Africa’s Eden was largely – if not entirely – responsible for Gabon’s rise in the last decade on the world travel map. It had not only created camps such as its flagship Loango Lodge and Evengué Lodge, but it had contributed extensively to conservation projects, including studies of the lowland gorillas.

In September, Africa’s Eden announced that the hiccups had been sorted out, and that it would be back in business in Gabon. More than $1 million is also being spent to improve the camps, extend the runway, and increase the capacity of the local school. Loango will reopen for business in mid-December.

Gabon’s tourism – most of it sustainable tourism – will quite possibly vanish by the end of August. The sudden withdrawal of Africa’s Eden, the main creator of tourism to the country, spells disaster for many people’s dreams, the country’s name, and a section of the economy. The marketing director for Africa’s Eden, Jacqueline Van den Broek, answers questions about what went wrong.

A World Different How long have you been in Gabon?

Van den Broek Africa’s Eden grew from a pilot project named Operation Loango, initiated in 2001, with the aim to conserve the pristine nature of Gabon through small-scale tourism. Loango National Park was one of the 13 new parks created in 2002, and it did well thanks to thanks to the efforts of SCD (Société de Conservation et Développement) and its parent company, Africa’s Eden.

AWD What kind of money and infrastructure did you put in there”

Van den Broek Fifteen million Euros for aviation, tourism, education infrastructure (we built school in the village, educated eco guides), and three million Euros went directly to conservation projects.

AWD Why did you choose Gabon as a venture?

Van den Broek Rombout Swanborn, Africa’s Edens’ owner, grew up there, saw the beauty and fragility of the ecosystem, and wanted to protect it via an entrepreneurial and sustainable way.

AWD Can you say a little about the owner of Africa’s Eden?

Van den Broek Rombout Swanborn spent part of his childhood in the Gamba region of Gabon. When he returned to Gabon after many years, he realized that west central Africa is one of the few places on earth that has remained relatively untouched by humankind, and that it deserves to be conserved for current and future generations. Africa’s Eden’s approach aims to establish and sustain west central Africa as a unique global destination for tourism, in order to conserve and protect its natural and cultural heritage.

AWD What has gone wrong now in Gabon?

Van den Broek The move is a result of the failure of negotiations following a dispute between the Gabonese civil aviation authorities (ANAC) and Africa’s Eden’s sister company, SCD Aviation, which ran a regional airline charter company to transport tourists from the capital Libreville to the park. Even active support of key members of Gabonese government could not prevent the severe consequence of a malfunctioning civil aviation authority that failed to create the conditions necessary for regular and safe aviation transportation: SCD Aviation was consistently refused the renewal of its Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC), even though all requirements were met.

Another consequence of this problematic situation is the fact that the European Union blacklisted all Gabonese airlines in 2008 when a large number of deficiencies were reported with regards to the capability of ANAC “to perform their air safety oversight responsibilities. More than 93 percent of the ICAO standards were not implemented.” This was the lowest percentage of all audited countries, and makes ANAC in Gabon one of the poorest performing civil aviation authorities in the world.

AWD You have the support of some of the government, though?

Van den Broek Correct. But ANAC is a fairly independent operating agency which apparently is hard to control from government side. This remains, however, also one of our own questions.

AWD Gabon got a lot of publicity in America and elsewhere the last few years as a travel destination. Do you think that was largely (if not solely) due to Africa’s Eden?

Van den Broek Africa’s Eden has always actively sought publicity and welcomed journalist and film crews from all over the world. Publications in National Geographic and documentaries on BBC and Animal Planet contributed to create awareness. Apart from that we went to all the large travel trade shows to promote Gabon.

AWD Do you think this is going to change things for the country?

Van den Broek Yes, they will lose their spot on the tourism map, I’m afraid. Without a decent tourism infrastructure in the national parks, tourism development as a serious economic sector will not happen.

AWD Is this a typical case of African corruption or how do you see it?

Van den Broek I am not the person to make these kind of qualifications, we can only see the result of this conflict by no longer having international tourists visiting Gabon. Other countries like Malawi, Cameroon, Sao Tome and Principe won’t stand still. In other words, if you don’t develop other countries will.

AWD Africa’s Eden is strongly in favor of sustainable tourism, isn’t it? Was this having a positive effect in Gabon?

Vandenbroek Very much so. One only has to consider the conservation projects conducted. Apart from that we created many jobs and education and provided a stable economic base for people in Gabon.

AWD How many people came to Gabon as a result of Africa’s Eden having camps and lodges there?

Vandenbroek Africa’s Eden realized 8000 bed nights a year

AWD What is your next move?

Vandenbroek As long as there is no reaction or action from ANAC or government, the lodge will remain closed.

Gorilla, Goodbye?

The small Central African country of Gabon has been getting a lot of great publicity over the last few years. A tourism jewel, magazines and newspapers called it. This was mostly due to the efforts of – and 15 million Euros paid by – one man, Rombout Swanborn, the low-key Dutch businessman and conservationist. Investing in aviation access, tourism infrastructure, and nature conservation in Gabon, he had lodges and eco-camps built, staff trained, and he made way for research and monitoring groups to study the area, especially the rich Loango National Park.

But no more.

Swanborn’s company Africa’s Eden, has announced it will pull out of Gabon on September 1, 2010. Behind it the company will leave a country to which it, as the main tourism operator, has helped introduce thousands of tourists. Through Africa’s Eden they saw Gabon’s magic rich forests, lowland gorillas, and rare beaches.

The sudden move - a serious blow to sustainable tourism in the region – comes as a result of “the failure of negotiations following a dispute between the Gabonese civil aviation authorities (ANAC) and Africa’s Eden’s sister company SCD Aviation, which ran a regional airline charter company to transport tourists from the capital Libreville to the park.”

In a strongly worded statement, Africa’s Eden called ANAC a “malfunctioning civil aviation authority that failed to create the conditions necessary for regular and safe aviation transportation.” As a result of this, the EU blacklisted all Gabonese airlines in 2008 and it got “the lowest percentage of all audited countries (which) makes ANAC in Gabon one of the poorest performing civil aviation authorities in the world.”

Swanborn said numerous efforts had been made to come to an agreement, but they had failed. The inability of his company’s planes to function properly in Gabon had crippled the company and led to severe financial losses.

“We are highly disappointed,” he said, “as a solution would have benefited all parties involved. In the end, the Gabonese people. ”

Africa’s Eden is no longer promoting Gabon as a tourism destination. At least 125 people will lose their jobs when the company leaves. And conservation research, which has so far been helped to the tune of 3 million Euros in the study of whales, manatees, lowland gorillas, and chimpanzees, will lose a crucial benefactor.

(See A World Different’s Q&A with Africa’s Eden’s Jacqueline van den Broek.)

Whales off Loango Park

Who They Are

The Africa’s Eden lodges and camps vary greatly in terms of what they offer and where they are situated. But wherever you are in Loango National Park, forest, savannah, lagoon, and beach are never very far away.

At Loango Lodge

Loango Lodge, where Operation Loango began in 2001, features 7 upscale, traditionally decorated bungalows, each with a private terrace and superb views of the tranquil river and the park.  The lodge is the perfect base from which to launch expeditions into different areas and camps. In the rainy season from November to April, buffalos and elephants can sometimes be seen passing by in the park while enjoying an early breakfast.

Evengué Lodge is located on an island that also is a gorilla sanctuary and reintroduction center run by the Fernan-Vaz Gorilla Project (see video, below).  The lodge has five comfortable bungalows (one of which floats on the lagoon), each with a private terrace, either facing the lagoon or set in the forest. Nearby is Mission St. Anne, which was designed by Gustav Eiffel.

Pte. Ste. Catherine - Simplicity in Eden

Pte. Ste. Catherine Beach Camp is so remote that the only footprints in the sand besides your own are those left by scurrying crabs (or, between October and February,  nesting turtles). It is comprised of five cozy Meru tents, each with two single beds, an en-suite bathroom and shower, mounted on a platform with a private terrace under a palm-thatch roof facing the ocean.

The five-tented Akaka Bush Camp, meanwhile, faces the forest in the remotest part of Loango.  The only way to reach the camp is by boat (2-4 hours from Loango Lodge).  It was on these wild unspoiled beaches of Petit Loango that Nick Nichols shot the famous pictures of surfing hippos for National Geographic.

One of the Famous Surfing Hippo Images by Nick Nichols

For the physically fit, there are walking expeditions of several days from Akaka Bush Camp to Petit Loango and cycling tours along the beach to Tassi Savannah Camp during the dry season. Some have spotted the surfing hippos along the way!

Like the previous two camps, Tassi Savannah Camp is simple, has five two-bedded tents, and is surrounded by primary and secondary forest with wide-open vistas not often found in densely forested Central Africa.

A Loango Bungalow

Loango is one of the last few places on earth where large mammals can still roam freely on the beach. Many of the Gabonese beaches provide a significant habitat for migrant shorebirds, including African skimmers and Damara terns, whose numbers are quickly diminishing across the rest of Africa. Here, during the rainy season, buffaloes and forest elephants can often be found grazing on the coastal grasslands and on the beach. Occasionally, families of gorillas can also be spotted foraging in the trees alongside the beach. From here, you can hop in a 4×4 and visit the research camp of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Tassi Sud, 30 minutes from Tassi Savannah Camp and where researchers go into the forest to carry out studies among the shy and elusive gorillas and chimpanzees.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_zC9fo1bms

What They Are Doing

Conservation

Loango Lodge remains the main base for numerous programs coordinated by the Max Planck Institute and the Wildife Conservation Society. Research about apes, dwarf crocodiles, forest elephant, western lowland gorillas, marine turtles, and whales is conducted from the lodge, as are educational projects. From there they also coordinate the cleaning of beaches, park management, and illegal trawler control. More than 80 students are enrolled in the local village’s well-equipped school, which was built and is run by Africa’s Eden.

One of four recognized gorilla subspecies, the western lowland gorilla is classified as critically endangered on the 2008 IUCN red list. The entire subspecies could be wiped out in less than 70 years without prompt action. The mission of the Fernan-Vaz Gorilla Project, in partnership with SCD, is to apply a multidisciplinary approach towards curbing the bushmeat trade that is threatening the survival of the remaining great apes through advocacy, education, local development, conservation, education, research, responsible gorilla-conscious tourism, and law enforcement support.

Originally some orphaned gorillas were moved to the island with the hope of releasing them into the wild one day. Since this is not possible because they are too reliant on humans for survival, they now have a special role as gorilla ambassadors, and they are used for education and raising global awareness of the gorilla’s plight.

Since 2001, Africa’s Eden and its partners have invested over 15 million euros in Gabon’s economy and has created more than 300 jobs. It has also contributed almost 3 million euros towards conservation and wildlife research, independently and through renowned conservation organizations.

Feeding Time on Evengue Island

In Their Own Words

“Gabon’s masks inspired artists such as Picasso and its music has arguably given birth to reggae and calypso, through the tragedy of the slave trade. Our guiding principal is to develop an experience that will move people to understand and care about the cultures and ecosystems they visit, allowing people to discover and learn about little known biological spectacles, whilst cultivating exchange between tourists and local cultures that have been profoundly affected by the forests they have evolved in, creating a product that is uniquely Gabonese.”



Africa’s Eden is the result of Dutch entrepreneur Rombout Swanborn’s dream. In 2001 Operation Loango was started by his Société de Conservation et Dévelopement to develop low-impact tourism and to start research, park management and education activities in national parks in western Central Africa.

The idea was that tourism could and should pay for conservation. After the project was completed, in 2007, Africa’s Eden started to offer fly-in safaris to its Loango and Evengue lodges and three other camps in Gabon, giving outsiders the chance to experience the unique, diverse, and intact ecosystems in and around the park. Africa’s Eden also offers a range of tours and exclusive accommodations in the islands of Sao Tomé and Principe. Profits generated by Africa’s Eden are reinvested in the area to ensure continued and economically sustainable protection of the national parks.