Sarambwe Protection

With funding from the Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe, a meeting on the conservation of the Sarambwe Forest was held in June between all organisations working in the area, government representatives, representatives of the local population and the traditional chiefs. The meeting was organized by the local NGO VONA (La voix de la nature) and the ICCN (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature). Its goal was to identify the conservation problems in the Sarambwe area and to develop joint solutions.
Many organisations are concerned with the protection of the Sarambwe Forest, for example: The ICCN sent rangers to the protection of Sarambwe in 1998. ICCN and IGCP (International Gorilla Conservation Programme) work together as partners to fund the conservation activities in Sarambwe: The costs of the office of the Domaine de chasse de Rutshuru and the food supplies of the ranger patrols. This permits the rangers of Sarambwe to conduct patrols and meet with the rangers of the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park accross the border to Uganda. The organisation AJAKAR works for the reforestation of the disturbed parts of the Sarambwe area. The governmental authority EPF has given permits for wood exploitation to the population but stopped this in 1996. Meanwhile, the Mwami (king) of Bwisha found an area where the people who had cultivated fields in the Sarambwe area could settle.
In 1998, a Sarambwe working committee was founded by those authorities and organisations. However, this committee has not functioned correctly so far as it did not have a program and support.
The local population considers the following problems as the most important ones in Sarambwe:

• The ICCN has no control of what is happening in the forest.
• Deforestation.
• The borders of the protected area are not sufficiently known.
• The local population is not involved in the administration of the Sarambwe Forest area.
• The legislation concerning protected zones is not written in a comprehensible way.
• Local groups do not receive any support for their conservation activities.
• General insecurity.

Severe deforestation poses the greatest threat to the Sarambwe Forest. In order to improve the conservation of the Sarambwe Forest it was decided to increase public awareness activities, to involve the local population in decision-making and to support developmental aid projects around the forest. The forest boundaries are to be demarcated as soon as possible and the resettlement of families still living inside the forest is to be supported. Moreover, adjacent villages will start reforestation measures shortly.

Claude Sikubwabo Kiyengo

Claude Sikubwabo Kiyengo conducted a gorilla survey in the Maiko National Park from 1989 to 1992, and in 1994 he took part in the gorilla census in Kahuzi-Biega. After that he worked for the ICCN in Goma and from 2000 to 2004 for the IUCN program PPP. After having worked for IUCN to develop programs that will be implemented during the next years, he joined ICCN again in 2006.

Sarambwe overview

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