Equatorial Guinea
The subject for my portrait for Equatorial Guniea is Regina Nchama Okenve, Conservator of the Monte Alen National Park and expert in elephant repellent
About Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea is a country on the west coast of Central Africa consisting of two parts. The mainland region, Río Muni, is bordered by Cameroon to the north and Gabon to the south and east. The insular region consists of the islands of Bioko (formerly Fernando Po) in the Gulf of Guinea and Annobón. The Portuguese-speaking island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe is located between Bioko and Annobón.
87% of Equatorial Guinea is covered in dense tropical rainforest with a rich biodiversity. The main environmental issues facing Equatorial Guinea include deforestation, biodiversity loss, and the impacts of climate change. These issues are exacerbated by factors like illegal poaching, bushmeat trade, and unsustainable logging practices.
About Regina
Regina Nchama Okenve has loved being in the forest since she was a child. She was fascinated by the similarities between humans and other primates and had a desire to study environmental sciences. This course at university was heavily oversubscribed so Regina opted instead to study a degree in Forest Engineering
Her joy on graduation was rapidly exceeded by her delight in being assigned to a role involving conservation. Regina works with the Bristol Zoological society on The Bristol Zoo Project. Currently Regina is working in two main roles
The first role is working as community liaison, mitigating elephant foraging in Mount Allen National Park. One of Regina’s key activities is to make “smelly elephant repellent”, a smelly mixture first developed in Uganda, which is bottled and put onto fences to try and keep elephants away from farms. Elephant crop-foraging is a significant issue in Equatorial Guinea, causing tensions with farming communities living near the national parks, and in some cases leading to retaliatory killings of the Critically Endangered forest elephants.
In Regina's second role she is curator of the Monte Alen National park and is constantly working to strengthen the sustainable management of the forest. This involves integrated land use, improving the livelihood in local communities and preserving the biodiversity in the boundaries of the park
Watch the portrait's story below
This video shows the painting process, and tells some of Regina's story.
