Involvement of Local People in the Conservation of Kahuzi-Biega
Before the war, 100 guards carrying guns were conducting daily patrols
in the whole park and poachers were afraid of hunting animals inside the
park, dreading to be caught or shot dead. With the war, all the guards
were disarmed and the security in the park deteriorated. As a result of
the free circulation of weapons brought about by the war in the region,
criminals were able to acquire weapons and hunt inside the park. Since
then, massacres have been perpetrated on elephants and gorillas by poachers
(hundreds of skulls have been recently collected), not to mention numerous
monkeys, bushpigs and antelopes continuously hunted for the bushmeat trade.
Meanwhile, POPOF (Pole Pole Foundation), a non-governmental organization
led by local people, was shocked by this animal slaughter, and started
an educational program in conservation for the neighbouring population.
The program aims to encourage human societies living along the Kahuzi-Biega
National Park's boundary to cooperate in wildlife conservation.
POPOF is a non-profit NGO created in 1992 by local people from villages
close to the eastern boundary of the old part of the Kahuzi-Biega National
Park. The President of POPOF, John Kahekwa, has been working as a tourist
guide for the park since the 1980s, and has habituated the Nindja Group.
He created POPOF mainly to protect the gorillas against poaching; however,
POPOF now works for the conservation of all the wildlife of Kahuzi-Biega
National Park. In order to encourage respect and protection of gorillas
(seen by POPOF as a national totem animal to be protected in any circumstances),
POPOF has set up a discussion program with artists. Some of them are former
poachers. They create simple artefacts of gorillas (wood carvings, paintings,
T-shirts, caps, hip pockets, patches, etc.).
Through the art activities, POPOF has succeeded in drawing the villagers'
attention to gorilla conservation issues which are now perceived by them
as a serious problem to be solved. The reward of POPOF's artists is the
benefit they get from the sale of their crafts to the tourists who come
to see the gorillas. Unfortunately this activity has seriously suffered
from the war in the region as tourists are no longer visiting. The region
is now characterized by a high level of poverty; people do not have enough
food to eat and this situation has pushed them to enter the forest for
hunting animals. Deeply distressed, POPOF is warning people about an irreversible
wildlife catastrophe if animal killings do not stop immediately.
POPOF is organizing seminars, conferences and round tables during which
wildlife conservation issues are thoroughly discussed between scientists
and villagers. From the findings of these meetings, it seems that another
reason which induces people to enter the park is the search for fire-wood
and timber. This pushed POPOF to create a tree nursery of plant species
most valued by local people. Recently, POPOF has distributed more than
20,000 seedlings to the villagers and taught them how to grow these plants
to maturity. The villagers are organized in groups according to their
village of origin. POPOF is now planning to create a primary school for
children from villages close to the park, where education will emphasize
conservation topics.
POPOF has launched an overseas campaign searching for support and collaboration.
Since 1996, POPOF has succeeded in attracting Japanese people to the conservation
of gorillas in the wild. There is now a Japanese wing of POPOF which publishes
the biannual POPOF News in Japanese.
Kanyunyi A. Basabose
Dr. Augustin Kanyunyi Basabose has worked in the conservation of great apes in Central Africa for more than 10 years. He joined the IGCP in 2006 where he is the Conservation Science Officer leading the Ranger-based Monitoring Program, and also acting as the Country Representative in Congo.
Photo: Juichi Yamagiwa
POPOF conducts conservation education for children