
In early 2000, Mr. Rombout Swanborn and Mrs. Ella Swanborn travelled to the Fernan-Vaz region of Gabon in central Africa. After visiting the Sainte-Anne mission (Odimba village), as well as Loango National Park, they were inspired to initiate a pilot project named Operation Loango. The aim of Operation Loango was to develop low-impact tourism and conservation in Gabon through the concept of ‘tourism pays for conservation’. Africa’s Eden grew from this pilot project which ended in 2007. As part of Operation Loango, a family of four gorillas were transferred in 2001 from a research facility in Gabon to the Island of Evengue-Ezango in the Fernan-Vaz where they could live in a more natural setting: this would eventually become the Projet Gorille Fernan-Vaz. Africa’s Eden has since grown to include Loango National Park in Gabon, Sao-Tome and Principe.