Lake Télé Community Reserve

The Lake Télé Community Reserve is a protected area in the Republic of the Congo.

Lac Télé Community Reserve
Location in the Congo Republic
Nearest city	Mbandaka
Coordinates	1°20′51″N 17°09′15″E
Area	4,389 square kilometres (1,695 sq mi)
Established	10 May 2001
Ramsar Wetland
Official name	Lac Télé / Likouala-aux-herbes
Designated	18 June 1998
Reference no.	950[1]

History

The reserve was established on the 10 May 2001. In August 2010, the Cooperation Agreement between the governments of the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on the Lake Tele - Lake Tumba landscape provided for creation of a trans-national protected area including the Lake Télé Community Reserve and the Ngiri-Tumba-Maindombe area in the DRC.^[2]

Geography and environment

The reserve is a huge area of inaccessible swamp forest, with no roads. Ite covers 4,389 square kilometres (1,695 sq mi) around Lake Télé.^[3] The soil under the reserve contains major stores of peat which is rich in carbon. This discovery makes conservation of the area even more crucial, as if disturbed the carbon could escape into the atmosphere exacerbating global warming. In light of this discovery, the Wildlife Conservation Society advocated expansion of the reserve.^[4]

Wildlife

In 2006 and 2007 researchers from the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society investigated the region, finding evidence of an estimated population of 125,000 Western lowland gorillas. This was more than the current estimated total population of the species.^[5] The park has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of many bird species.^[6]