Gorilla Journal 29, December 2004
Low Wall High Impact: Crisis Management in Virunga National Park
While clashes between the former dissident rebel leader, General Laurent
Nkunda, and forces loyal to the transitional government in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo brought renewed unrest to the troubled Kivu Region,
an altogether different offensive was being played out in Congo's Virunga
National Park. While the eyes of the world's media were drawn to the advance
of Nkunda's troops on the town of Bukavu and the human rights atrocities
that followed, thousands of Rwandan farmers entered the gorilla sector
of the Virunga National Park and started cutting down the forest. On the
10th June 2004, park rangers sent a report to the Congolese Wildlife Authority
(ICCN) who immediately called upon the international conservation community
to intervene.
Results from the regular aerial reconnaissance carried out by the European
Union (EU) and Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) confirmed that
that the destruction was taking place at an estimated rate of up to 2
km² a day. This rapid deforestation of the Mikeno sub-sector was
alleged to have been authorised by the Rwandan military in order to reduce
their vulnerability to attack along the sensitive border region. Investigations
carried out on the ground revealed that a workforce of up to 6,000 Rwandans
made the daily trip across the border, paying 1 US$ to the Rwandan military
and local Chiefs to clear a hectare of land.
Within a month, 15 km² of forest had been either cut down or severely
degraded, and trees were being felled as far as 10 km from the international
border, apparently in the name of security. Once cleared, the land was
then sold to Rwandan citizens, some of whom travelled from as far as Ruhengeri
and Kigali, and paid up to 1,000 US$ per ha. There was outrage from the
local Congolese community, who relied heavily on this forest for the collection
of firewood, and as their only source of water during the dry season.
The information collected on the ground and through aerial surveys was
used to inform the international conservation community, the European
Commission, UNESCO, USAID, diplomats and foreign officials, who applied
pressure on the Rwandan Government and local and regional authorities
to bring a halt to the incursion and destruction of the forest. On the
27th June, 2 days before the UN DRC Group of Experts had scheduled an
official onsite investigation, an order was given by the Rwandan military
for all farmers to immediately evacuate the area.
With the area now clear, the ICCN requested that the international conservation
community help fund the development of a 20 km long dry stone wall, 1
m high and 1 m wide, around the affected area to help re-establish the
park limits. The wall would also prevent further movement of domestic
livestock into the park, and would provide a strong visual response to
the recent incursion. FZS and the EU immediately made funds available,
but there were now concerns over the level of security at the site, given
the presence of Rwandan military in the area. The United Nations Peace
Keeping force for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) was asked
to intervene and support the ICCN with a detachment of 15 UN Peace Keepers
to assure the security of those involved in building the wall. At the
time, MONUC was still smarting from the accusation that they had not taken
decisive action in preventing the clashes in Bukavu, but despite considerable
pressure from the EU, MONUC was unwilling to provide the necessary support,
and alternative measures were therefore needed. After consultation with
the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
it was agreed that only with the support of the Governor of North Kivu
could security be guaranteed. During a meeting on the 29th June, attended
by OCHA, the EU, WWF and FZS, the Governor gave the guarantees needed
to ensure the safety of those building the wall.
Work started on Tuesday 6th July, and by the 20th August over 7 km had
been built. Funds from the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) and the
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) had been pledged to complement
those funds already provided by FZS and the EU. The IGCP developed a partnership
with the World Food Programme (WFP) who provided 29 t of food as
a salary supplement. The ICCN Community Conservation Officer engaged 42
local Congolese associations to build the wall, and the total workforce
comprised 989 men and 1,051 women. Six Rwandan associations were also
engaged to build the section of wall which ran along the international
boundary, as this was considered by the Congolese to carry the greatest
risk. This presented an opportunity to raise the awareness of the Rwandan
military to the importance of park conservation, for the local people
and the wildlife. It was also an opportunity to bring the Congolese and
Rwandan people together at a local level; an initial step towards wider
reconciliation. Over 12 km of the wall had been completed by the end of
September with FZS overseeing much of the construction, and at the current
rate of work it is expected that the wall will be completed by the end
of November.
The rapid intervention by the NGO community, and other international bodies,
which resulted in an agreement to fund the construction of the wall in
the Mikeno sub-sector, has had a positive outcome. Above all it demonstrated
to the communities living along the edge of the Mikeno forest the determination
of those pledged to protect the World Heritage Site to respond quickly
in an emergency and take appropriate action. The wall clearly demarcates
the boundary of the park and will over time be accepted as the limit of
cultivation. In the interim the ICCN will need to carry out regular patrols
and inspections along the length of the wall to help establish its legitimacy
and integrity.
Perhaps the most positive aspect of the wall construction so far has been
the integration of the various associations charged with its construction,
including 6 from Rwanda, which has helped bring the communities together.
It has also been a vehicle for conservation education. As the wall continues
to be built, these two important aspects will be fostered, with the over-arching
aim of providing long-term security to the Mikeno sub-sector of the Virunga
National Park.
Robert D. J. Muir
Map showing the deforested area (from the IGCP report)
Robert D. J. Muir worked on research and community-based conservation; since February 2004, he has been working to re-start the Frankfurt Zoological Society’s Virunga National Park Conservation Programme.