Sensitisation

Mbake Sivha and the Belgian Genevieve Trépant together with their team were essentially responsible for this task. Among their activities in 1994, the following should be mentioned:

• Designing a poster for the park,
• Setting up signs within the park,
• Editing the magazine Kacheche,
• Organizing the celebrations for the reforestation day,
• Developing a teach-path for pupils,
• Organizing a seminar for teachers,
• Elaborating and conducting radio programs,
• Organizing a harvest of agroforestry seeds and preparing tree-nurseries at 11 schools.

In the meantime, the sensitization activities, which were originally limited to the area around the old part of the park, were extended to the new part near Itebero and will soon include Nzovu. This summer a study is planned that will determine how the work with the pygmies can be improved. Once this has been established, a new and highly qualified team will be selected for this task.

Mbake Sivha's Past and Future Activities

The biologist Mbake Sivha has so far carried out all the research and she led the sensitization team in Kahuzi-Biega National Park. Since 1993 she has been collecting data for a research project which she analyzed in a report completed in December 1994. The following is a summary of this report.
Maintenance of the roads in the park and its surroundings enhances the ability to control the park, provides the infrastructure for tourism and contributes to the development of the park's surroundings. However, the roads also contribute to the park's destruction. Several studies have dealt with the impact of the Kisangani-Bukavu road which transverses a part of the park. These studies provided suggestions for reducing the destruction of the park's flora and fauna. This is also one of the aims of the present study, which investigates the long-term impact of traffic in the park.

Large Mammals Near the Kisangani-Bukavu Road

The road transverses 18.4 km of the old park section. Along this stretch the following plant communities can be seen: 10.6 km of secondary forest (Hagenia and Myrianthus), 2.8 km of bamboo forest, 2.7 km of swamp, 2.3 km of mixed forest (secondary and bamboo). Elephant and gorilla tracks as well as sightings of these animals were recorded on 6 transects (1 km long, with 500 m on each side of the road). Three transects were in the secondary forest, one in the mixed forest and two in the bamboo forest. From October to December 1993, the transects were patrolled by a guide and a tracker once a week, and from the end of January 1994 on a biweekly basis.
From November through May, the gorillas spent most time in the secondary forest. There they moved less than in the bamboo forest. From May to the end of August, the dry season, they primarily stayed in the secondary forest and swamp. From September to the first half of December, they preferred the bamboo forest. Gorillas frequently transverse the road, but not as often as elephants do.

Continuation of Research

In the future, Mbake Sivha will completely concentrate on her research work and continue to investigate the impact of traffic on gorilla and chimpanzee reproduction, mortality and ranging. She is employed by the IZCN (Institut Zairois pour la Conservation de la Nature) and receives some additional financial support from the GTZ (Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit - developmental aid organisation of the German government). Her two co-workers are also supported by the GTZ. In agreement with Georg Dörken, director of the GTZ project, the Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe will support Mbake Sivha's research. We will fund the equipment as well as the salaries of local scientific assistants. We intend to support the work for 3 years.
 

Report from Chantal Shalukoma

Sensitizing the pygmies for the importance of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park has proven to be a difficult and tedious endeavor. We are therefore still in the experimental phase of the project, continuously increasing our knowledge. Our efforts to alleviate the hardships of the pygmies are primarily focused on two aspects: opportunities for earning money (maintenance of roads and other projects in the park) and support in agriculture. For road maintenance, a total of 62 pygmies were employed in 1994 for more or less extended periods of time. The seeds for agriculture (beans, corn and potatoes) were provided by the project. However, due to various reasons, the yield was fairly meager.
Another task has been sensitizing womens' organizations in the surroundings of the park. In 1994, the organization Amajambere in Tshivanga was visited. For 2 years, the wives of the park employees have been meeting there to discuss subjects like opportunities for earning money (retail business etc.), knitting, embroidery, establishing a nursery school and hygiene. In the beginning of 1995, the women were also informed about the methods of birth control.
644 persons were guided through the Kahuzi-Biega National Park in 1994, of which 488 were Zaireans and 116 Germans. An analysis of questionnaires shows that they were generally content with their visit.

Mbake Sivha studied biology at the University of Kisangani, Zaire, and worked in the IZCN/GTZ conservation project at Kahuzi-Biega National Park. She then specialized at Würzburg University, Germany, in animal ecology, biology of the tropics and sensitisation of the population for environmental problems. From 1994 to 1999 she worked in the IZCN/GTZ project in sensitization and primate research. After joining the IGCP for some years, she is now working for FFI.
Chantal Shalukoma has been working for the Kahuzi-Biega National Park since 1992. She is especially engaged in public awareness campaigns for nature conservation.

Kahuzi-Biega overview

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