Top ministry official visits WCF/ OKKPS office in Mamou

The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) office in Mamou, Guinea received a visit from the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD), Karim Samoura, on October 31, 2023. The office hosts the European Union-funded Programme for the Preservation of Forest Ecosystems in West Africa (PAPFor), which is supporting the conservation of Outamba Killimi-Kuru Hills-Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah (OKKPS) transboundary forest landscape.

The visit was an opportunity to meet the teams of the WCF and the Guinean Office of National Parks and Fauna Reserves (OGPNRF) and discuss a number of issues:

• The renewal of the Ministry’s commitment to the process of creating the future Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park;
• The positive results recorded within the framework of the WCF-OGPNRF partnership;
• The transfer of skills to OGPNRF agents within the protected areas network;
• The possibility of expanding the WCF-OGPRNF partnership agreement to other Ministry departments.

On the prospects for conservation in Guinea, the Secretary-General mentioned that the past 10 years have seen the country make progress in improving its regulatory framework, as can be seen through the gradual return of technical and financial partners. He congratulated the WCF and European Union for the launch of the NaturaGuinée project and recalled attending the PAPFor project steering committee where the new NaturaAfrica programme was announced.