Gorilla Journal 13, December 1996

Visit to the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

Two years after the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park Project was abruptly ended by Klaus-Jürgen Sucker's mysterious death, I visited my former home on the northern flank of the Virunga Vulcanoes in southwestern Uganda. For part of the time I was accompanied by Denise Wenger and Ulrich Karlowski.
I was amazed to drive on the recently improved road from Kisoro up the mountain to the national park's headquarters. This road used to be passable only with a four-wheel drive vehicle or on foot. Today this is a road any vehicle can use.
At the headquarters, the rangers and I were equally happy about our reunion. It took days to exchange all our news. At the end of the visit a wonderful and sometimes very moving party took place with songs and joint dances in one of the metal round huts of the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park Project. I also learned a lot about the developments and difficulties of the national park from park wardens Richard Bukowa and Adonia. For instance, for the first time in 40 years, one mountain gorilla family stayed continuously in the Ugandan part of the Virunga conservation area for 6 months without moving into Zaire.
From January until approximately mid-July, the Nyakagezi group, which is habituated to tourists remained in the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park (MGNP) and was visited by tourists almost daily. It is very likely that this group will return by the beginning of the rainy season in October. It will be interesting to see how long their total stay will be in the MGNP in 1996. Unfortunately, the rangers discontinued their patrols to other gorilla groups which are not habituated to humans because they expect extra payment for this which they do not receive at the moment. Therefore, we could not learn anything about other gorillas in the MGNP during our visit.
Observations in the northwestern area of the MGNP indicate that the growth of the vegetation cover in zone 2 (the formerly illegally cultivated area) has slowed down. As was already indicated in the middle of 1993, grasses are still dominant in large areas. The immigration of bushes and woody plants into the grasslands is still limited to the area along the forest edge. I had a positive impression of the trees planted in zone 2 in 1993. Height measurements and an estimate of the seedlings' survival rate indicate that the planting of Hagenia abyssinica was especially successful. However, seedlings of Bersama abyssinica, Tabernaemontana johnstonii and others also survived the first 3 years well. The human population near the park still accepts the protected area. No agriculture or grazing by Ugandan cattle is taking place within the park. However, at night cattle are apparently herded into the park from the Rwandan side. The forest area in the Parc National des Volcans (the Rwandan part of the Virunga conservation area) has been decreased: a part of the forest at lower altitudes was "transformed" into farmland.
A part of Klaus-Jürgen Sucker's conservation project was the planting of a hedge of local trees (mainly Erythrina abyssinica) along the northern border of the national park. In certain parts a rock wall was built additionally in order to protect the farmers' fields from the park's game. In the vicinity of the headquarters, the hedge has recently been complemented by a rock wall.

Staff and Infrastructure

Uganda National Parks (now Uganda Wildlife Authority, UWA) has increased the number of park wardens responsible for Mgahinga from three to four. Chief Park Warden Fred Kateego is in charge. Currently, two American Peace Corps volunteers are working in the MGNP within the areas of tourism development and nature conservation education. Under their guidance, the building of trails for tourists who do not visit the gorillas was organised. For instance, they were responsible for the digging of drainage ditches in the Rugyezi swamp, an afromontane swamp in the saddle between Sabinyo and Gahinga. Each of these ditches is 40 cm wide and approximately 6 m long, and they cut across the trail through fragile vegetation consisting of cyperus, club mosses, immortelles and mosses all the way down to the rocky base. After all, the tourists must not get their feet wet when they hike through the core area of the national park, even if this may threaten the sensitive ecosystem in the long run!
The risk of fire in the eastern area of the MGNP on Muhavura continues to be a problem. Fires start on fields in Rwanda and spread from there to Uganda. The national park administration intends to cut fire breaks to prevent fires from spreading.
The park administration mentioned the invasion of the Australian acacia species Acacia mearnsii in zone 2 as another problem. Currently, the rangers are using the wood of Acacia mearnsii as fire wood in an attempt to slow down the spread of this exotic tree species, because otherwise it may displace the local flora in the long run. This strategy was followed already in the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park Project. Park warden Richard Bukowa, who is responsible for law enforcement and tourism, supports the use of this tree species as the currently only sensible way to implement the multiple-use concept of CARE.
In addition, we were told that there is a risk of disturbance to the sensitive alpine vegetation in the area of the Muhavura mountain top if too many tourists climb up. Richard Bukowa is considering restricting the number of mountain climbers to fewer than 10 per day.

Situation of the Rangers of the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

Salaries and top-ups. CARE supported the rangers with Uganda Shillings 20,000 (ca. US$ 20) per month until June 1996. Since then the rangers have received only their Government salary, which is also Uganda Shillings 20,000 monthly.
Equipment for the rangers. In the whole phase when CARE supported the national park, approximately 30 rangers received twelve sleeping bags and approximately the same number of backpacks and sets of rain clothes. The rangers complained about insufficient equipment and about the lack of support since the abrupt end of the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park Project in June 1994. Only gum boots ("Uganda quality") were made available by CARE in sufficient numbers (i. e. for each ranger).
Some of the rangers are starting to supplement their low salaries with additional income besides their ranger activities. This, of course, is not an advertisement for the park administration and it also means that the motivation for the main task continues to decrease.

Ursula Karlowski

Dr. Ursula Karlowski became involved in rain forest conservation in 1988, especially in southwestern Uganda. Currently she is working at the University of Rostock. Her special interests are vegetation change and nature conservation strategies.

Mgahinga overview

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