ECO-TOURISM FOR OFFICIALS ON NATURE

CONSERVATION

Presented by: MUMBA MAMBWE Pouvoir

SUMMARY

 I. GENERAL INFORMATION
 1. A) On my Country
 B) On my Region
 2. Profile of my Organization

- Organization chart
 II. POINTS COVERED
 1. Description of a specific project to promote Ecotourism
 2. Problems my country/region faces
 3. Future prospects
 4. My current conception of Ecotourism
1. GENERAL INFORMATION

A) On my Country B) On my region
The Democratic Republic of Congo ( D.R.C) is the second I live and work in the province of Haut-Katanga, precisely in its
biggest country in Africa. It is divided into 26 provinces and capital city , Lubumbashi, the second town of the Country and
shares its borders with 9 countries. It is home to the second known as the world capital of copper.
largest equatorial forest domains in the world.
- Area : 747 Km²
- Capital city: Kinshasa
- Latitude : 11º36´42´
- Area: 2.345.410 Km²
- Longitude : 27º10´30´
-population : 102.262.808 inh.
- Altitude : 1.230m
- Languages spoken : French ( official),
Lingala, Swahili, Kikongo, Tshiluba - Climate : Tropicale ( rainy and dry season)

- Currency : Congolese Franc - Population : 2.812.000 inh.

- Climate : equatorial, tropical, monsoon,… - Tº : 20ºC

2. PROFILE OF MY ORGANIZATION

 The Tourism sector in the D.R.C is under the authority of the Ministry of Tourism, it is composed of a
administrative structure, the General Secretary Office of Tourism, which monitors the application of tourism
sector policy. It is represented in the provinces by provincials divisions.
 I work within the Haut-Katanga Provincial Tourism Division. It’s a technical and normative service which is
responsible for Implementing the legal and regulatory laws governing tourism in D.R.C in the province as well as
coordinating and supervising the tourist units of the place.
ORGANIZATION CHART
II. POINTS COVERED

 Tourism, once considered a leisure trip, has now become an industry around the world. It has created a lot of jobs (
directly and indirectly ) for people off all kinds in urban or remote environment and generates a lot of money for
countries that know how to exploit it.
 In the D.R.C, the tourism industry has not yet taken off even though the country has a huge touristic potential and
is full of strategic sites that can attract millions of visitors around the world and generate revenues that can help
the country in its development.
 The Government’s ambition is to make the D.R.C’s tourism sector the third destination in Sub-Saharan Africa by
year 2030, in order to contribute to the emergence of the Nation by relying specifically on the development of
Ecotourism and digital transformation.
1. SPECIFIC PROJECT TO PROMOTE ECOTOURISM

 Ecotourism in my country is made possible thanks to the diversity of ecosystems, the D.R.C is full not only of
splendid sites ( 1472 identified including 5 that are part of world heritage ), it is covered by 70 % forest, has a
majestic river, many waterfalls, an Atlantic coast, volcanos, white rhinos, okapis, and so on,
 To this end, Law No. 18/018 of 09 July 2018 on fundamental principles relating to tourism integrated master plan
for the development of tourism has planned :
 - The rehabilitation of different national parks and reserves,
 - Raise awareness among the local population about environmental conservation,
 - rehabilitation of access roads to the sites,
 - etc…
2. PROBLEMS MY COUNTRY/ REGION FACES

The development of Tourism is faced with several challenges that are :

 Administrative challenge: lack of a training policy for administrative and operational sector agents and executives;
 Ecological challenge : massive destruction of ecosystems with negative effect on biodiversity;
 Legal challenge : non-application of the law on fundamental principles of tourism in some provinces ;
 travel challenge : high cost of a visa and the difficult condition to obtain it in the D.R.C ;
 Financial challenge : insufficient budget allocated to the Tourism sector ;
 Security challenge : insecurity in protected areas and the repetition of poaching
 Cultural challenge : lack of tourism culture of local population ;
 Etc…
3. FUTURE PROSPECTS
Because of these different challenges, only the Government’s will and determination will ensure that the Tourism
sector can undergo a positive transformation, but here are some recommendation of mine to create a change :
 On Administrative level : train and retrain periodically in the staff of the National Tourism Administrations;
 Ecologically : Protect strategic areas and provide development and management plans for those sectors ;
 On legal level : Create measures for implementing Law No. 18/018 of 09/07/2018 ;
 On travel level : Facilitate the obtaining of visas and accessibility in the country for any visitors ;
 On Financial level : Provide an important budgetary allocation to the Tourism sector ;
 On security level : Develop agroforesty in around parks as well as biodiversity conservation and protection
activities ;
 On Cultural level : Organise campaigns to raise awareness of the population about tourism and its benefits
 Etc…
MY CURRENT CONCEPTION OF ECOTOURISM

 The Law No. 14/003 of February 11, 2014 on nature conservation in its first article, defines Ecotourism as an
activity practiced by nature lovers, consisting of traveling to natural areas preserved relatively intact with the aim
of to study, admire and enjoy the landscape, the flora and the wild fauna, as well as all elements of a cultural
nature existing there.
 It is a tourism centred on the discovery of a nature while respecting the environment and local culture.

THANK YOU J.I.C.A