Coltan Boom, Gorilla Bust
The lucrative trade in coltan has recently become headline news. This
report explores the link between rising sales of mobile phones and PlayStations
and falling numbers of gorillas in an African war zone. However, there
are two controversies relating to coltan from Central Africa. First, there
is the broad question of whether or not it is legal to trade with rebel-held
territories. This is the subject of the report
by a "panel of experts", commissioned by UN Security Council
to examine the exploitation of natural resources in war-torn Congo.
My report focuses on the second controversy - the exploitation of natural
resources, especially coltan, in legally protected areas such as the Kahuzi-Biega
Park. It is based on a nine-day visit to Rwanda, Democratic Republic of
the Congo and Kenya, during which discussions were held with conservationists,
coltan traders, NGOs and government ministers and officials. An important
source of information was the report of an independent consultant hired
by ICCN.
Mining Techniques
Coltan is found in fairly soft rock, streambeds and alluvial deposits.
Miners dig with shovels, sometimes with picks and crowbars to loosen the
substrate. The loose mix is sieved through mesh of approx. 5 mm squares.
The grit is then washed in a bowl, box or piece of curved bark until only
the heavy coltan particles remain. The need for water to separate out
the coltan means, of course, that mining tends to be concentrated along
streams and rivers. This exacerbates the erosion of soils and the risk
of landslips during heavy rain, and tends to silt up pools downstream.
The coltan grit is bagged in small nylon bags sewn from larger food sacks.
There are two rough measures - a desert spoon and "le gosse"
(a small tin, originally a condensed milk brand, which has come to mean
the tin itself; it holds about 200 g of coltan grit). When the bags are
full they may weigh from 15 to 50 kg according to the strength of the
carrier, and a spring balance is usually present at the site to weight
them. The bags are sewn shut and transported on the back in a "makako"
- a sort of basket-rucksack made from forest lianas.
Environmental Damage from Coltan Mining
- Forest clearance and use of timber and poles to build camps to accommodate workers;
- Forest clearance to expose substrate for mining;
- Pollution of streams by silt from washing process;
- Erosion of unprotected earth during rains leading to land-slips;
- Cutting of firewood for warmth and cooking in camps;
- Hunting of animals for bushmeat to feed miners and camp followers;
- Animals maimed or dying after escaping from snares;
- De-barking trees to make panning trays for washing coltan;
- Cutting of lianas to make carrying baskets for coltan;
- Disturbance of animals due to large number of people resident in and moving through forest;
- Silting up of streams likely to kill invertebrates and reduce photosynthesis in aquatic plants;
- Reduced productivity of fish stocks in lakes and rivers affected by silt pollution;
- Ecological changes due to loss of keystone species such as elephants and apes;
- Long-term changes in watershed due to rapid run-off in deforested areas.
Bushmeat from the Park
When the first reports of the exploitation of Kahuzi-Biega mentioned
bushmeat, it was thought that the meat was probably destined for local
markets. This was the case when hunting first increased in 1998. Reports
of ivory, timber and gold coming out of the park left the impression that
anything of value was being looted.
It is only now that the picture since 1999 has emerged. Most of the miners
in the park were eating large mammal meat for a year or more, including
elephants, gorillas, chimpanzees, buffaloes and antelopes. Now the hunters
go out for up to a week, and even then sometimes return empty handed.
No elephant meat was seen during 4 weeks of fieldwork, nor were tracks
observed. It seems likely that elephants may be extinct and other large
mammals have declined dramatically and are heading for local extinction.
An estimated 200 men setting snares feed the mining camps. In a park of
6,000 km², this gives an average hunting ground of only 5 x 6 km
per hunter. Clearly, sustained trapping at this intensity will exterminate
every terrestrial animal capable of triggering the snares. In addition,
poachers and ex-military use fire-arms - these will ensure that arboreal
species, such as monkeys and larger birds, do not escape the carnage.
Orphaned apes
The independent consultant mentions a live baby gorilla being carried
out of the forest on someone's back in a baby wrap. It was not a very
small one (maybe 1-2 years) and seemed in good health. This was shortly
before an expatriate soldier was offered a baby gorilla for sale in Gisenyi,
Rwanda on 10 April 2001, and could well have been the same one. Unfortunately,
the well-meaning soldier lectured the vendors on the error of their ways,
and so was not taken to see the orphan and its whereabouts now is not
known. Sadly, the whereabouts is known of many orphan chimpanzees, who
seem better able to survive the traumas of capture and ill-treatment.
At the quarterly meeting of ICCN Conservators in November 2000, the subject
of illegally held protected species was on the agenda. It was estimated
that there may be as many as 50 orphan chimpanzees in the region - at
least 20 in Bukavu and up to 10 in Goma alone. One of the action points
for that meeting was a census of such captives, most of which are not
receiving adequate care. The problem is then what to do about them. Without
a sanctuary, the authorities are unable to confiscate them, and so there
is an urgent need for an animal welfare NGO to step in to help here.
Socio-economic Consequences of the Coltan Boom
The destructive nature of the coltan-rush is not just to be measured
in its environmental impact. Instead of being a rare opportunity for bringing
benefits to hard-pressed communities, coltan has brought out the worst
attributes of human nature - decadence, immorality, drug abuse and crime.
It is a double tragedy that the sudden increase in coltan prices has led
to social and ecological destruction, rather than providing an opportunity
to bring lasting benefits to the people by careful exploitation of legally
mined deposits. It is the responsibility of those in the developed world,
whose demand has created this chaos, to step in with the skills and resources
to turn the situation around.
Coltan mining, with safe mines and environmentally responsible practices,
could yet turn out to be a boon to the region. But only a responsible
attitude on the part of the buyers will achieve this in a region where
guns rule and might is perceived as right. The concept of "Certified
Coltan" needs to be introduced immediately to the world market, and
mineral dealers must act quickly if they are not to be tainted with the
decadence of the Coltan Boom in Congo.
The Status of Grauer's Gorilla
It remains to be seen how many - or how few - of Kahuzi-Biega's 3,600
elephants and 8,000 gorillas have survived the massacre in the lowland
area, but it is hoped that relict populations could have retreated to,
or survived in, the most inaccessible parts, furthest from the mining
areas. The only accurate data is from the highland area.
It appears that the population of Grauer's gorilla in the Kahuzi-Biega
National Park and Kasese may have been reduced to under 1,000. The other
nine populations listed by Hall et al. numbered
in the tens or hundreds a decade ago and are also likely to have declined
or been exterminated. The population in Maiko National Park is thought
to have escaped the heavy poaching, but if our worst fears prove founded,
the sub-species may have been reduced from about 17,000 to only 2,000-3,000,
an 80-90% crash in only 3 years.
The simple message from all the conservationists on the ground is that
immediate action is required to save the park. If the political will to
stop the mining, and resources for ICCN are not forthcoming now, then
the chances of Grauer's gorillas surviving and the park recovering are
virtually nil. The medium- and long-term plans are, therefore, dependent
on the successful implementation of the short-term acts.
Summary of a report written by Ian Redmond (funded by DFGF Europe and Born Free Foundation). Complete report in PDF format
