Scientists have been studying gorillas and other wildlife in the Republic of Congo since the 1980s. In 1993, the Congolese government, working in tandem with technical assistance from WCS, established Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park. The Mbeli Bai site is being managed to meet long-term gorilla research and ecotourism objectives.
“These protected areas are important not only for the conservation of the species they contain, they also hold the key to comparing our own development as a species with our next of kin,” said Thomas Breuer of WCS. “Places like Nouabalé-Ndoki, and the nearby Goualougo Triangle, are places where we see the process unfolding before our very eyes.”