Newswise — During the past month, a significant portion of the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo—home to more than half the world's 700 mountain gorillas and a World Heritage Site—has been completely deforested by thousands of people who have encroached on the park from Rwanda, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other conservation groups.
In just under a month, approximately 6,000 people (mostly Rwandans) moved into the Mikeno region of the park and have deforested some 15 square kilometers (nearly 6 square miles) of the park. The entire Virunga Volcano ecosystem (the area of the park that supports mountain gorillas) is only 425 square kilometers (164 square miles) in total size. Cleared areas are now being used for agriculture and livestock.
"This small forest island is one of only two places on Earth where mountain gorillas exist," said Dr. Andrew Plumptre, director of WCS's Albertine Rift Program. "Park authorities from both the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have given the world a fine example of how to conserve wildlife over the past 30 years in the most challenging of circumstances, but they need outside support more now than ever."
In response, WCS, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have issued a joint letter urging the governments of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to step up their efforts in preventing the deforestation of the mountain gorilla's habitat. Of particular concern are allegations that the deforestation was encouraged by wealthy individuals in Rwanda who paid for land to be cleared. Although recent efforts to stop the deforestation in the Virunga forests on the DR Congo side have led to a cessation of the land clearing, WCS, WWF and ZSL urge the administrative authorities from both DR Congo and Rwanda to continue to work to protect Virunga National Park, and to protect the parks staff in Congo. "In the last month, three parks staff have been murdered by men in uniform elsewhere in the park and it is of grave concern that the Government of Congo is unable to protect these brave men," stated Dr Terese Hart, Director of WCS's Congo Program.
WCS, WWF and ZSL also stress that international assistance is vital in helping support DR Congo's park authority—the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN)—in peacefully evacuating illegal settlers from Virunga National Park, both in the gorilla area and elsewhere where invasions have taken place during Congo's bloody war. ICCN also needs support in patrolling the protected area to prevent further deforestation and to help restore damaged habitat.
In addition to supporting more than half of the world's remaining mountain gorillas, the Virunga Volcanoes also supports a wide variety of unique plant and animal species, including the extremely rare golden monkey, which exists in the lower elevation forests that are being cleared. Mountain gorillas generate about $2 million from tourism annually for the countries of Congo, Rwandan and Uganda, and the mountain is important for the supply of water and other forest products to the people who live around the park, some of the poorest people in the world.
Earlier this year, park officials from Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo and other conservationists announced an amazing 17 percent increase in the Virunga's mountain gorilla population to 380 individuals, a testament to the dedication of all parties to protect the great apes and their habitat. Virunga National Park is Africa's first protected area, originally gazetted as Albert National Park (after Prince Albert of Belgium) in 1925 and contains more mammals and birds than any other park in Africa.
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