Gorilla Journal 31, December 2005

Conservation Law Enforcement Training in the Virunga National Park

For more than a decade, the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) has been working to conserve the national parks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo without sufficient financial or institutional support. Although tourism in the Virunga National Park once generated sufficient revenues to support the ICCN's conservation efforts throughout the country, a decade of civil war and unrest has resulted in the almost total collapse of the ICCN's capacity to carry out its obligations to wildlife conservation.
In the Virunga National Park, armed militia and military groups still operate in the area and are responsible for regular attacks on park stations and patrol posts, taking weapons, uniforms, radio handsets and field equipment, and leaving rangers vulnerable and ill-equipped to carry out effective patrols. These armed groups also carry out large-scale poaching within the park and, through the use of automatic weapons, are responsible for the decimation of whole herds of elephant and hippo. In consequence, areas such as Rwindi and Vitshumbi, once famous for their large mammal populations, have been left entirely denuded.
In order for the park rangers to be effective at both protecting themselves from attack as well as protecting and monitoring the park's natural resources, Frankfurt Zoological Society, with support from the London Zoological Society, the EU, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and UNESCO, is coordinating a ranger training program which will strengthen the ability of the ICCN to effectively manage its wildlife populations in what remains a hostile environment.
A ranger training school has been built on the banks of the Semliki River at Ishango, and is currently home to some 60 park guards who are being put through basic ranger training and selection. Over the next two months, a total of 480 rangers will pass through Ishango allowing the ICCN and international instructors to assess their mental and physical acuity through a series of standardised assessments. These include timed runs, shooting accuracy, fieldcraft and memory tests. Other less objective assessments will also be made based on the individual's character, and the instructors will be looking for individuals who demonstrate self discipline, tenacity and motivation, and those that have teamwork and leadership qualities.
By the end of the basic training, the instructors will have developed a personal profile for all 480 rangers which will be held by the ICCN headquarters in Goma, and these profiles will help the ICCN and the team of instructors to make the difficult decision as to who should attend the three months' advanced training. Those selected will receive new uniforms, and their salaries will double overnight. Most importantly of all, though, for these rangers is the pride they will feel for being chosen to attend the advanced course, with a shot at being a member of an elite rapid reaction anti-poaching unit.
The recently developed ranger training school has five large accommodation tents which sleep up to 20 rangers per tent, one dining tent, one training tent, nine toilets, and one kitchen. We have converted a disused warden's house into a headquarters which includes two offices, a storeroom and a medical room, and is equipped with three computers, a printer, scanner and photocopier, a satellite dish, VHF and HF radios, and a generator to provide electricity and lighting. We have built a parade ground and a 100 m shooting range, and have rehabilitated the airstrip, and will soon be underway with the construction of a basic assault course. We have also provided two Land Cruiser Pick-Ups, a motorbike and two pirogues with 15 cc outboard engines. These will facilitate both terrestrial and riverine patrols as well as providing vital logistical support to the programme.
Following the basic training, 14 ICCN trainers from Congo's five World Heritage Sites will travel to Ishango to undergo training specifically designed to enhance their capacity as instructors. These men will also receive uniforms and a salary, and will benefit from some of the best training available from our team of ex-British military instructors, all of whom speak either French or Swahili. Throughout the month long course, the ICCN trainers will master the techniques necessary to carry out selection exercises, as well as basic and advanced ranger training to meet future requirements. On completion of the course, the ICCN trainers will be retained by the programme to work alongside the British instructors and deliver an advanced training package to the park's top 50 rangers who will go on to form a rapid reaction anti-poaching unit.
Those selected for advanced training will receive three months' training in all aspects of law enforcement and park management operations, with an emphasis on modern approaches to conflict resolution and community relations. Once trained, the rapid reaction unit will operate within a new framework which will enable law enforcement activities and anti-poaching operations to be carried out effectively under extremely difficult and occasionally hostile conditions. This framework, which will include mandatory training competencies, as well as guidelines in tactics, planning and coordination, will provide the basis for Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for anti-poaching operations. Key to operations is the exploitation of timely information, and the SOPs will provide guidance for the systematic collection and collation of reports related to all sectors. These information cells will be responsible for providing timely support for day-to-day operations within the sectors, as well as highlighting trends which could be used as the basis for pre-emptive operations.
Frankfurt Zoological Society now has air support for the Virunga National Park, and it is hoped that monitoring and surveillance carried out from our Cessna 206 will provide critical information to patrols on the ground. Through combined air and ground operations, the ICCN might once again be able to regain control of the park and ensure the long-term protection of its endangered wildlife populations, while at the same time ensuring better protection for themselves and their families who inhabit one of the world's most dangerous parks.

Robert D. J. Muir

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.

Virunga National Park overview

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