13 Mar 2026
As part of the implementation of the NaturaGuinée project, funded by the European Union and implemented by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) in collaboration with the Guinean Office of National Parks and Wildlife Reserves (OGPNRF), a workshop to present and amend the management and development plan for the Badiar Biosphere Reserve was held on 12 and 13 March 2026 at the hotel Petit Bâteau in Conakry.
This technical workshop brought together eighteen participants, including senior officials from the technical departments of Guinea’s Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD), biodiversity conservation specialists, as well as national experts from IUCN, UNESCO MAB, UNOPS and the NGO Guinée Écologie. International experts in protected area management from Guinea, the Ivorian Office of Parks and Reserves (OIPR) in Côte d’Ivoire and the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo also took part in the workshop.
It should be noted that the process of developing the management and development plan for the Badiar Biosphere Reserve was initiated several years before the NaturaGuinée project. Indeed, the initial stages of this work began in 2019 as part of the environmental component of the Third Programme of Support for Security Sector Reform (PARSS3), implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS). The NaturaGuinée project then enabled this process to be continued and finalised through the organisation of consultations, technical analyses and workshops to amend the document.
The aim of the meeting was to examine the draft version of the management and development plan, analyse its various components and make the necessary amendments to ensure its consistency with national guidelines and international standards on the sustainable management of protected areas.
Over the course of the two-day meeting, participants conducted an in-depth analysis of the document, made technical observations and proposed several recommendations aimed at strengthening the reserve’s strategic planning, governance and sustainable management mechanisms. Following the discussions, the management and development plan for the Badiar Biosphere Reserve was adopted and technically approved, subject to the incorporation of the recommendations made by the participants. Furthermore, national and international experts recommended that the Guinean Office of National Parks and Wildlife Reserves (OGPNRF) undertake a review of the national framework for the development of management plans for Guinea’s protected areas, in order to better align it with current protected area management requirements and international best practices in conservation.
The holding of this workshop marks an important milestone in the planning and sustainable management of the Badiar Biosphere Reserve, by consolidating the strategic framework necessary for the preservation of its biodiversity and the sustainable development of local communities.
Our thanks go to the European Union, the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD), the Guinean Office of National Parks and Wildlife Reserves (OGPNRF), the participants from the MEDD’s technical departments, representatives from IUCN, UNESCO MAB and UNOPS, as well as the local communities of the reserve.