Dreadful times for South Kivu's mountain gorillas - www.coastweek.com
some members of parliament, regional leaders, judges and businessmen have illegally acquired vast tracks of land and have farms in the park which today holds the only surviving members of the mountain gorilla species
SPECIAL REPORT BY XINHUA CORRESPONDENT - BY LUC ROGER MBALA AND SHU SHI
KINSHASA (Xinhua) -- The Kahuzi Biega National Park in the province of South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been invaded for sometime by anarchical constructions, according to an environment official.
Alex Karako, who is in charge of conservation of this park, reported the situation at a meeting held in the capital Kinshasa on Sunday between Environment Minister Jose Endundo and principal partners in the area of nature conservation.
The official said some members of parliament, regional leaders, judges and businessmen have illegally acquired vast tracks of land and have farms in this park which today holds the only surviving members of the mountain gorilla species.
"This destruction of the park dates several months ago.
These farms in the Kahuzi Biega national park belong to MPs and judges and the latter are considered untouchables.
All the efforts by the management of the Congolese Institute for Conservation have been in vain," he complained.
Karako also pointed out the kind of roadblocks that have been put on his way by one judge who owns large tracks of land in the park.
He asked the environment minister to take this issue to the parliament and the government, so that the owners of these anarchical constructions in Kahuzi Biega National Park subject to legal punishment.
Karako equally revealed the massive presence of the armed forces of the DRC (FARDC) in the park, particularly around Tshivanga station, which in real sense is the habitation site for the forest guards and their families.
"For the moment, the military officers are still in the park.
They undertake their operations aimed at neutralizing the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and other groups scattered in the park," he said.
For the past three weeks, thanks to the dialogue between the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation and the military authorities, there has been some sort of harmony between FARDC and the forest guards, he said, in allusion to tensions between the two sides because of the military presence.
Another scourge is the poaching which takes away from Kahuzi Biega national park its wildlife richness.
Today, he cried out, the poachers are carrying heavy weapons to massacre the gorillas, antelopes, elephants and other rare species in the park.
Karako said the UN mission in the DRC (MONUC) has placed an observer team to monitor destruction of the forest by the military and other armed groups.
"MONUC equally organizes mixed patrols.
"We have an agreement with them.
"But the achievement of their mission in the park is still insufficient," he said.
Situated about 65 km from the provincial capital Bukavu, the Kahuzi Biega National Park is the only place in the world where people still find, in big numbers, the mountain gorillas, which are already put on the list of endangered animal species.
Meanwhile from Kampala Xinhua correspondents RONALD SSEKANDI and TIAN YE report that the population of the endangered mountain gorillas in Uganda has more than doubled in the last 30 years due to conservation efforts.
Moses Mapesa, executive director of Uganda Wildlife Authority told a joint press conference with Hollywood celebrities that the current number of gorillas in the country is 380, more than half of the global population of 720.
He said because of the increasing population, Uganda is about to scrap mountain gorillas off the list of endangered species.
"In Uganda, we are about to declare the mountain gorillas not endangered although they will remain endangered globally," he said.
The executive director said the country is scheduled to launch online gorilla tracking next Saturday in a bid to raise revenues to conserve the gorillas.
Gorilla lovers on social networks like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter will be able to track the gorillas online in real time at a cost of one U.S. dollar.
Jason Biggs of American Pie and My Best Friend’s Girl said their visit to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, home of the gorillas, will raise awareness on gorilla conservation.
"I think we are going to have really eye-opening experience but most importantly I’m thrilled by the idea of raising awareness for the conservation of mountain gorillas," said he, flanked by two other stars, Kristy Wu and Simon Curtis.
Uganda is home to 53 percent of the world’s mountain gorilla population, with the other half spread in three trans-boundary national parks, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and the Virungas in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
