Ten Years on Mt. Tshiaberimu: a Positive Outcome

For the last 10 years there has been a gorilla conservation project in the northern sector of the Virunga National Park, on Mt. Tshiaberimu. The project is managed by the international organisation previously called the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund-Europe (DFGF-E), and now known under the name of The Gorilla Organisation (GO), based in London; it was initiated in September 1996 in collaboration with the Congolese Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN). The GO's involvement in the northern sector of the Virunga National Park is a response to the urgent needs to save the gorilla population surviving on Mt. Tshiaberimu ("mountain of spirits").
The GO is convinced that saving the gorillas and their habitat on Mt. Tshiaberimu can only be achieved by knowing and conserving the entire biodiversity of the mountain, by supporting the development of the communities living in the surroundings of Mt. Tshiaberimu, and through the promotion of tourism.
There is no question that gorilla conservation has its ups and downs. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the GO is best-established and unquestionably is most active on Mt. Tshiaberimu. The insecurity caused by the two wars in 1996 and 1998 has ravaged the area and has added another threat to the gorillas there.
The greatest problem that the project has had to contend with is the invasion of the forest by the local population, who use the forest for agriculture, gold mining and the procurement of timber and firewood (particularly during the period between 1996 and 2001). The GO has made the choice to represent and protect the gorillas living on Mt. Tshiaberimu, and does its best to ensure that the local communities join its efforts to make the project a success.
Currently, the project is developing several conservation activities:

1. The gorillas are monitored daily in their natural habitat in order to determine their number and to study their biology and behaviour. Particular emphasis is given to the study of their diet and the way the gorillas occupy and exploit their habitat. Currently, there are 21 individuals in two groups. Both groups are being habituated. Mt. Tshiaberimu and its biodiversity are also under study: it is a forest ecosystem of about 60 km2 up to an altitude of 3,117 m, and is a special habitat where several animal and plant species of international importance occur.
2. ICCN patrols are conducted to help combat poaching and deforestation. During the wartime period that tore the country apart, the entire Virunga National Park was invaded by the local population engaging in all their normal activities - such as agriculture, animal husbandry, the construction of buildings, and even poaching. Mt. Tshiaberimu was no exception; many current problems are the legacy of the rebellion. Once installed in the forest, the population did not want to leave again. Financial support from the GO to the ICCN enabled patrols into the interior of the park, and this combined with public awareness campaigns among schools, local communities, and through the politico-administrative, religious and tribal authorities, ensured that the farmers were re-settled from the park in April 2002. This permitted the rehabilitation of approximately 7 km² of land, which is now fallow but it is hoped that it will regenerate into secondary forest in the near future.
3. Socio-economic development is delivered through micro-projects with an immediate impact on the conservation of Mt. Tshiaberimu. In particular, these include obtaining corrugated iron sheets for schools and for the offices of tribal chiefs; the purchase of mattresses for health centres in the vicinity of Mt. Tshiaberimu; support for the maintenance of agricultural access roads; support for the breeding of livestock; and support to agriculture through the distribution of improved seed varieties for replication and agricultural tools. The distribution of seeds and tools is always preceded by the training of the recipients and increasing their conservation awareness. The GO works together with around 10 agricultural grassroots community organisations with over 1,000 members, most of which are women. Thanks to the revenue generated from agriculture through the support of the GO, these organisations have also been able to develop other activities such as the breeding of sheep, goats and poultry.
4. Environmental education essentially focuses on conservation and research activities and those of the community development program. They all have the essential goal of keeping the local communities informed about the importance of the conservation of the gorillas and their habitat, and strengthening the dialogue between the park and the local communities in order to involve them in nature conservation. Meetings with the local communities include the tribal chiefs and the politico-military administrative authorities. Local development organisations are visited; discussion meetings followed by the showing of nature films are held in the schools; interviews are conducted which are broadcast on radio; strategic sites are visited; and nature quizzes have helped to initiate nature clubs in the villages and schools in the vicinity of Mt. Tshiaberimu. As a result, the conflict between the park and the local population has been markedly reduced, and the inhabitants of the park's surrounding areas are becoming increasingly involved in the efforts to protect the gorillas. Tribal chiefs and land owners, grassroots community organisation leaders and the youth organisations often participate in project activities. For example, plays have been written and songs and poems have been composed featuring the protection of the gorillas.

After 10 years of active conservation in the area of Mt. Tshiaberimu, the Gorilla Organization can be content with the results. The gorillas are in the process of being habituated and studied. In addition, the invasion of the park (the habitat of the gorillas) has been halted, except in the Vihyo-Muramba sector which still suffers from pressure, as the population is manipulated by heartless politicians. Fortunately, the project enjoys the collaboration of tribal chiefs, land owners, administrative and military authorities, local organisations, the youth, the ICCN authorities, conservation NGOs and many others. In many cases it is the local population who give the baby gorillas born on Mt. Tshiaberimu their names, and each name has a special meaning.
Dian Fossey's work is continued all over the world. Her work has taken root in the Virunga region thanks to numerous conservation and development projects: the Mt. Tshiaberimu project among them. Due to the public awareness campaigns organised by the project, the population living in the vicinity of the park is aware of the situation and pays special attention to the gorillas and their habitat.
Once the gorillas are habituated, they will present a special opportunity to visit the wonders of the Albertine Rift Valley. We invite all persons of goodwill to join The Gorilla Organization to help safeguard the survival of the eastern gorillas and to make sure that Dian Fossey's work will be crowned with success in the Virunga region. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all those participants of the project who have kept up the work over the last 10 years. The project is currently supported by the European Commission in conjunction with UNEP/GRASP. Other donors have included the US Fish & Wildlife Service and Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe.

Birth of a Baby Gorilla
At the time when we were waiting to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the gorilla conservation project on Mt. Tshiaberimu, nature too rallied to the cause. We have a saying: "If you do something for us but without us, you do it against us." So as not to be left out, the gorillas therefore gave us a very precious gift: baby Musomboli (which means "voter", as it was born while elections were taking place in Democratic Republic of the Congo).
As if the gorillas knew the project's objectives, the main one of which is the "safeguarding of the gorillas' survival and growth", the Mt. Tshiaberimu gorillas decided to mark the 10th anniversary of the Mt. Tshiaberimu project and the work of the Gorilla Organization in the Congo with their own special seal of approval - by increasing their number by one.
It was the Kipura group which fulfilled the task, more exactly the female Kitawite who gave birth on August 5th, 2006. We can now confirm that this birth has increased the size of the Kipura group from 6 to 7 members, increasing the overall number of the Mt. Tshiaberimu gorillas to 21.

Jean Claude Kyungu and Jean de Dieu Vhosi

Jean Claude Kyungu Kasolene led an ecology NGO between 1994 and 1999. Since 1997, he has been the North-Kivu consultant on biodiversity. He headed the Tayna Gorilla Reserve and is now Project Manager for the Mt. Tshiabirimu Gorilla Project.
Jean de Dieu Vhosi is social assistant and responsible for the environmental communication in the project for the conservation of the Mt. Tshiaberimu gorillas.

Tshiaberimu overview

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