ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe Présidence of the Republic of Gabon expresses sincere appreciation to the hundreds of people who contributed to this Vision. The com-prehensive list includes Gabonese citizens and officials, NGO representatives, scientists, tourism experts, and specialists and knowledgeableindividuals from numerous fields. Thank you to everyone who helped create Gabon’s Vision.

Aventures Sans Frontières (ASF), Conservation International (CI), Ecosystèmes Forestiers d'Afrique Centrale (ECOFAC), GabonTour, Ibonga, Missouri Botanic Garden, National Geographic Society, Operation Loango, Programme Sectoriel de Valorisation des Aires Protégées (PSVAP), Réseau des Aires Protégées d’Afrique Centrale (Rapac), The Smithsonian Institution, Societé de Conservation et Développement (SCD),World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Kate Abernethy, Sidia Ada Mba, René H. Adiahéno, Jean-Pierre Agangoye, Herve Ndong Allogho, Joseph Andjembimande, Claudine Angoue,Simon Angoue Ovono, Rene Bazin Assaly, Seraphin Assame, Mohamed Bachiri, Bruno Baert, Anne Cecile Balland, Mlle Anelore Banas, Annie-Flore Batchiellilys, Fiona Bayly, Albert Nze Bengone, Elizabeth Bennet, Christophe Besacier, Marianne Odette Bibalou, Jean Bié, Alain Claude Billie Binze, Jean-Philippe Biteau, Sima Biyan, Stephen Blake, Allard Blom, Ange Boretti, Susan Borke, Vincent Borobo,Noel Borobo Epembia, Henri Bouroubou Bouroubou, Antoine Boussougou, Roger Boussougou, Yves Odilon Boutoundou, Tom Buncle, Romain Calaque, Brigitte Carr, Mattew Cassetta, Nerissa Chao, Eric Chesnel, Susan A. Chin, Costas Christ, Patrice Christy, Steve Cobb, Tim Collins, Randi Coran, Amos Courage, Jean Francois Coutin, Nigel Crawhill, Eileen Cruz-Minnis, Bryan Curran, Bona Dembele,James Deutsch, Didier Devers, Pauwel De Wachter, Teale G.Doris, Emile Doumba, Evelyne Doumba, Miftah Elheir, Heaven Deribe Etenesh, Audrey Eyeghe, Michael Fay, Mikel Folcarelli, Benoit Fontaine,Angela Formia, John Fraser, Gustavo Gandini, Ethan Garber, Laura Olga Goundjou, Federico Grillo, Jefferson Hall, Kathryn Hammill, Kimio Honda, Annabelle Honorez, Jean Huber, Nicolas Hubert, Bas Hujibrechts, Olly Hymas, Marlyse Issembe, Steve Johnson, William Karesh, Aistide Kassangoye, Pakenee Kittipinyowat, Judith Knight, Georgette Koko, Sergios-Orestis Kolokotronis, Jean Koumazock,Alphonsine Koumba, Pierre Andre Kombila Koumba, Sharon Kramer-Loew, Sally Lahm, Olivier Langrand, Stefanie Latour, Michelle Lee, Alexandre Le Moal, Marina Louetchi, Hank Lowenstein, Jean Marc Lusson,Pierre Mamboundou, Pepin Magamamoucketou, Julia Mair, Fiona Maisels, Jean Malombe, Pierre Claver Manganga Moussavou , Gina Martin, Benoit Mangaka-Mayaba, Natalie Maseus, Jean Massima, Marie Helène Mattey Boo, Paul Biyoghe Mba, Samy Mankoto Ma Mbaelele, Samuel Mbandinga, Augustin Mihindou Mbina, Michel Mbomo Upiangu, Alexander McIntosh, Hitesh Mehta, Assaf Meron, Brice Leandre Meye, Bernadin Minko Mve, Chris Mombo Nzatsi, Kenneth P. Moorefield, Kathy Moran, James Morley, Damien Mougin, Florentin Moussavou, Alphonse Moussavou-Doukaga, Hilaire Moussavou,Pierre Moussavaou, Joél and Scholastique Muller, Nicole Muloko, Charles Munn, Modeste Mvouri, Franck Ndjimbi, Landry Martin Ndoungou, Gertrude Nfono, Pierre Ngavoura, Ludovic Ngook Mbanack,Fortune Ngossangah, Solange Ngouessono, Joseph Ngowou, Alain Christ Nguembi, Jean Claude Nguinguiri, Vincent Magloir Nkapseu Mihindou, Tomoaki Nishihara, Yves Nouvellet, Monique Nsafou, Omer Ntougou, Jules Ntoutoume, Hortense Nyanguy, Francois Nzila, Christian Johnson Ogoula, Louis Barrys Ogoula Olingo, Gilbert Ondjika, Isabelle and Nigel Orbell, Richard Oslisly, Jean Jacques Ouphouet,Han Overman, Florence Pala, Richard Parnell, Patrice Pasquier, Graeme Patterson, Olivier Pauwels, Liz Pearson, Linda Percy, Juan Marti Pique, Kristen Podolak, Josh Ponte, James Powell, Manuelle Prunier,John Robinson, Howard Rosenbaum, Adele Sambo, Steven Sanderson, Eliana Santoro, Kaddu Sebunya, Nick Settimi, Diane Shaw, Fabien Sordet, Guy-Philippe Sounguet, Malcolm Starkey, Ruth Starkey,Rombout Swanborn, Gillies Tako, Jean Jacques Tanga, Isidore Tcheka Koto, Mehdi Teale, Nelson Then, Ngomo Thierry, Duncan Thomas, E. Tigoue, Jean Tondangoye, Sebastian Troëng, Gael Vande Weghe,Jean-Pierre Vande Weghe, Amy Vedder, Ray Victurine, Bernadette Voisin, Wolf Waitkuwait, Sarah Walker, R. Barrie Walkley, Gretchen Walters, Peter Walsh, Bill Weber, Joshua Weitzman, Patricia White, Jean Wickings, Chris Wilks, Monica Wrobel, Christopher Wyss, Angela Yang, Wayne Yip, and all the dedicated logistics coordinators, drivers, and support staff of WCS Gabon.

Special thanks to the kind benefactors of this project: The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Total Gabon, and Edith McBean.

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The recommendations and proposals in this vision were put together by over four years by a team from the Wildlife Conservation Society’s International and Exhibits & Graphic Arts Departments. Led by Dr. Lee White and John A. Gwynne, the coreWCS team includes trustee Edith McBean, Markley Boyer, Jean-Gael Collomb, Katherine Lemcke, Christian Tchemambela, and Elizabeth & Andrew Coates of Cresolus Design. They spent many weeks in Gabon’s parks and surrounding areas to gather information and create designs for each National Park, as well as other urban and rural areas.

We thank them for their dedication to this project, and their contribution to the future of sustainable tourism in Gabon.

WCS TEAM

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Michael “Nick” Nichols (born in Alabama, 1952) is a passionate photographer whose enthusiasm is infectious. During the course of his career he has photographed endangered species and peoples, as wellas adventure. Nick’s work is bound in energy. He strives for photography with an edge, a choice requiring tension, movement, and dynamic choice of subject matter. Nichols is currently a staff photographerat National Geographic. Nichols spent two years documenting Mike Fay’s epic Megatransect, crossing on foot 2000 miles of Congo forest to document and study Africa’s last great wilderness before itdisappeared to the coming human wave. Due to the tremendous publicity from print, TV, and radio, Fay (using Nichols’ photographs, many of which appear in this book) encouraged President Bongo to setaside 11% of Gabon to create the thirteen national parks in this Vision. In fall 2005 Nichols introduced two books in a boxed set documenting his 12-year partnership with Fay: color photographs in the “Last Place on Earth” with black and white images in the “Megatransect Journal”.

Nichols is the author of seven books, and has four times been awarded first prize for nature and environment stories in the World Press Photo competition. His other numerous awards include Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Pictures of the Year story and image awards. We thank Mr. Nichols for his generous contribution of photos to this book and his dedication to Gabon.

MICHAEL NICHOLS Photos courtesy of National Geographic Image Collection

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Rob is a native New Yorker who has spent the past decade using his camera to capture colorful moments in Africa and elsewhere around the world. He now divides his time between homes in Cape Town andNew York. His goal with his photography is to reveal the uniqueness in everyday life, cutting through stereotypes to highlight the color and texture in places and things as common as an Italian street market ora Hamptons beach and as exotic as a the outstretched hand of a lemur in Madagascar or a virgin forest in Central Africa.

Rob first visited Gabon in 2004 and he was captivated by what he saw. That visit resulted in several magazine stories that he both illustrated and wrote, including a comprehensive 16 page story on Gabon’snational parks for Africa Geographic magazine. Rob returned to Gabon in 2005 with a team from WCS, specifically to work on some of the concepts and images seen in this volume. Rob believes strongly inthe mission to create and preserve Gabon’s landscape and wildlife for future generations. He has generously given much time and effort to help move Gabon’s Vision into reality.

www.rjrossphoto.com

ROBERT J. ROSS

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Ian Chase Nichols is an emerging figure in the field of photography. Comfortable behind the camera, Ian first began work in Gabon in 2002 with his father Nick, who was there on assignment for National Geographic magazine. While in Gabon, Ian volunteered as a photographer for the WCS Whale Team. Photographing under difficult conditions proved challenging and successful as Ian developed abody of work, and an aesthetic vision. Ian returned to Gabon for WCS in subsequent years, including a mission focused on this Vision document. Given his natural talent and the abundance of imagery inGabon, Ian created a library of powerful images from nature as well as the human realm. Upon graduation from the University of Virginia in 2004, Ian was awarded a grant to photograph “naïve chimps” at a research site in the Republic of Congo where he spent a year photographing undocumented "tool use." Ian has now come full circle. On his first visit to Africa, he was too young to visit Mountain Gorillas,but in 2007 he was given the rare opportunity to photograph Lowland Gorillas in Congo. Patient and sensitive to the nuances of primate behavior, Ian has captured rare glimpses of man's closest relative.

Ian’s work ranges from documenting natural wonders in Africa to grassroots political events in Washington, DC. His intention is to capture authentic moments that inspire awareness in others and fosterpositive change in our world. We are grateful for Ian’s contribution to this Vision for Gabon.

IAN NICHOLS

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Carlton Ward Jr. is an American environmental photojournalist with graduate training in ecology and anthropology. Through his photographs, Carlton aims to promote conservation of natural environmentsand cultural legacies. He regularly produces stories for newspapers and magazines including features in Smithsonian, National Wildlife, GEO, Africa Geographic, and Outdoor Photographer.

For his first book, “The Edge of Africa”, Carlton spent eight months in Gabon’s forests, documenting the unseen wonders of life at the edge of the African continent. He participated in 5 different multi-taxabiodiversity research expeditions with the Smithsonian Institution – the most intensive biodiversity research yet conducted for Gabon. Using custom-made studio and camera techniques, Carlton documentedover 400 different species of living plants and animals. Many species he photographed for the first time and several were new to science. Beyond the value for scientific records, Carlton recognizes the power ofphotographs to influence the public and inspire change. He seeks pictures that capture the essence of subjects in a way that will engage readers and help carry the science-based messages to broader audiences.

In 2004, Carlton founded the Legacy Institute for Nature & Culture (LINC), a non-profit organization for conservation communications. LINC's mission is to raise awareness for natural environments andcultural legacies, educate about important connections between human societies and natural ecosystems, and promote conservation of natural heritage. See more at www.LINC.us.

CARLTON WARD

Many photographers and agencies contributed images to this document. We would like to thank: Keith Barnes (pp. 77, 143), Liz Bennett (pp. 122, 263), Jean-Philippe Biteau (pp. 23, 25, 40), Rhett Butler (p. 47), Romain Calaque (pp. 135, 137), Susan Chin (pp. 221, 224), Tim Collins (pp. 53, 54, 110, 113, 119, 121, 122, 173), Bob Cook (p. 91), Gerald Cubitt (p. 165), Dennis DeMello (p. 222), David Fleetham (p. 173), Armando Villarubia (p. 71), Amanda Hicks & Josh Ponte (Executive Summary, pp. 36, 78, 125, 127, 260, 261), Henry Gibley (pp. 45, 57), David Harwood (Executive Summary, pp. 33, 47, 56, 132, 290), Philipp Henschel (pp. 129, 146), Bas Jongerius (p. 71), Blake Jorgensen (p. 71), William Karesh (p. 91),Judy Knight (pp. 243, 244, 246, 247), Mike Kock (pp. 51, 53, 79, 93, 108, 159, 210, 221, 224, 267), Stefanie LaTour (pp. 8, 40, 209, 212, 215, 263), Fiona Maisels (p.243), George Mbourou (pp. 35, 259), Charles Munn (p. 157), Richard Oslisly(Executive Summary, pp. 24, 48, 77, 81, 82, 85, 144, 146, 215, 260), Richard Parnell (pp. 4, 115, 171, 172, 175, 177, 178, 180, 182, 261), Olivier Pauwels (p. 51), Josh Ponte (pp. 126, 134), Peter Ragg (pp. 76, 77, 130), Aimee Sanders (p. 174), Brian Schmidt (pp. 128, 158, 236), Guy-Philippe Sounguet (p. 105), Erica Spotswood (Executive Summary, pp. 158, 168, 257), Malcolm Starkey (opposite title page, pp. 142, 143, 144, 149, 152, 201), Ruth Starkey (p. 165), Gael Vande Weghe (pp. 200, 201, 212), Jean-Pierre Vande Weghe (pp. 25, 26, 30, 77, 78, 97, 99, 100, 109, 110), Liz White (p. 92), Chris Wilks (pp. 23, 24, 31, 69, 197, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 223, 244, 258), Artists Rights Society (p. 259), Association International du Albert Schweitzer de Lambarene (pp. 101, 243, 260), BGFI Group (p. 18), Caribbean Conservation Coalition/Sebastian Tröeng (pp. 172, 175), CBS Stills (p. 147), Conservation International, CIRMF (pp. 207, 267), Gabon Environnement (p. 107),the Gabonese Ministry of Culture (Executive Summary, pp. 35, 36, 98, 126, 127, 143, 200, 243, 244, 260), Lapa Rios Lodge (p. 116), Novacom (pp. 35, 259), Operation Loango (pp. 45, 52, 278), PSVAP (pp. 73, 74), the San Diego Zoo (p. 167), Vireo (p. 25), the Wildlife Conservation Society (pp. 78, 110, 171, 224, 233, 255), and the WCS Team (images throughout).

OTHER CONTRIBUTERS

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