Another Way to Protect Biodiversity - Community Conservation
For a number of years the Congolese government has been campaigning in
support of endangered animal and plant species, and has created a new
conservation policy, which aims to designate 15% of the country as protected
areas. Biodiversity conservation is promoted both inside and outside these
protected areas, but as there is no organised monitoring structure outside
of them, the legally protected species remain liable to uncontrolled exploitation,
which may in the end lead to their extinction. Walikale Reserve, one of
the last remaining habitats for eastern lowland gorillas, is not designated
as a protected area.
Given this situation, the Walikale population has quickly understood the
danger threatening its gorillas and decided to help protect them by joining
forces and creating conservation associations to protect areas where some
gorillas are still living. This led to the creation of the Walikale Gorilla
Community Reserve (RCGW), an association working in collaboration with
the London-based NGO, The Gorilla Organization.
The main aim of the RCGW is to protect gorillas and their habitat and
to promote the socio-economic development of the populations living around
the reserve. This is made possible by the financial and scientific support
of The Gorilla Organization. The funds allocated are being used
for monitoring tasks and development projects.
The Walikale Gorilla Community Reserve is located approximately 92 km
from the Virunga National Park and 150 km from the Kahuzi-Biega National
Park; the Maïko National Park, the Tayna Gorilla Reserve, and the
RECOPRIBA/RPKI reserve are very close.
The Walikale Gorilla Community Reserve has an equatorial, tropical climate.
It extends between 0° 52.346' S, 28° 18.755' E and 0° 42.921'
S, 28° 48.358' E, over an area of around 70,000 ha.
Its forest is mixed, on clay soil, with hills, valleys and numerous rivers. The summits of the hills are occupied by the Cyanometra alexandrii (Caesalpiniaceae) and Piptadeniastrum africanum (Euphorbiaceae) group, and the valleys (periodically flooded) are dominated by species which grow in hydromorphic soils, such as Uapaca guineensis (Euphorbiaceae), Funtumia africana (Apocynaceae), Alcornea cordifolia (Euphorbiaceae), Panda oleosa (Pandaceae) etc. The forest comprises 3 separate strata:
- the top stratum, of varying com-po-sition, with the species listed above;
- the middle stratum, constituted main-ly by several species of bushes;
- the lower stratum with ferns in-cluding Pteridium aquilinum and other Pteridium species (Pteridae); species of Commelinaceae (Palisota schweinfurthii, Palisota ambigua); Zingiberaceae (Aframomum sanguineum) and Costaceae (Costus lucanusianus); and others.
In addition to recording the vegetation, the monitoring work carried
out in some parts of the reserve has allowed a gradual census of the gorillas.
Each evening the gorillas make a nest of leaves in barely 5 minutes, in
which they sleep. The nests are found either on the ground or in trees.
Gorillas leave their dung in their large nests and then make a new nest
the following night. Chimpanzees are also found in the Walikale Reserve
and they build their smaller and highly elaborate nests (supported on
forked branches, criss-crossed by bent twigs with a mattress of leaves)
that are always in trees without dung.
To carry out monitoring work, camps are constructed in the reserve using
tarpaulins and tents and material found on site (sticks, creepers etc.).
We use these camps as rest places after monitoring and this is where we
usually spend the night.
In the morning we form 2 teams of 5 people. Each team sets off in a different
direction and returns to the camp in the afternoon around 4 p.m. Another
group of 2 people stays in the camp to do the cooking. The stay in the
forest often lasts at least a week, sometimes two, if we have to cover
large distances. We leave the camp at 7 a.m. in two different directions
following the topography of the reserve, either east-west or north-south,
to avoid following the same families at the same time. It rains a lot
in the region and there are many rivers so each person wears a pair of
boots and a waterproof coat.
Once away from the camp we start looking for fresh gorilla tracks, which
are then followed to the location of the recent nest sites; only one-day
old sites are considered. The area of the site depends on the size of
the family. This allows us to count the number of individuals capable
of making nests (weaned individuals), i.e. the number per family, as it
is not possible for 2 or 3 families at nest on the same site.
Most nests are made in trees that are 10-30 m tall, although it is not
rare to find nests made on the ground, particularly for the silverback
and females with babies. Photographs of the nest sites and other elements
of the ecosystem are taken, and geographical data are collected thanks
to the support of the TUSK TRUST, which constantly helps us to obtain
equipment such as digital cameras and GPS units. The time of the recording
is also noted using an ordinary watch. Overall we have already observed
78 families of gorillas with a total of 721 individuals, the average being
9 individuals per family. These gorillas are still wild; their habituation
to the presence of humans is not yet envisaged for strategic reasons,
as there are large numbers of weapons in the region due to the presence
of armed groups. At this stage habituating gorillas to the presence of
humans would merely contribute to their extermination.
Apart from the gorillas, other animal species in the Walikale Gorilla
Community Reserve include: Cercopithecus mitis, Cercopithecus
ascanius, Pan troglodytes, Rhynchocyon cirnei, Potamogale
velox, Manis gigantea, Funisciurus sp., Cricetomys
emini, Atherurus africanus, Panthera pardus, Syncerus
nanus, Hyemoschus aquaticus, Cephalophus sp., Dendrohyrax
arboreus, Potamochoeurus porcus, Civettictis civetta
...
The local population contributes significantly to protecting gorillas
and their habitat; they have understood that if they do not get involved,
the gorillas may disappear before their very eyes. This explains the strategy
used, which consists in getting them to participate in the management
and protection of the reserve. This is why we have allowed them to give
the authorisations needed for outsiders to go into the forest, in accordance
with their customs. The local people themselves decide which people to
recruit as trackers, and they are all from within the communities.
Our vision is to respond to people's needs and to ensure the durability
of the local resources, whilst at the same time conserving the biodiversity
of the various types of ecosystems. It is in this context that we have
helped with the rehabilitation of the Institut Technique Médical
de Pinga, the construction of the Byamba primary school and that of Ihimbi
(construction in progress), the rehabilitation of the RCGW liaison office
in Pinga, and the distribution of footballs in some schools and football
teams in the region, for leisure activities. Many more development projects
are envisaged to support gorilla conservation such as livestock projects,
agricultural projects, and improvement of the livelihoods and literacy
of the local population.
For conservation, genetic studies are planned on the gorillas, their intestinal
parasitaemia, the gorillas' diet, and the biological diversity system
of the reserve.
Nevertheless, there are a few difficulties which do not make our task
any easier:
- the presence of groups of armed foreigners within the zone in which the reserve is located: the Congolese executive power is only symbolic there, security being in the hands of these armed groups;
- the state of the road between Goma and Pinga: to gain access to Pinga two dangerous zones occupied by different armed groups need to be crossed, and due to the very poor state of the road between Mwesso and Pinga as well, we easily need 3 hours to cover 36 km;
- the absence of a communications network: once in the field there
is no longer any contact with the outside world; this leaves us exposed
to a number of risks with no hope of being able to call on anyone or
anything.
André Byamungu
André Byamungu Ngurube studied science in Kisangani and worked at the CRSN in Lwiro. He is now Coordinator of the Walikale Project.