Children Fight for Gorilla Conservation

Children - about 2000 of us - invaded the swimming pool of the Hotel Riviera in Bukavu on February 8th, 2003, to mark the sociocultural festival and draw attention to the resolutions from the Children's Symposium-Festival of Solidarity for the Protection of the Gorillas of the Parc National de Kahuzi-Biega (PNKB). The symposium was held on the 7th and the morning of the 8th of February, with 100 participants, the majority being children who poured in from all parts of the town and from rural areas around the park.
Our demonstration had the effect of raising community awareness and began to change children's attitudes, as well as those of the warring forces occupying the park and those of local communities, which we hope will induce them to protect the remnant gorilla populations still living in the PNKB.
Those of our fellow students from rural areas adjoining the park who participated in these events are now going on to make reports to their communities, and they are also meeting with the polito-administrative authorities to make them aware of the widespread concerns that exist for the protection of the gorillas and all other resources of the PNKB. The authorities must listen very seriously to what we, the children, have to say to them, and recognise that the education system should also aim to inculcate us with respect for the natural environment.
As for us, the children of the town of Bukavu, we are going on to challenge those who are keeping wild animals in captivity, and urge them to return them to the park via the agents of the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN).
The warring parties are gradually being made aware of the fact that their presence in the PNKB is a violation of this World Heritage area. They have promised to evacuate the park quickly, and to let the ICCN agents secure the monitoring or the continuous surveillance of the gorillas and the other natural resources of the park without disturbing them. Perhaps they are beginning to understand that they have no business to be in the park and that they must leave.
The indigenous peoples need to be taught methods of construction that allow them to stop using bamboos (precious food of gorillas), to be furnished with sources of home energy for cooking so that they need not seek firewood in the park, and to be trained in agropastoral techniques to assure their food supply, and granted concessions (especially for the production of animal proteins). The polito-administrative authorities now promise to reinstitute a policy of prevention of and legal sanctions against any activities that may violate the integrity of the PNKB and threaten the survival of the gorillas.
These, then, are the first positive results of the Children's Symposium-Festival of Solidarity for the Protection of the Gorillas. Everything leads us to believe that these environmental awareness meetings could and should be intensified, so as to generate a community culture of conservation of gorillas and natural resources of the park. We the children - we can really affect people's souls and break their hearts!

José Faida Kyalangalilwa, Innocent Ntabarusha and Binja Barhigenga

The Carrefour d'Enfants du Congo, CARECO, is a movement to bring together Congolese children from 10 to 18 years of age through the Children's Parliaments that are active in the provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. CARECO is active in South Kivu as the representive organisation for all children. Its activities are focussed on maintaining the law, peace, good government and the protection of the natural resources of the Congolese forest reserves.

Binja Barhigenga, 15 years old, is a pupil at the Cirezi High School. He is Vice-President of the CARECO commission for nature conservation, environmental management and infra-structure.
José Faida Kyalangalilwa, 16 years old, is a pupil at the Wima High School. She is President of CARECO.
Innocent Ntabarusha, 15 years old, is a pupil at the Alfajiri College. He is President of the CARECO commis-sion for nature conservation, environmental management and infra-structure (CNGEI).

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