Kristina Plattner, managing director of Kamba African Rainforest Experiences, operates in one of the most complex terrains imaginable — the Congo Basin — where luxury hospitality, conservation, governance, and community survival intersect daily. As the only private operator in Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo, she operates on a model where wilderness exists through carefully structured value.
In this exclusive conversation with Robb Report India, Plattner talks about building a conservation model where luxury underwrites protection, why economic viability is essential to safeguarding fragile ecosystems, and how leadership rooted in listening can turn tourism into a long-term ally of the forest.
Kristina Plattner(KP) : We are practising low-volume, low-impact tourism, so as a result, we would rather offer exclusive luxury tourism than push for large numbers. We only have six double bedrooms available in each of our three camps. Wherever possible, we build with local materials and FSC-certified local timber. The local population needs employment to earn a living, so as not to use the resources of the forest (timber, bush meat, etc.) to feed their famillies. We give that chance to be employed without needing to rely on the forest as a resource.
Ngaga, the lodge where we offer gorilla trekking, is currently outside of the park or any protected area. We have employed members of the local communities to protect this area, and for every guest who joins us at Ngaga, Kamba pays money into a local community fund as well as towards conservation of the area. Together with local researchers, we are also lobbying to make Ngaga a protected conservation-focussed area. Hence, every tourist who joins us — and for whom we pay tourism tax — helps us in this endeavour.
I also find that our international guests play a big role in becoming ‘guardians of the forest’. Very few people seem to know about the large rainforests in the Congo Basin and how important they are for the global climate, and humanity as a whole, so every person who visits us becomes an important messenger for this ecosystem.
KP: Just to clarify, we are the only private operator in Odzala-Kokoua National Park. African Parks (AP), the non-profit park management entity, also operates a lodge in one of our concessions.
Being the only private operator does put quite a bit of pressure on us. We are the second largest employer in the area after the park management entity, hence we are a big driver of the local economy. Ecologically, we try to be a role model for the local communities as well as for future investors. We try to keep our carbon footprint as small as possible while allowing for a great experience for the guests.
We have a lot of support from the local tourism board and forest economy, which is great. Without them, we would not be able to do what we do. We meet with both regularly to keep them updated on our progress, growth, etc., and they are continuously supportive of what we do.
KP: My degree has definitely helped me to continue being very interested in the ecosystem; it’s a biologist’s dream to work in the Congo. I believe the scientific thinking gained from it has helped me to be curious, willing to think outside the box, and operate in an ‘experimental’ environment. I never see anything as a failure, but just as a step in my learning curve or as a hypothesis that needs to be reevaluated. Also, in biology, we get trained to pay attention to detail and follow processes, which is very important in any luxury hospitality business.
KP: The encounters with the gorillas make everybody realise how similar they are to us — their mimicry, the way they use their hands, and care for their young. It creates an understanding of the forest and the life forms that the forest supports. I find most of our guests have their life-changing experiences not when visiting the gorillas, but when walking through the swamp forests of Lango Bai.
It makes everybody feel immersed and alive. By walking through the forest, it makes one realise that we are only one small part in a very large ecosystem, which is part of an even larger world and that all of this is interconnected.
KP: The main thing is that we can't do it on our own. There is the park management and NGOs that help produce local food, run pre-schools, and conduct research in the area. This network is really important as only this can create long-term employment.
We are training a lot of our own staff, from hospitality to guides. We make sure we recruit as many as we can from the Congo and then train people up into their roles. Guiding was not a thing in the Congo until we started to operate there — we now run our own guiding academy for Congolese.
I believe that we need to train every person well enough that other entities would want to recruit them away from us — that way, we ensure that all the local staff have really been given the opportunity to learn a livelihood that is not based on hunting, logging, or mining.
KP: It is most important to listen. The wishes of the employees, local communities, and the government need to be heard and respected. Cultural needs are important to be listened to before anything is implemented. And most importantly, we need to also listen to the environment and the ecosystem itself — especially how animals and plants react to the extra footprints of tourists. Nothing is black or white, and decisions really need to be thought through and evaluated before they are communicated.
KP: Being a woman in leadership within conservation tourism blends well with the ethos of the Congo, where most of the ministers we work with are female. In the local community, I am often called ‘Mama Odzala’, which is a respectful term for somebody who is taking care of the community. I find it’s quite an honour to be called that, and it always gives me goose bumps when I hear it.
KP: I think success would mean seeing more tourists. We see under 400 guests a year at Kamba — we need to double that to break even. If that leads to more protected areas being declared in the Congo, or the entire Congo Basin even, I would be very happy.
But always with the buy-in and to the benefit of the local communities, as we cannot protect the forests without creating healthy, viable communities looking after them.