A Visit to Kahuzi-Biega

During my last visit to the Kahuzi-Biega National Park in October, I saw Mugaruka and his family again. The rainy season has just started in Kivu and the gorillas were feeding mainly on young bamboo shoots.
After I had the pleasure of being close to a family of gorillas, I always take away a feeling of humility and respect for the quiet strength and the harmonic relationship with nature that these primates have been able to preserve. Close to them, one can almost forget that peace is far from being re-installed in the country and that insecurity reigns the region.
After a period of reorganisation, the park guards, partly armed at the moment, have re-started patrols in the smaller part of the park and in the corridor. One cannot but pay tribute to their ardent wish to preserve what is left of the park's biodiversity, and to their enormous courage. We also recognise the tremendous support they receive from the GTZ (Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit - developmental aid organisation of the German government) against all odds.
At the moment, the authorities' support seems to be much more determined. It is because of this that poachers who are arrested by the guards are actually kept in prison for several months, instead of being freed immediately as it has happened before. The farmers who had illegally cultivated fields in the corridor have been forced to leave.
A new census has determined that the park’s gorilla population is in better shape than previously thought. No new cases of gorilla poaching have been reported. On the other hand, the poaching of small animals is worrying. This seems to be partly due to the impoverishment of the human population and the resulting shortage of meat.
The situation of the lowland part of the park is even much more worrying. There are indications that currently thousands of miners are mining there for columbite (niobite - (Fe, Mn)Nb2O6 - and tantalite - (Fe, Mn)Ta2O6), an ore that represents an important resource of the region. Most of the collected mineral is taken out by aeroplanes. Naturally, this illegal exploitation means that every animal species that moves in the lowland part of the park is killed in order to feed the miners. Another factor is the ivory trade. To date, there is no material proof of this illegal activity, but, according to information from the ICCN (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature), there is no doubt that it takes place. Currently, the ICCN has no means to put a stop to the ongoing slaughter. The support of the authorities is needed to determine the source of the collected mineral in numerous airports and localities surrounding the park, such as Punia, Walikale, Nzovu, Isangi and Lulingu. To put an end to this trade is an important financial sacrifice, but without it the lowland part of the park cannot survive.

Jean-François Segers

Jean-François Segers is an economist who manages several companies in Kivu and travels to Bukavu every month. He is the president of Nouvelles Approches, a Belgian NGO that supports the protection of the environment and has several projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Kahuzi-Biega overview

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