waters of the rivers are poor in nutrients, so fish feed mostly on insects, seeds, and fruits that fall into the water. Fishing techniques in the region vary, with nets, hooks, and harpoons commonly used. Most fishers prefer fixed nets to drag nets as the latter are less fit for purpose around Salonga due to the many tree trunks in the rivers.Preparing a traditional fishing net © Christian MpassiPreservation techniques, such as smoking fish, are widely practiced, but are not without their disadvantages, including the high consumption of wood and the still-limited shelf life of the smoked fish. Salting — a relatively recent innovation in the region and mainly practiced by traders from Kinshasa — offers a more long-lasting alternative.

And it’s not just preservation practices that have been changed by the arrival of fishers from outside the local communities. These fishers, targeting fish from the Luilaka River to sell in cities like Mbandaka and the capital Kinshasa, are threatening Salonga’s species and fisheries through overfishing.

Another concern is the use of toxic products by some fishers to increase their catches. This approach not only kills aquatic species but also undermines the health of the entire ecosystem. Shockingly, this practice has directly impacted people as well as wildlife, with frequent incidents reported, such as widespread cases of diarrhea and even the tragic deaths of four women who allegedly drank contaminated water in the village of Boinanguo in 2023.

Saving Salonga is part of the world’s ambitious 30x30 goalWaterways are essential for communities across Salonga © Karina Aigner / WWF-USProtecting Salonga requires conserving not just its forests but also its wetlands and waterways, which are essential to the survival of communities and wildlife.

In 2022, the world agreed to protect 30% of land, freshwater and marine ecosystems by 2030 under the ambitious 30x30 goal in the Global Biodiversity Framework. This commitment includes safeguarding crucial wetlands in places like Salonga and ensuring that they are sustainably managed so that they remain healthy enough to nourish people and nature.

For example, with WWF’s support, local associations, like the “Union of Professional Fishermen of Monkoto”, are adopting more responsible fishing practices. Recently, a first draft of a locally-led, good practices guide was produced by Union members, outlining better ways of managing fish stocks. One of the many rules is that during the ‘no fishing season’ from mid-September to mid-December, union members agreed to focus on their agricultural activities, giving the region’s freshwater resources time to rest — and re-stock. WWF will work with local authorities to ensure the measures in the guide are implemented and monitored to guarantee a future where people and fishes can thrive together.

But saving Salonga’s swamps and forests is about much more than just sustaining local communities and biodiversity. They play a significant role in stabilizing both the regional and global climate. Conserving Salonga contributes to climate mitigation and a more sustainable future for the entire planet.Water transport is a lifeline for Salonga communities © Martina LippunerBut the challenges are immense. Villages around the park are extremely hard to reach, most of them only by risky motorbike rides, which are not for the faint-hearted, others only by foot. Or, of course, by boat. Salonga’s many rivers enable people to move around and are the only way for to leave the broader Salonga landscape, with boats taking 3–4 days to Mbandaka and around double that to Kinshasa.

Sustainable development is critical. Ecotourism, though still in its infancy here, provides an opportunity to engage a wider audience and bring much needed income and economic benefits to local communities. Micro-entreprises like tailoring shops, and manioc and maize mills, which WWF has helped to set up, also enhance livelihoods — and take pressure off the ecosystems.

But our determination to help safeguard and sustainably manage Salonga’s unique forest, river system and wetlands is as immense as the challenges. By working together, inclusively, with local communities, and engaging stakeholders at all levels, we aim to ensure that Salonga remains a globally important biodiversity hotspot and carbon sink, and becomes a model for sustainable development.

Together with our partners, we hope to dive more deeply into the issue of fishing in the future, balancing the wellbeing of people with maintaining healthy river systems in Salonga.