The little-known story of emerging ecotourism in the Central African Republic

Dzanga-Sangha region experiencing modest but measurable growth in ecotourism centered on forest elephant and gorilla conservation, with approximately 800 tourists visiting in 2025, generating roughly $1 million in revenue, creating local employment and income-sharing mechanisms that directly benefit guides, lodge workers, and Indigenous communities.

Benefits remain unevenly distributed with limited overall job creation; infrastructure challenges and access barriers persist; the growth is modest on international scales and the initiative remains described as 'a work in progress.'