28 January 2013 | Libreville,
Gabon – Authorities protecting the Gabonese
segment of Central Africa’s biggest forest
elephant stronghold captured a record number
of poachers last week. However, “terrifying”
intelligence gathered from those arrested
show wildlife criminals still have the upper
hand in the battle to save Central Africa’s
elephants.
A total of 17 poachers
were arrested between January 16 and January
23 in the Gabonese side of the Dja-Odzala-Minkébé
(TRIDOM) Landscape, an area encompassing
Gabon, Cameroon and the Republic of Congo,
recognized as a priority place for biodiversity
conservation, according to Joseph Okouyi,
a senior warden at the Gabonese National
Parks Agency.
“We never arrested so
many poachers in such a short period of
time – a clear sign that our strategy of
fighting wildlife criminals through increased
manpower is an effective one,” he said,
adding that a further twelve poachers had
managed to avoid capture during the same
operations.
But, Okouyi warned that
“terrifying” intelligence collected from
those arrested hinted that TRIDOM was being
emptied of its elephants, and that the only
effective way to win the war against poachers
is through effective regional and international
cooperation.
More Resources to preserve
Central Africa’s elephants
“Last year we had 20
operational ecogards at our disposal to
patrol an area which at more than 12,000
square kilometers is equivalent to a country
the size of Jamaica,” Okouyi said.
“Now we have 43 ecogards.
We have two times more capacity.”
“With more men you have
more patrols and cover more ground. Not
only does this result in more arrests, but
it sends a strong signal to poachers that
we are here.”
With up to 40,000 elephants,
the TRIDOM Landscape is home to Africa’s
largest forest elephant population. Unfortunately
it is also one of the most dangerous places
in the world for elephants, with dozens
being killed every day for their ivory.
Map of the TRIDOM Landscape which encompasses
Cameroon, Gabon and the Republic of Congo.
Areas in darker green within the landscape
are national parks.
“WWF congratulates the
Gabonese National Parks Agency and military
for these arrests,” said Bas Huijbregts,
head of the WWF’s campaign against illegal
wildlife trade in Central Africa.
“These operations are
even more impressive when we consider they
were undertaken in one of the most heavily
forested and inaccessible areas on earth,”
he said.
Central African forests
are being “emptied” of their elephants
“Although we are happy
with these arrests, terrifying information
we have obtained indicates that we have
only chipped the tip of the iceberg of elephant
killings in this part of Central Africa,”
Okouyi said.
Okouyi explained that
one of the individuals in custody said that
a hunting party was usually composed of
at least three hunters, seven to ten porters
and a representative of the buyer. A hunting
party, he explained, ended when each porter
carried 40 kilograms of ivory – worth up
to $70,000 per hunting party.
“This can represent
up to 40 dead elephants per hunting party,”
Huijbregts explained.
“Although we are only
just beginning to understand the dynamics
of this criminal activity, we know that
several of these groups are out there every
day.”
“The forests of Central
Africa are being emptied of their elephants,”
Huijbregts said.
The need for more collaboration
But Gabonese wildlife
authorities are not just facing an enemy
with incredible numbers, there is the added
difficulty that many of the actors originate
from and partly operate in other countries,
reflecting the transnational aspect of illegal
wildlife crime.
“It is unfortunate but
true that many of the poachers and many
of their bosses in north Gabon are Cameroonian
nationals and operate from villages and
towns north of the border, as well as its
port Douala and its capital Yaoundé,”
Okouyi said.
“We also know that some
of these hunting parties are commissioned
by Chinese nationals.”
“This is why it is so
important that we increase our collaboration
with neighboring countries, especially Cameroon,
but also with specialized international
law enforcement agencies such as INTERPOL,”
Okouyi added.
According to WWF, it
is rising demand for ivory in countries
like Thailand and China that is pushing
poachers to hunt elephants at unprecedented
levels.
“Collaborating with
demand countries like China and Thailand
is therefore essential to stop demand which
is the root cause of these massive elephant
killings,” he concluded.
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In the field with an
anti-poaching patrol in Gabon
28 January 2013 | by
WWF photographer James Morgan
Last year I was asked by WWF to produce
a series of images looking at the effects
of the illegal wildlife trade. In June,
I spent some time with an anti-poaching
patrol in Gabon. My original aim was to
photograph the lives of individuals on the
frontlines of the war against wildlife crime,
focusing on one of the most charismatic
rangers, Soho Jocelyn.
I spent time with Soho
at his home in Makokou and then followed
him into the forest on patrol. One night
sitting around the fire we got the chilling
news that two rangers had been murdered,
just miles away, across the border in Congo.
The increase in clashes
between rangers and poachers has left horrifying
numbers dead in the past year alone. However
some of the most compelling images from
the trip reflect a feeling that I had whilst
I was there: I don’t think there is a frontline
on the war against wildlife crime.
The increased frequency
of ranger deaths is haunting, but its also
an accessible symbol of a much deeper erosion
of culture and livelihoods. As Soho Jocelyn
kissed his wife and children before leaving
for the jungle, I got a real sense of what
was at stake. Not just in terms of his safety
but the repercussions for his community
and its history and shared values.
I grew up in the New
Forest, a small stretch of forestland in
the south of England. The New Forest is
as thick with tales as it is with trees,
and at the root of all these stories is
the concept of forest law. Much of the old
forest law, some of which still survives
to this day, curtailed the ability of forest
people to gather food in favour of protecting
deer populations for the king’s hunting
grounds. This inevitably led to an entire
canon of stories painting poaching as a
romantic, even noble, pursuit. I grew up
with legends of the outlaw peasant taking
what was rightfully his, outsmarting the
crown and its feudal landowners.
But the poaching stories
which emerged from Central Africa in 2012
bear no resemblance to the stories of my
childhood. The romanticism and communal
spirit are gone, and in their place are
automatic weapons, bloodshed (both human
and animal) and the irreversible damage
of social and natural ecosystems. Ultimately
the people who lose out aren’t wealthy landowners
and caricature baddies, but communities
struggling to subsist as criminal groups
erode both their communities and resources.
The Baka community,
who live in the forests of Gabon, Congo
and Cameroon are perhaps as caught up as
anyone. There was always tension when I
first arrived in a Baka village. Nothing
the universal language of silliness and
a shared experience skinning a water cobra
couldn’t swiftly dissolve, but the Baka
have been vilified by environmental groups
for the role they play in elephant poaching,
and relationships are understandably fraught.
In many ways the short
time I spent with the Baka was the most
illustrative of the full effects of wildlife
crime. Baka are employed and killed on both
sides of the battle, a poacher one day may
have no qualms about becoming a ranger the
next. It all depends who’s footing the bill.
But the recent escalation in commercial
poaching has bought more than just the death
of a few individuals, it has bought about
the disintegration of an entire way of life.
Or more accurately,
the advent of poaching has served as a catalyst
hugely enhancing the effect of other environmental
pressures in breaking the bonds the Baka
once held with the forest and pushing them
into alcoholism, domestic violence and a
whole host of associated social problems.
I often find in the course of my work that
the social cohesion of indigenous groups
can be read as a litmus test for environmental
issues.
The Baka were originally
semi-nomadic subsistence hunters. The majority
have now settled in villages as pressure
from logging and infrastructure projects
has impacted wildlife populations throughout
the Congo basin. It’s economics that have
pushed the Baka to hunt elephants. Elephants
alive steal food and trample crops, whilst
dead their tusks are almost worth their
weight in gold. It’s ironic in a sense,
and also understandably frustrating for
the Baka, that they used to revere the elephant
and only started ‘poaching’ under pressure
from French and German colonial rulers who
had an insatiable thirst for ivory. Now
their orders are coming from criminal syndicates
and terrorist groups. It’s probably hard
to tell the difference.
