Gabon Wildlife Conservation

One of the things that makes Gabon so beautiful is the wide range of wildlife the country boasts. The country has a wide range of animals that include forest elephants, buffaloes, various types of marine life animals, and a variety of monkey and bird species. However, Gabon's wildlife has become in jeopardy due to animal poaching. Gabon is taking action in response to protect its valuable wildlife.

Gabonese Forest Elephants
Photo Credit: National Geographic

Gabonese Mandrill Monkey
Photo Credit: Encounterthewild.com

Programs such as the "Programme de Lutte Anti-braconnage et de Gestion de Faune", a Gabonese anti-poaching program, have been brought into existence to help with the poaching issue. The program is in the public-private sector, and it focuses on providing security against poachers for many of the Gabonese forests. This year the program received a partner from  Total Gabon. Total Gabon is a program that operates throughout Gabon and has a focus in biodiversity. Together, the two operations will combine their resources and provide financial support, as well as research, in an effort to reduce poaching.

Other organizations have joined the anti-poaching initiatives as well. Paramount Group, which is a global defense and aerospace company, based in Africa, donated resources to the anti-poaching efforts. In September of 2016, the company donated a Gazelle Helicopter as well as dogs to anti-poaching officers. In addition, the company also provided training to officers on how to operate the helicopter and utilize the dogs.

Companies and organizations aren't the only ones joining the anti-poaching initiative. Some people are working individually to help in the efforts. A professor known as Lee White, who has lived in Gabon for over 20 years now, has dedicated a lot of his time to wildlife conservation. In recent years. Professor Lee White has continued to work to conserve wildlife by helping to further develop programs such as the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Professor Lee White
Photo Credit: National Geographic

Part of what makes Gabon unique is the various animals that can be found throughout the country. The animals are not only value- added to the country aesthetically, but economically as well. The animals provide opportunities for developing a successful ecotourism sector in Gabon. This could be beneficial to residents who could get jobs working in this sector, through giving wildlife tours, etc. However, before the animals can help benefit the people of Gabon, it is important that Gabon must first protect the animals. The steps that they are taking to do this will help maintain the originality of the country, as well as protect future benefits that the country may gain from their wildlife. As the country is able to protect their wildlife, they will be able to do things such as keeping their national parks open and continue to work on furthering the success of them. Hopefully, in the future by investing in protecting the wildlife, there will be long-run benefits for the residents in the form of income. Besides possible economic gain, Gabon's wildlife is precious and should be protected at all costs.


Please enjoy this video showcasing some of Gabon's wildlife at their Loango National Park.

                                                         Video Credit: Kevazingo Travel & Tours
                                                                                             www.youtube.com

Sources:

National Geographic: "Using Technology to Combat Wildlife Crime". 21 November 2016. http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2016/11/21/using-technology-to-combat-wildlife-crime/.

Fletcher, Daisy. "Total Gabon joins the fight against poaching". 19 May 2016. Independent. 
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/campaigns/GiantsClub/total-gabon-joins-the-fight-against-poaching.

Martin, Guy. "Paramount hands over Gazelle helicopter, dogs to Gabon". 29 Sept. 2016. DefenceWeb.
http://www.defenceweb.co.za/.

Schwartz, Michael. "Real-Life 'Tarzan' Lee White is on a Mission to Protect Gabon's Forest Elephants",  24 June 2016.
National Geographic. http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/.

Social Housing in Gabon

Gabon is one of the most well-developed countries in Africa and the country is constantly working on ways to further improve their economy by focusing on various sectors including economic diversification, infrastructure, and social housing.

This year in 2016, Gabon has focused a lot of attention on developing social housing for residents. In the effort to get social housing units up and running in Gabon, the country has taken a few steps to make housing easily accessible for residents. For example, in May of this year, a state in Gabon known as Angondje financed a housing lottery that awarded over 800 social housing units to low-income residents.

Example of Social Housing units in Angondje
Photo Credit: ANGTI

The Gabonese government has also formed important partnerships to help push their housing initiative. Gabon teamed up with an engineering and project management company known as Bechtel. The company began working with Gabon in 2010, and renewed their partnership with the country in 2016. According to the company website, Bechtel is currently working on developing 5,000 public-housing units. In addition, the company is also involved in other Gabonese developments such as a wastewater treatment plan for the country.

Gabonese Workers for Bechtel
Photo Credit: www. Behctel.com

Further demonstrating the development of social housing in Gabon, the World Bank recently approved a 100 million dollar loan to help with various areas of municipal development that includes improving living conditions for residents. The benefits of this loan will not only come in the form of public-housing units, but residents of low-income neighborhoods will have the opportunity for temporary employment in building the housing units.

It's imperative that the government of any well-developed country puts effort into providing adequate housing for residents without the means to do so. This is why the initiatives of the Gabonese government to provide public-housing units is a major win for the country. Since many residents don't have sufficient income to afford quality housing, public-housing units will give low-income residents the opportunity to live in modernized housing. This of course will greatly improve the living conditions for a lot of people. In addition, developments for public-housing units will give some residents an opportunity to earn a temporary income, as many of the companies working on developing the units are looking to hire Gabonese residents for the projects.

Housing is a basic necessity for any individual, and the people of Gabon will experience a great improvement in their standard of living through social housing. The social housing projects are one major step to the country providing a better quality of life for Gabonese people. Improving housing will be sure to lead to improving other areas such as water sanitation, better waste management, etc., all contributing to a more comfortable life-style for the people of Gabon in the long run. 

Sources: 

News Ghana: "Gabon accelerates steps to build social housing units". 27 May 2016.

https://www.newsghana.com.gh/gabon-accelerate-steps-to-build-social-housing-units/

Public Finance International: "World Bank Support for Gabon's municipal development". 18 Jan. 2016.

http://www.publicfinanceinternational.org/news/2016/01/world-bank-support-gabon-municipal-development

Bechtel: http://www.bechtel.com/projects/gabon-national-infrastructure/

Agence Nationale Des Grands Travaux D' Infrastructures (ANGTI): http://www.angt.ga/angt/en-us/

Holdsworth, Rachel. " Infrastructure, integration, and what Gabon can teach cities about planning for the future". 29 Feb. 2016. City News. http://www.citymetric.com/politics/infrastructure-integration-and-what-gabon-can-teach-cities-about-planning-future-1859