Tourism operator pulls out of Gabon
28th July 2010
Wildlife-rich Loango National Park to become virtually inaccessible as main tourist agency halts eco-tourism operations
If Gabon's Loango National Park was pencilled into your travel diary, you may need to reconsider: the main local tourist agency is halting ecotourism operations in the region.
As of September 1st 2010, tourism operator Africa’s Eden will close the doors of the Loango Lodge – which has welcomed thousands of international tourists since it opened in 2001.
Wanderlust’s Editor-in-Chief Lyn Hughes said of the looming closure: “the Loango National Park was one of the dream safari destinations of the future. It is extremely sad to think travellers will no longer be able to access this remote area of Africa, which is home to gorillas, chimps and forest elephants as well as humpback whales and ‘surfing’ hippos.”
The closure is a result of failed negotiations between the Gabonese civil aviation authorities (ANAC) and Africa’s Eden’s sister company SCD Aviation who currently fly in the park’s visitors. Despite SCD Aviation meeting all the requirements set by ANAC it has been refused the renewal of its Air Operator’s Certification – leaving Africa’s Eden with no option but to pull out of the region. This makes it very difficult for visitors to now access the park.
The decision to close the lodge has been taken despite shareholders investing more than 15 million euros into the Operation Loango project. Over the past nine years Dutch entrepreneur Rombout Swanborn and an alliance of private businesses, government bodies and NGOs have pushed to improve aviation access, tourism infrastructure and nature conservation. Investment has gone into building accommodation, eco-camps, training Gabonese staff and supporting research and monitoring studies for the conservation of Loango’s exceptional wildlife and biodiversity.
Legal action against the aviation authorities in Gabon has been initiated to seek compensation for the financial losses SCD Aviation and Africa’s Eden have undergone.
Find out more about the region and its wildlife by reading Lyn’s gorilla trek through Loango National Park.