The Kahuzi-Biega National Park and the IZCN/GTZ Project

This national park is situated in the Kivu district, one of the most densely populated areas in Zaire. It is also one of the most fertile regions. The park's natural resources are under severe pressure. Originally, one part of the present park was a forest reserve. In November 1970, it was gazetted a national park in order to protect the eastern lowland or Grauer's gorilla (Gorilla gorilla graueri) which was seriously threatened even at that time. In 1975, the park's size was increased from 600 to 6,000 km² to protect the transitional vegetation formation between montane and lowland rain forest.
The park was given the name of two extinct volcanoes in the original section: the Kahuzi (3,308 m) and the Biega (2,790 m). The original park section contains various types of vegetation: bamboo forest, primary and secondary montane forest and cyperus swamps. The larger new part is covered by lowland rain forest. The whole park has an exceptionally high diversity of plant and animal species characteristic of each type of vegetation. In the old part, four groups of gorillas have been habituated to people; they are the most important tourist attraction. Ecotourism is the principal source of income for the park. Due to its ecological importance, the Kahuzi-Biega National Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.

Conflicts with the Surrounding Population

Before we introduce the work of the IZCN/GTZ project, it is necessary to give a brief description of the conflicts between the park and the local population in its surroundings. The people consider the national park laws that prohibit any human activity in these areas to be too severe. Conflicts arise between the habitual rights of the people to use certain areas and the right of the state to protect these areas.
The people around the old part of the park live in poor conditions and at high density (ca. 300 people per km²). Although the local population knows more or less where the park borders are, they exert severe pressure on the park mainly through their need for new fields, pastures and forest products (firewood, timber for building, game, mushrooms, medicinal plants). A corridor of 7.5 km breadth connecting the mountain forest with the lowland rain forest partly belongs to the Nindja community. 30-35% of this community are inside the park. Before the park was extended, the government did not negotiate with the local population about their habitual rights. Today, about 15,000 people are living within the national park, in Nindja 2,300 persons. It is hoped that compensation measures will be an incentive for them to leave the park voluntarily.
The new part of the park contained several villages before it was added. In this zone the population density is less than 10 people per km² except for some concentrations in mining areas. The people still living in the park continue to exploit the park in their traditional way by farming, keeping livestock, hunting, and mining for precious metals. The inhabitants of villages in close proximity to the park farm within its borders. As this area is so remote, the local population did not know that they were living close to a national park for a long time, and they were told about its extension only a few years ago by the authorities.

The Project and its Activities

In view of the complexity of the problems mentioned above, IZCN, the Zairean nature conservation authority, looked for a foreign partner to assist with the biodiversity conservation of the national park. To this end, IZCN together with GTZ (German Society for Technical Cooperation) initiated an integrated conservation project in 1985. Its goal is the protection of the park and, at the same time, the sustainable development of its surroundings. In February 1995, the achievements of the project were assessed and it was subsequently decided to continue it from October 1995 for another 3 years.
In the course of their work, project staff has been confronted several times by social and political problems in the area. They interfered with the work considerably in one way or another. For instance, in October 1991, the GTZ funds were frozen because of the political crisis in Kinshasa. From then until the beginning of 1995, when the ban was lifted, the project worked with considerably reduced resources. When hundreds of thousands of refugees arrived in Bukavu from Rwanda in July 1994, activities had to be reduced even further as all project staff were occupied with emergency help for the refugees in the second half of 1994.
In the first phase of the project, the most important objectives were the improvement of park protection, the expansion of the infrastructure for tourists and research. Since 1988, the project has increased its efforts to find long term solutions for the integration of conservation with the interests of the surrounding population. This is to be achieved mainly by decreasing human pressure on the natural resources.
The following measures were taken towards this goal:

• Improvement of park boundary demarcation, increase of patrols in the park and more efficient controls on the road passing through the park,
• Initiation of small projects that increase confidence and support the development of the park's surroundings in order to decrease the population's dependency on the park resources (building of water pipes, medical support, road restoration),
• Increasing the proceeds from tourism by maintaining facilities and producing advertising material,
• Education of the population regarding the necessity of nature conservation in the national park and on economic systems that decrease the dependency on the park's resources.
• Improvement of the project administration through more effective planning, employment and training of local staff and the acquisition of equipment that will facilitate the work of the technical staff.

The activities are concentrated in various areas, depending on the pressure exerted by the local population. Up to now, attention has focused in the old part of the park on the critical zones Kalonge, Nindja and Tshibati as well as the station Tshivanga. In addition, work has now also started in the surroundings of Itebero. Nzovu will be included in autumn 1995.

Conclusions and Prospects

Since 1985, the IZCN/GTZ project has consistently pursued its goals, even if progress was slowed down at times due to the circumstances. Currently, the continuation of the activities will depend very much on the improvement of the political and economic situation in Zaire and on the situation of the Rwandan refugees in the area. We wish to take this opportunity to ask the international community to assist Zaire as far as possible to prevent the trade in animal species included in Appendix I of CITES. As a consequence of the alarming economic situation, this trade has become an important source of income. Currently, every other month a chimpanzee or a gorilla baby is confiscated from dealers by government authorities. If this continues, the establishment of an orphanage in Zaire could be considered.

Mbake Sivha

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 sensitization 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.

Kahuzi-Biega overview

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