Activities of the GTZ/ICCN Project

The GTZ's involvement (Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit - developmental aid organisation of the German government) in Kahuzi-Biega will be continued, but the budget has been reduced drastically. In 1999, the rangers will be paid by the project, but many other things are lacking, for example equipment. We therefore offered material from our storage to the Kahuzi-Biega rangers.
The park station was looted completely during the war. However, it was possible to save most of the project's remaining equipment, including the vehicles, when the war started in August 1998. This helps the rangers of the ICCN (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature) to continue their work.
Since March the situation in Kahuzi-Biega National Park has improved a little. The Mai-Mai left the old park sector and therefore the rangers were able to resume their patrols. During these recent patrols they found the mandible of a silverback male gorilla near Kasirusiru. It is possible that it belongs to a former member of the Mubalala group because this group lived in the area. There are also positive news: The local administration supports the park and wants to stop cattle ranching in the corridor.
During a meeting in April, the organizations involved discussed the conservation of the 4 World Heritage Sites in eastern Congo - the National Parks Kahuzi-Biega, Virunga and Garamba as well as the Okapi Faunal Reserve in the Ituri Forest. All those sites are critically endangered, especially because poaching has increased and the surveillance has collapsed. The UNESCO promised US$ 250,000 to cover the most urgent costs. It is planned to secure the funding in the future by a trust fund. Important activities would include the support and training of the rangers, improved monitoring etc.

A New Study for Kahuzi-Biega

Mbake Sivha, who has been carrying out research on gorillas and chimpanzees with our support, is now carrying out another study to improve the conservation of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park. She uses funds from the Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe for this research.
The aim of this new study is to reduce the human pressure on the park's resources and to determine whether these resources can be supplied otherwise. It is planned to

• identify animal and plant species used by the human population,
• determine how each species is used, both in terms of quality and quantity,
• identify other areas outside the park where these forest products also occur,
• arrive at a strategy for the protection and sustainable use of these resources in order to make them available to the population living close to the park. It is especially planned to use the knowledge of indigenous peoples such as the Twa.

The study is conducted in the area along the road between Kajeje and Tshibati (at the eastern part of the park), as this is the only accessible region at the moment. Five villages are included, two of which are pygmy villages. Most pygmies depend on the resources of the park. They exert a pressure which should not be underestimated. In general, women don't own any land and only a small number of them earn a salary as guides in the park.
The study puts special emphasis on women because in traditional African culture they play an important role in the utilization and protection of natural resources. Unfortunately, this has changed with the switch from subsistence to market economy. Consequently, the women are now forced to destroy the local resources to obtain cash, which in many cases is still not sufficient.

A New Publication: Le Gorille

For several years the GTZ/ICCN project has produced Kacheche, a newspaper for children about nature conservation and the national parks in eastern Congo. Now the Kahuzi-Biega National Park is starting a new publication, Le Gorille. It is targeted at populations living close to the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and will be distributed twice per year. It will, for example, provide information about the activities in the park, discuss the cooperation of the park administration and the population and feature an animal.
Each issue of Le Gorille will be printed in 20,000 copies that can reach about 200,000 people who live close to the eastern part of the park. The population will also be involved in the production and distribution of the newsletter. It is not yet certain how this project will be funded. In any case, the Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe will support it.

Kahuzi-Biega overview

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