Meet the Team at Mayumba National Park
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Solange Ngouessono, conservator of Mayumba National Park, and the point person in Gabon for turtle and cetacean issues. |
R Quevain Makaya- our head ecoguard. He is quite intimidating with a pen and a notebook- if you're caught stealing turtle eggs! |
Dr. Richard J Parnell, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Mayumba National Park Project, takes time out from the rigors of coastal conservation for a little fun. |
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Judicael Tchibinda Tchibinda- a lean, mean, fashion machine. Judi's giraffe-like legs make him the fastest on the runner in the team, and his energy on patrol is boundless. |
Guy "Papa" Makanga looks intimidating, but is a real softie when it comes to the kids. One of our original four ecogardes, here he is helping out during an Outeach Program skit at Mangali's Sainte Anuarite Catholic School. |
Aimee Sanders, Outreach Program Manager and the Park's "Girl Friday", has been working on community development projects in Mayumba since 2003. |
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Alain Brice Djimbi Mavoungou, is "the sensitive ecoguard". In his spare time, he likes to write poetry and go for long walks on the beach. Here, he nurses a tern he found covered in oil on one of those long walks. |
Jean-Remy Ibinda, another of our original four ecogardes, announcing the line-up for the 2007 Worker's Day parade | Souami Nzassi, another of Mayumba's veteran eco-guards, with an enormous leatherback turtle in the Park and a smile that's almost as enormous. |
WELCOME TO THE MNP TEAM! |
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| Tim "Here today, in Conkouati tomorrow" Collins. Our very own semi-resident whale researcher looking "rugged and whale researcher-y". Nice headband. | Stephanie Mahinou Makaya is our fabulous new Outreach Program Assistant. Born in Malembé village and raised in Mayumba, she has a background in traditional dance and theatre and brings great enthusiasm to her work. | Mike Zeljan Markovina and Linda Schonknecht, respectively our patrol boat pilot and guest photographer extraordinaire. Being good South Africans, they do what they can to raise the bar. |
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Richard Tchindongo, Elie Ibouanga, and Junior Makanga: three members of our seasonal turtle team who have signed on as new year-round ecogardes to help patrol the southern portion of the Park. |
THE MAYUMBA NATIONAL PARK SECURITY TEAM |
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| The Mayumba National Park security force- Regis Mavoungou, Skidou the dog, along with... | ...the unstoppable 3-sister team of Foufou, Baboush, and Wixie (pictured here on "beach patrol"). | Lucky Dog is our newest edition to the growing population of Mayumba National Park guard dogs. Rescued after surviving nearly a week abandoned in a ditch (hence his name), his post will be at our Nuni ya Kwimbila observation camp, 12 km south of Mayumba town, just north of the Park entrance. He'll be accompanying our ecogardes on trawler patrols for moral support. (It's nice to have a friendly face around when fighting trawlers!) |
