The home to several endangered species – the Congo National Park – may soon be turned into a ‘concrete jungle’ with hotels and casinos standing tall there. The Congo Republic has signed a deal allowing a U.S. developer to open up hotel and casinos in the national park, according to a source at the Forestry Ministry.
The ‘devastating’ agreement, as we can call it, for the endangered species housed there, was signed last week in the commercial capital Point-Noire. The agreement gives the Utah-based Pioneer International Development a 50-year license for developing eco-tourism in the Conkouati-Douli National Park, which is the most diverse reserve of the central African country.
The 505,000 hectares of Conkouati-Douli – stretching from deep in the Atlantic Ocean to the inland hills of central African country — are home to a host of rare and endangered species, which includes leatherback turtles, mandrills, gorillas and also chimpanzees.
A copy of the deal signed was read out by the source to Reuters, stating,
After the signing of this protocol … Pioneer will appoint operators to begin the development process under the supervision of the Forestry Ministry.
It was in January, President Denis Sassou-Nguesso’s government had awarded an oil exploration licence to a subsidiary of France’s Maurel & Prom within the park! This was contradictory to the park’s charter. And, hence the government came under fire from environmental groups.