Gorilla Journal 28, June 2004
2004 is the tenth anniversary of the incomprehensible genocide in Rwanda. April 7, 1994, the day after the plane with the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi had been shot down, the day when unspeakable violent crimes started to happen in Rwanda. No outsider can imagine the deep-seated psychological injuries that the genocide survivors sustained. My sympathy goes to these people who lost parents, children, relatives and friends.
The following text refers to entirely different events in Uganda, very removed from what happened in Rwanda in 1994.
Ten Years of Gorilla Tourism in Mgahinga
In December, 1989, a gorilla and nature conservation project was established
on the Ugandan side of the Virunga Volcanoes. Biologist and historian
Klaus-Jürgen Sucker started to develop the project with support from
the Deutscher Tierschutzbund (German Society for the Protection
of Animals), from the Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe and,
later, from CIM (Center for International Migration).
At that point, the area on the northern slopes of the three volcanoes
Muhavura, Gahinga and Sabinyo was characterised by increasing deforestation
and transformation of the rain forest into agricultural fields. The primary
forest was criss-crossed by a network of numerous smugglers' trails. Hundreds
of wire snares were set on the game paths in order to catch antelopes.
Logging and grazing of livestock in the forest were also regular occurrences.
In co-operation with the Ugandan authorities, more rangers were employed
and their equipment was improved. Very soon the first results of this
work were noticeable. Because there were more rangers and they spent more
time in the forest, livestock grazing in the forest, poaching with snares
and logging all decreased. As a result, the populations of mountain gorillas,
golden monkeys, duikers, bushbuck and buffaloes, and many other animal
and plant species recovered.
1990. Interviews were conducted in all the communities bordering the Mgahinga
Forest in order to determine people's attitude towards the planned national
park (Yeoman et al., 1990; CARE/Impenetrable, 1990). The study found that
a change in status from the existing forest/game reserve to a national
park was welcomed by the population. The stipulation was that the national
park should terminate at the well-known and highly visible row of Australian
silver oak (Grevillea robusta) trees along the 8,000 ft (about
2,440 m) contour line and, in the west, at a somewhat lower altitude (Nyakagezi
triangle). This line of trees had been planted in 1944. In the late 20th
century, many trees were still there and well-known to the local population.
At that point in time, another option was to incorporate an even larger
area, i.e. the entire "Gorilla Game Reserve", into the future
national park. This option was subsequently rejected. The population of
the villages bordering the Mgahinga Forest expressed the hope that the
change of status to a national park would also mean an improvement of
their economic situation.
May 1991. The Ugandan parliament passed a resolution to gazette the Mgahinga
Forest and parts of the Gorilla Game Reserve as a national park, the "Mgahinga
Gorilla National Park". The national park's borders largely followed
the 8,000 ft contour. The park's area is approximately 34 km².
1992. Another study (Werikhe 1992) not only gave an idea of people's opinions,
but also documented the size of the active fields and the number of livestock.
Subsequently, these numbers helped to determine the amount of compensation
that had to be paid to each farmer. The study showed clearly that 70%
of the families who had fields and huts inside the national park also
owned land outside. None of the buildings had been constructed for permanent
occupation.
In the course of 1992, all settlers left the deforested zone of the national
park (Zone 2) and most land use inside the national park was stopped:
this included potato farming and grazing of livestock (Bachou et al.,
1992). In all, 221 farms were moved to new sites on public land lower
down in the valley. The settlers received compensation payments whose
amount depended on the size of the national park area that they previously
used and the number of their livestock. The vegetation of Zone 2 subsequently
regenerated and has increasingly been utilised by the animals of the Mgahinga
Forest (Sucker 1993a, 1994).
In December 1992, the wheat fields inside the national park were harvested
for the last time. Since then, the entire area of Zone 2 has been left
to regenerate naturally. The regeneration zone is approximately 10 km²
and most of it extends from about 2,400 to 2,700 m asl.
The infrastructure of the new national park was developed during 1993.
The guard post was moved to the new park boundary; the northern boundary
was marked with 180 cement cairns spread over 14 km. The cairns, which
were about 1 m high, made the course of the boundary very clear, but they
left adjoining fields completely unprotected from grazing by game animals.
A hedge of Erythrina abyssinica was therefore planted along the
national park's boundary. In those areas where the volcanic rock was very
close to the surface and made it impossible to plant Erythrina,
a natural wall was erected from lava rocks. This "buffalo wall"
has subsequently been taken up by other projects, as it does in fact decrease
browsing damage by game animals.
During the civil war, which smouldered in Rwanda for years, parts of the
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park sometimes served as areas for paramilitary
units to retreat into. As there was the risk of these units having laid
mines, all hiking trails were checked by a special unit of the Ugandan
army with mine detectors. Unexploded mines were detonated with dynamite.
During this work, the presence of 5 gorilla groups within the park was
established. It also became obvious that parts of the afro-alpine vegetation on the peaks of Mt. Gahinga and Muhavura had been destroyed during the
civil war.
Nevertheless, eco-tourism was introduced on August 10th, 1993, initially
consisting of mountain trekking, cave viewing and hiking on nature trails.
The range of activities offered to tourists was extended on January 15,
1994: it was now possible to visit the so-called Nyakagezi group. This
gorilla group regularly moved between the Ugandan and the Congolese sectors
of the Virunga Conservation Area. During the first 2 months, only 2 visitors
a day were taken to the gorilla family. In March, this was increased to
4 people and in May of the same year, a maximum of 6 paying tourists were
allowed to visit the mountain gorillas for one hour per day. One of the
first visitor groups was
a group of representatives of the Kisoro district, who could observe these famous animals at close range for the first time and were visibly impressed (Sucker, 1993b).
By then, 12 months had passed since the last harvest of the deforested zone. Even after such a short time, the gorillas had extended their habitat to include about 80% of that zone: they found food on the fallow fields, nesting material in the small thickets and they felt safe. From November 1993 to mid-February 1994, one group spent most of its time in this "new" zone and obviously "reconnoitred" the newly won terrain.
They spent most of their time relatively close to the ranger post, mainly on the lower slopes of Muhavura, where mountain gorillas had not been seen for over 20 years… For 2 days, this gorilla group even stayed in the very valley of the new park headquarters. The rangers registered an access time of only 5 minutes. [The "access time" is the time it takes to get from the start of the walk to the gorillas; comment by U. Karlowski.] Local residents gathered at the national park boundary to see the gorillas "from a safe distance" of about 100 m at the headquarters. It could not be determined which group (people or gorillas) watched the other group with more interest. (Sucker, 1993c).
Apart from this habituated group, a single silverback male and another
group with 3 individuals utilized the new area.
Even before gorilla tourism started officially in the Mgahinga Gorilla
National Park, a revenue sharing system was developed for the population
living close to the park. This system envisaged the use of 20% of the
income generated by the park entrance fees for project ideas coming from
the population, for example for the construction of new schools or store
buildings. These days, this concept is an integral part of the policies
of the Uganda Wildlife Authority, UWA, for all reserves in Uganda (Muloba
& Nyiramahoro, 2002).
On June 19, 1994, Klaus-Jürgen Sucker died, in circumstances that
are still unresolved. His tragic, mysterious death still raises many questions
and leaves a large gap that cannot be filled. Without the courageous involvement
of all the people who have supported the conservation of this area of
the Virunga region, the gain in wilderness area, which can clearly be
seen on satellite images, would not have been possible. We owe a special
debt to Klaus-Jürgen Sucker for ensuring that the mountain gorillas,
as well as numerous other species of animals and plants, are not only
conserved but also experience an enlargement of their habitat.
Ursula Karlowski
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| Photo: Klaus-Jürgen Sucker | Photo: Ursula Karlowski |
References
Bachou, S. A. et al. (1992) Memorandum of understanding between the representatives
of the Ministry of Tourism, The Mgahinga National Park and officials and
residents of Kisoro district during a meeting held at Kisoro Pavillon
on 6 June 1992.
Care/Impenetrable (1990) Socio-demographic survey of the encroached area
of the proposed Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. A report submitted to
USAID, Uganda Mission.
Muloba, P. & Nyiramahoro, M. E. (2002) Conflict management and resolution
in protected area management: The Uganda case. UWA. http://www.dse.de/zel/landinfo/pas/se220_cm_rsa/annex3.pdf
Sucker, K.-J. (1993a) Mgahinga Gorilla National Park Project, Uganda:
Progress in 1992. Gorilla Conservation News 7:22-23.
Sucker, K.-J. (1993b) Report No. 16 of the Mgahinga Gorilla National Project.
Sucker, K.-J. (1993c) Report No. 17 of the Mgahinga Gorilla National Project.
Sucker, K.-J. (1994) Mgahinga Gorilla National Park Project, Uganda: 1993.
Gorilla Conservation News 8:20.
Werikhe, S. E. W. (1992) Socio-demographic survey of the encroached area
(zone 2) of Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in south west Uganda. Report
submitted to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID),
Uganda Mission. Uganda National Parks.
Yeoman, G. H. et al. (1990) Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Results of
public enquiry and recommendation for establishment.
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.