Virunga National Park

WCS is taking urgent action to help save the mountain gorillas of DRC

With the recent tragic killings of four gorillas  in the Virunga National Park, WCS is working closley with the national parks authority in DRC, ICCN, to increase protection. Among these immediate steps we are:
   •supporting ranger teams who remain 
    round the clock with each known
    gorilla family group
  •conducting awareness sessions
  •providing support to the local 
    association, HUGO (Human and Gorilla) 
    which helps the ICCN to safely drive back
    gorillas that may venture outside the 
    boundaries of the park
  •supporting intelligence missions to 
    determine who is responsible for these 
    killings

Virunga National Park (VNP), Africa’s oldest, was created in 1925.  Located in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and bordered by Uganda and Rwanda, this Park encompasses 8,000 km2 of a variety of natural habitats that range from glaciers at 16,000 ft to lowland forest at 1,800 ft, and include savannas, wetlands, bamboo, montane forest, and active volcanoes. It harbors more bird (706) and mammal (196) species than any other Park in Africa, and contains 109 reptiles, 78 amphibians, at least 2,077 plant species, as well as various threatened and endemic species found in the Albertine Rift region.

The Park is managed by the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) with several international and national NGO partners. WCS first worked in VNP in 1959 when George Schaller started his pioneering study of the mountain gorilla. There has been intermittent support since then, but in 2001 WCS launched a long-term program, as part of the larger Greater Virunga Landscape, and is providing equipment and technical support to the ICCN.

Human Aspect
Virunga NP is located in an area of high human population density in D.R. Congo. Lake Edward (within the Park) has one of the most productive fisheries in Africa and many people rely on the protein coming from its tilapia fish. Poverty is very high in the region and use of natural resources from the Park (fuel wood, charcoal, grass thatch, etc) is common. Balancing the needs of the local population and the needs for conservation is tricky as at present many resources have been over-harvested because controls couldn’t be enforced during DRC’s civil wars.

Threats
VNP has been affected by civil war and its consequences since the early 1990s. The main threats include: traditional and commercial poaching by local people; rebel groups and the military inside of the Park; illegal fishing, settlement, and encroachment; grazing; uncontrolled bushfires; and recently, targeting of rangers by various armed groups because they have been trying to stop these illegal activities.   

WCS Activities in Virunga Park
Virunga Park is part of a larger landscape of contiguous protected areas: the Greater Virunga Landscape. It plays a key role in this landscape by linking the other sites in Uganda and Rwanda. Because of the transboundary nature of the Park, WCS objectives are focused on transboundary collaboration between DRC and Uganda and strengthening its support to ICCN.

The following activities are currently being implemented in the Park:
• Transboundary management between the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the ICCN to support field activities to tackle regional and transboundary threats: coordinated patrols by the two institutions; regional warden’s and technical meetings; intelligence information gathering; and public awareness.

• Developing a ranger-based monitoring system for the Park by providing training, equipment, and basic supplies to ensure data collection and analysis by ICCN staff.

• Support to ICCN: rehabilitation of patrol posts destroyed by the war; field rations for patrol teams; and basic equipment such as uniforms for all the Park staff, GPS units, radios, and outboard engines for patrols on the lake.

• Surveys and research: We have completed biodiversity surveys of the Virunga Volcanoes (where the mountain gorilla is found) and plan to undertake more surveys when security improves elsewhere in the Park.

Next Steps
• To work with ICCN and its partners to develop a management plan for the Park.

• To build the capacity of ICCN to undertake adaptive management of the Park using the monitoring data they are collecting.

• To strengthen the transboundary collaboration with UWA and to develop a sustainable mechanism so that the process doesn’t rely on NGOs.

• To better understand the management needs of landscape species in the Park. These are species that range widely, are usually large bodied, live at low density and are affected by man. Lions, golden cat, elephants, chimpanzees, buffalo, hippos, crowned eagles, and leopards are species that have been identified amongst others as needing specific management actions.