Gorilla Journal 35, December 2007

Severe Problems in Virunga National Park

In recent issues of the Gorilla Journal, we mentioned WildlifeDirect's Gorilla Protection blog. Here is a summary of the reports on this blog during the last few months, showing the critical situation of the gorillas in the Congolese part of the Virunga Volcanoes.

Killing of Gorillas
26th July 2007: In the Mikeno Sector of the Virunga National Park 3 females of the Rugendo group were found dead after rangers had heard shots in the evening of the 21st July. On the 24th, the silverback male of the group was also found dead. Two of the females had infants; one of them, Ndeze, was recovered from her brother for hand-rearing, but the rangers fear that the other one, who is only 2 years old, is also dead.
16th August: Rangers found the remains of the female Macibiri, who had also been killed during the massacre. Her 1.5-year-old infant Ntaribi is still missing, but as it was still suckling, it is very probable that it is dead too.

The Charcoal Business
As the region around the Virunga Volcanoes is very densely populated and no forest is left outside the national park, firewood is always rare. Making charcoal from the mountain forest trees in the Mikeno Sector is a multi-million-dollar business - and a severe threat to the national park (including the gorillas).
28th August: Rangers try to crack down on those who are making charcoal in the park. Despite being a difficult trade to hide - the smoke indicates where there is an oven making charcoal - many people are able to profit from the instability and continue with charcoal production. The rangers destroy the ovens.
Many of the women involved with charcoal in the park are the wives of Congolese military who pick up the scraps of charcoal so that they can cook for their families. The military are not paid by the government, so their families do what they can to get by. The majority of men making charcoal in the park come from Rwanda. There it is illegal to make charcoal, so many Rwandans enter Congo to make it here instead. They take advantage of the fact that the Congolese military are not paid, and pay the military protection money to enter the park. Large trucks come out of the park, full of charcoal, and it is assumed that there are powerful networks in place.
The men are arrested and taken to the main station at Rumangabo. They are questioned and, after being reprimanded as well as fined, they are taken back to the Rwandan border. The rangers have received many threats, and one of them was attacked by the military, because of the progress that they have made.
13th December: Rangers estimated that in September 50 people entered the southern sector of the park to make charcoal; that number is now estimated to be at around 500. Donations to provide firewood to the refugees are needed urgently.

Rebel Attacks
3rd September: Bikenge Patrol Post is attacked by rebels and looted. The camp of Patrol Post Jomba is also attacked by rebels; they take weapons, radios, mobile phones and solar panels. The guards and their families are evacuated from these two patrol posts as well as from the Bukima Patrol Post. The rebels destroy all communication antennas for radios and mobile phones and then move their position towards the gorilla sector.
During the night the Ranger Advance Force were attacked by rebels at Bikenge, in the gorilla sector. They all managed to escape and no one was killed. Heavy fighting can be heard near the Bikenge Patrol Post between the FARDC (Congolese army) and the men of General Laurent Nkunda.
5th September: Fighting continues in the gorilla sector near the patrol posts of Bikenge and Jomba between the regular army and the rebels. There are still no rangers in the sector because of this bad security situation, so the gorillas are unprotected.
7th September: The Congolese military are now at Bikenge and the rebels are at Jomba. Heavy fighting in the gorilla sector, with many bombs between Bukima and Bikenge. When the guards try to go out to locate the gorillas, they come under attack by armed men, so none of them is able remain in the gorilla sector.
11th September: Rebels and the Congolese army are still present throughout the sector. A ceasefire is in place in the gorilla sector. It is in place for a few days, and then the rebels have to agreed to go through the "brassage" process. This basically means that they become integrated into the regular army. The army is trying to integrate all rebel and militia groups so that the country can move forward - without much success.
12th September: The trackers that were sent to Bukima and Bikenge yesterday were prevented from entering the park to find the gorillas by the army, which currently controls the area after the clashes with the rebels. Jomba is still under the control of Nkunda's rebels.
13th September: A group of rangers at the patrol post of Jomba have started tracking the Mapuwa group. The rebels, who still control this area, returned 2 guns and 2 GPS' to the rangers to enable them to start their work.
The rebels bring 10 tourists to visit the Mapuwa family, although only 8 people should visit at any one time. The tourists come through Bunagana which is just north of the gorilla sector on the Ugandan border. They would have paid up to US$ 500 each to the rebels. This sort of uncontrolled visit to the mountain gorillas is totally unacceptable.
20th September: The rebels have made Jomba their operational base. They also brought cattle to Bikenge, the other patrol post. This means that they intend to stay for a while. The army still controls Bukima and does not let rangers anywhere near the patrol post. They have dug up all the rangers' crops near the patrol post and destroyed the fields.
25th September: Jean-Marie Serundori goes to the Bukima Patrol Post with members of the UN peacekeeping mission, MONUC. The post is occupied by about 40 members of the army, with their families. They have ripped out the ceiling of the two patrol post buildings.
In Jomba, the Rugendo family, Mapuwa family and a solitary male are still being tracked daily by the rangers who are being allowed to do their job. All the gorillas of the two families are well and in good health, which at this juncture is a bit of good news.
5th October: Rangers from Jomba are fleeing to Rumangabo. The security situation is even more unstable, and some of the men there, who were following Rugendo, Mapuwa and the male Ruzirabwoba, have escaped through Ishasha (Uganda). The information they had collected regarding the gorillas that they had been tracking was taken from them by the rebels.
7th October: The rebels have re-taken the entire Mikeno Sector and the mountain gorillas of Congo are unprotected and unmonitored. The park director and the rangers can hear heavy shelling at Bukima from where they are at Rumangabo, and have taken the decision to evacuate all valuable equipment to Goma.
11th October: There is fighting going on near Bukima between the rebels and the army. Apparently the rebels are losing. The army re-takes the Bukima Patrol Post area. So now the frontline between the army and the rebels is at Bikenge.
20th October: Fighting has started again at Bukima. Rangers evacuate their families as a result, and ICCN is also going to evacuate more equipment from Rumangabo.
The rebels advanced down to Rugari. This is the community that lies on the main road next to the gorilla sector, west of Bukima. It means that the road between Goma and Rumangabo park station is not secure. This is one of Goma's main arteries. The national army at the military camp 4 km east of Rumangabo have fled, fearing attack by the rebels.
22th October: The situation has calmed a little. The national army have returned to their base with reinforcements. The rebels have been pushed back into the gorilla sector.
24th October: Fighting has intensified east of Rumangabo toward the gorilla sector and around it. Rangers are still at Rumangabo, but constantly worried that the military base east of the park station will get hit.
The Mountain Gorillas and the other wildlife in the Mikeno Sector of the park are totally and utterly unprotected.

Attacks in the Central Sector of the Park
In the savannah part of the Virunga National Park, Mai-Mai rebels have been destroying the wildlife for several years - for example, they almost exterminated the hippo population at the end of 2006. As the ICCN tried to prevent them from doing this, they frequently attacked the rangers. The Mai-Mai in Muramba belong to the Jackson group. They have promised to help villagers poach freely and cultivate within the park, which is of course against the law. They are also promising to put pressure on ICCN to move the boundaries of the park, to the villagers' advantage.
19th May: Mai-Mai rebels attack the Burusi Patrol Post, leaving one park ranger dead and four critically wounded, and kidnapping Officer Monya. This patrol post is the sub-station and also the entry point for the Tshiaberimu area. ICCN have deployed two troops of the Advance Force to track the attackers, as well as contacting the military authorities based at Butembo.
31th August: The Kabaraza Patrol Post, 30 km north of Rutshuru, was attacked by rebels. One park ranger was killed and a camp worker seriously wounded with a gunshot in the neck. The ranger, Rugira Sebuja Faustin, had heard strange noises coming from some of the rangers' houses. When he went to investigate he was shot in the stomach and then died from his wounds. Houses were looted. Over the last few days tensions have increased in this area and there are worries that the situation could deteriorate further.
27th October: A ranger was killed and another was wounded. The rangers were on patrol and were ambushed by the Mai-Mai rebels, who are fairly dominant in this area just north of Rutshuru.

Virunga National Park overview

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