20/04/2005 - Democratic
Republic of Congo – Celebrations marking the
80th anniversary of Congo’s Virunga National
Park, one of Africa’s oldest parks, were dampened
with the recent murder of a ranger by rebels
who use the park as a military base.
On Friday, 15 April, ranger Paluku Dunia
was shot dead by rebels while out on patrol
in the park. In another incident, four rangers
from the park’s Rwindi station were also ambushed
by rebels. Fortunately, they were let go after
their personal belongings and tools were stolen.
Other incidents have been reported in the
park, which have led to the deaths of locals
living in the area, including men, women and
children.
“We are very saddened by the death of one
of our colleagues in the field,” said Marc
Languy, Albertine Rift Ecoregion Coordinator
for WWF’s Eastern Africa Regional Programme
Office. “As a result of civil unrest in this
region, the park has suffered a very high,
unprecedented level of encroachment."
Since civil war and ethnic strife erupted
in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the
early 11000s, poachers, refugees, soldiers
and rebels have ravaged the 8,000-square kilometer
Virunga National Park, which borders Uganda
and Rwanda in the country's north-east. The
northern border of the park is often invaded
by Uganda rebels, and Rwandan rebels have
established bases in the southern part near
Lake Edward.
“High-level lobbying is needed against all
those who are arming these rebels and wreaking
havoc in the park,” said Déo Kajuga
Binyeri, Provincial Director of the Congolese
Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN).
“The government, as well as the international
community, must ensure that rebels using Virunga
and the surrounding area are removed so that
the national park can recover.”
The occupation of parts of the park by rebels
has not only prevented rangers from patrolling
the area, but has been responsible for serious
ecological damage. It is estimated that 1,700ha
of forests are lost each year by those plundering
the park’s natural resources. In addition,
thousands of animals have been killed for
food and trade, including the endangered mountain
gorilla.
The Virunga National Park is one of the most
biologically diverse regions of Africa, with
over 700 species of birds and 200 species
of mammals. The park is part of the Virunga
massif, which holds half of the remaining
700 mountain gorillas in the world.
“Thanks to conservation efforts during the
past decades, mountain gorillas have survived
civil unrest and war in the region,” Languy
said. “Eighty years on since the park’s initiation,
growing violence once again poses a serious
threat to both local communities and the future
of the mountain gorilla.”
Since 1987, WWF, in collaboration with ICCN,
has supported conservation initiatives including
environmental awareness and education, sustainable
livelihoods, reforestation, as well as equipping
and paying salaries for the park staff.
NOTES:
• Three hundred and eighty mountain gorillas
occur on the extinct volcanoes forming the
Virunga Range, along the borders of Rwanda,
Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC).
• Most of these gorillas range within the
southern part of Virunga National Park, DRC,
and the Volcanoes National Park (Parc National
des Volcans) in northern Rwanda, while a few
use the Mgahinga National Park in southwestern
Uganda.
• A separate population is found in the nearby
Bwindi-Impenetrable National Park in southwest
Uganda, on the border with the DRC, at elevations
of 1,500 to 2,300m. A 2002 census recorded
320 individuals, a number which suggests that
the population remains stable.
• Established in 1925 as Albert National
Park, it was later renamed in the 1970s as
the Virunga National Park. Virunga was inscribed
on the UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger
in 1994.
