Gorilla Journal 29, December 2004

Report on a Fire in the Mikeno Sector of the Virunga National Park

At midday on July 8th, 2004, the Jomba dialogue committee was able to save the Mikeno sector from a bush fire that threatened to spread from Mugongo hill. The entire region, and Jomba in particular, had been suffering from a severe dry season: plants had dried out through the combined effect of the scorching sun and violent winds that robbed the air of its moisture. During midday hours the heat was intense.
The Jomba patrol post guards one part of the Mikeno sector that is regularly visited by 29 mountain gorillas belonging to three families. At 12 o'clock, the head ranger of the post alerted the chairman of the dialogue committee based at Bunagana by radio that a fire had started. As soon as he received the message, the chairman mobilised the committee members and villagers who were in the village at the time, together with the police, to go to the park. (At this time of the day, the villages are usually deserted, as everybody is either in the fields, in the market or at school. Apart from the sick and elderly, there are very few people in the village and even the shops close at this time.)
After this rapid mobilisation, everybody reached the site of the fire via a stony path, which is almost 4 km long and which winds between the fields from Bunagana village, where the committee has its headquarters, to the park. When they arrived, they found the fire was located at the forest edge and was in the process of spreading in the shape of a pentagon. Another appeal for help was made to the villagers who were working in the surrounding fields. In this way, a total of 26 people were mobilized.
The assembled people discussed a method to put out the fire. As the fire progressed only slowly and the volunteers had nothing but hoes and machetes as tools, they extinguished the fire with branches, soil and clods of earth. Branches were cut, plants still wet were torn from the earth by hand or with the help of hoes, soil was dug out. The 26 people quickly threw themselves into action and succeeded in putting out the fire.
The fire had been started in the camp of a man called Mulindahabi and had subsequently spread onto a small hill before arriving at the edge of the park. The fire spread into the forest for a distance of 25 m along a 20 m wide front.

Claude Sikubwabo Kiyengo; from the report of the Jomba dialogue committee, August 30th, 2004

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

Virunga National Park overview

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