Gorilla Protection

This is Diddy and Innocent. Thank you very much for all of your donations. It it amazing to us that we have reached the $20,000 fuel wood target in such a short amount of time (and even gone past it!). This blog has now been going for a year - and none of us ever imagined we would be able to make contact with so many incredible supporters and learn so much. Thank you.

We are still fighting the charcoal problem. We have been out almost daily to make arrests, and raise awareness. As we have stated, we need to provide fuel wood to refugees and IDPs, but we cannot let individuals destroy the forest for a short term financial gain. At the moment with the war, it is still chaos, and people take advantage of this because it is a good way to earn money. We, with our fellow Rangers, are protecting the forests for future generations.

We have been raising awareness at the local markets near the Gorilla Sector - we tell people that Virunga and the Mountain Gorillas are their heritage, and potentially an enormous source of revenue. We do not want to stop people from cooking, but it has gone way way beyond this.

And so we go on. Christmas is not celebrated that much here, but we were both with our families. We bought our children some clothes, some food and a fizzy drink.

The fighting continues. Lately it has been a lot round Gatovu, where the Kabirizi family used to roam. We hope and pray each day that our gorillas are safe.

The day before yesterday an infant of a Ranger called Maniriho died from malaria. So we will attend the funeral. Malaria is the biggest killer here, especially in children under 5.

Thank you everyone for your words of encouragement. We continue the fight with all of our Rangers at ICCN. We are very very positive about supplying the fuel wood.

Kwa Heri

Diddy & Innocent

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This is Samantha. Diddy & Innocent are still busy on anti-charcoal burning patrols. Diddy was at home in Kiwanja yesterday with his family for Christmas and Innocent was in Goma. Christmas is not celebrated in DR Congo like it is for most of us, but the family is together. The fighting has not abated, and the situation is still very bad.

The GREAT news is that we have SURPASSED the $20,000 target for fuel wood for the refugees. This is absolutely brilliant and is down to the generosity of spirit of each and every one of you. The total is $21,345. Just incredible. The donate item for fuel wood will be coming off the donations list as a result.  

Thank you from the Rangers and the WildlifeDirect team. This money is going to be utilized, as stated on this blog several times since the appeal was launched 12th December, to supply fuel wood to IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) at Kibati. The goal remains the same: to prevent IDPs who are in need of fuel wood to cook and boil water from cutting down the forest in Virunga National Park, and specifically in the Gorilla Sector.

One-time Donation 21^st-25^th December - Stanka M, 50, Grace B, 250, Danielle D, 15, S C G, 20, Pamela J W, 25, Jim L, 50, Debbie S, 25, james c, 500, Ruth A, 60, Megan F, 30, Michael C, 10, Lisa C, 100, GM W, 20, Justine B, 40, Jamie G, 80, Alexandra B, 25, Larissa B, 50, sanjay p, 100, Rebecca P, 100, jai a, 200, maria c, 30, Sherri M, 100, Adrian S, 100.

Fuel Wood for Refugees Donations 21^st-25^th December - Cheryl H, 40, Daphne H, 20, Naomi K, 20, S C G, 20, alisa d, 40, Michael C, 40, Megan B, 60, Lisa C, 20, Oliver T, 60, HÃ¥vard E, 20, Alain v, 20, alain v, 20, Arnold J, 40, Carmen e, 20, Jesse W, 100, Stephen B, 20, Albert B, 400, D A E, 20, THERESA S, 1,000.00, maria c, 20, alex f, 20, Michael B, 100, David L, 80.

SCG said “This donation is in honor of Isabella, she asked me (Santa)to donate to help animals (gorillas especially) and the planet. I was very happy to do so – Santa” Rebecca P said “Given in celebration of my wedding this December to Franc”

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Since the last post we have continued the anti-charcoal burning patrols. We have been very very busy going out daily and we are making headway to show that the Rangers are not going to allow the ferocious and rampant destruction of our park. The IDP camp is also making progress so that the refugees from Kibumba can be moved soon. AND we have almost reached our $20K target - we still need exactly $2,835. Thank you absolutely all of you. This is really incredible.

Diddy & Innocent

One-time Donations 18-20 Dec - P Roff J, $50.00, James F, $500.00, Natasha K, $50.00, Tami D, $50.00, Michael G, $150.00, Monica H, $50.00, jerry b, $200.00, Beverly L, $100.00, Matthew G, $25.00, brigitta s $800.00, Kristen K, $100.00, Cherie F, $50.00, charles r, $1,500.00, Dori G, $30.00, Julie M-W, $10.00, Olivia M, $50.00, Lisa H, $45.00, Lisa H, $20.00.

Fuel Wood for Refugees 18-20 Dec- Simran S, $60.00, Simran S, $60.00, Cara H, $20.00, Katie L, $20.00, Michael McG, $100.00, Donna C, $100.00,.Nigel G, $100.00, Cherie F, $40.00, Mark H, $40.00, Dori G, $20.00, Julie M-W, $20.00, Chantal A, $20.00, Pirjo I, $40.00.

Cara H said “This donation is made in the name of my friend and coworker, Cam“

Donna C said “This donation is what my 10 yo granddaughter, Isabella, asked for Christmas - from her family and from Santa“

Cherie F said “This is a gift in the name of Maria & Jesse who love the mountain gorillas & Sam“

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When charcoal is made in the park, sparks often ignite other areas of the forest. This is a fire we had to put out.

Rangers find a kiln. The charcoal burners were about to put mud over it and burn it to make the charcoal.

Rangers destroy a kiln in Virunga National Park.

More wood from Virunga is turned into charcoal.

This is Innocent. We are continuing to patrol and make arrests of those making charcoal. These patrols will continue all week. They are being coordinated by Director Nestor, and we are all working together on this.

Thank you for your donations again yesterday. This brings the total for the fuel wood campaign since the appeal was launched on 12th December to $12,745. This is an incredible amount to have raised in just under a week. Thank you to everyone who has donated, and a special thanks to Happy Hollow Zoo. We know everyone works very very hard for their money.

December 17^th Donations

One-time Donation - Robert H, $25.00, Michael W, $20.00, James D, $250.00, Jill L, $50.00, Karl W, $60.00, Happy H Corp, $4,000.00, Judith B, $150.00, Jennifer R, $20.00, Bahar D, $100.00, Maciej G, $70.00

Fuel Wood for Refugees - Sissi P, $100.00, Elizabeth P, $40.00, Kim R, $40.00, Sheryl B, $40.00, THERESA S, $100.00, carmen e, $40.00, Alireza M, $20.00, Gary C, $25.00

Total: $5,150.00

Elizabeth said: Gift donation to my friend Sheryl, who’s a wonderful gorilla-tarian.

Sheryl said: This is a holiday gift donation for my friend, Liz P, who has loved apes and monkeys her entire life.

Innocent

Technorati : charcoal, congo, drc, gorilla, iccn, wildlifedirect

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Kitagenda, a juvenile, from the Kabirizi Family, born 30th June 2002

This is Diddy. I am going on patrol with Innocent, Director Nestor, Rob from FZS and many others. We are just going for the day to try and stop some of the Rwandan and Congolese charcoal makers who are destroying the park purely for financial gain. We need to do something. It is total anarchy.

The fighting is still very very bad. Pretty much all day yesterday there was extremely heavy shelling near Rugari and Bukima. I, like all Rangers, am very frustrated. How are the gorillas?

Rangers at Rumangabo on Friday.

Rangers at Kibati patrol post. These men are patrolling the park for charcoal burners.

Thank you for all your donations for the fuel wood campaign. We are getting closer to our target.

Fuel Wood Donations 15-16 Dec: denis k, $100.00, Trish W, $40.00, Amber S, $20.00, corey c, $20.00, Baerbel W, $140.00, Mark T, $100.00, carl b, $20.00, Minna Maaria K, $60.00, Laura P, $60.00, Kathy S, $80.00, Mark S, $20.00, Marita M, $20.00, Laura B, $20.00 Total: $700.00. TOTAL FOR FUEL WOOD TO DATE: $4,160.00.

Total One-Time Donations since start of Fuel Wood campaign on 12th Dec: Helen H, $50.00 DOMENIC C, $40.00 Healthy G, $200.00 Ruth Anne D, $50.00 Donna S, $100.00 Steven D, $100.00 David W, $25.00 otto l, $25.00 james a, $20.00 Peter W, $20.00 lisa f, $40.00 Edward C, $950.00 Michael F, $80.00 Jerry H, $500.00 Richard M, $100.00 Erin M, $100.00 Benjamin A, $20.00 lisa r, $75.00 Ibis van W, $50.00 Julie C, $40.00 Oliver T, $50.00 antonio c, $100.00 Alexander H, $60.00 Jeanne D, $25.00 THERESA S, $100.00 Murali S, $75.00 Anja Z, $50.00 Amber S, $20.00 Jayne F, $50.00 carl b, $20.00 Jill O, $150.00 Kathy B, $100.00 Michel G, $25.00 Linda M, $25.00. TOTAL: $3,435.

We would like to add this $3,435 to the Fuel Wood Campaign - bringing total received to date to $7,595.00. If anyone whose donation is included in the one-time list objects, please let us know and Samantha will re-allocate immediately.

My children the other day when I was at home in Kiwanja: Julien, Sarah & Osee. They are with their mother and doing fine. We just want the war to end.

Diddy

Technorati : charcoal, congo, drc, iccn, ranger, wildlifedirect

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THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

Donations 8-14 December

One-time Donations - Helen H, $50.00, DOMENIC C, $40.00, Healthy G, $200.00, Ruth Anne D, $50.00, Donna S, $100.00, Steven D, $100.00, David W, $25.00, otto l, $25.00, james a, $20.00, Peter W, $20.00, lisa f, $40.00, Edward C, $950.00, Michael F, $80.00, Jerry H, $500.00, Richard M, $100.00, Erin M, $100.00, Benjamin A, $20.00, lisa r, $75.00, Ibis van W, $50.00, Julie C, $40.00, Oliver T, $50.00, antonio c, $100.00, Alexander H, $60.00, Jeanne D, $25.00, THERESA S, $100.00, Murali S, $75.00, Anja Z, $50.00, brad h, $100.00, Tamir S, $360.00, Amy F, $30.00, Stacey R, $15.00, victoria b, $100.00, chris a, $40.00, Rosemary R, $20.00, Bonnie D, $100.00, Louis W N Jr, $100.00, Demi K, $100.00, Tyler J, $100.00, Steve T, $50.00, Terry L P, $100.00, Pamela R, $100.00, Margaret P, $50.00, tina s, $100.00, Catherine K, $100.00, Stephen L, 100.00, Kathy B, $50.00, Tina G, $30.00, Jeff S, $25.00, cathy s, $75.00, kevin c, $250.00, Sasha A, $60.00, Brian F, $80.00, Gina P, $100.00, Mary L, $100.00, Selina S, $200.00, Nadia S, $1.00, louise k, $25.00, Chris N, $100.00, Claudia B, $50.00, Christy T, $350.00, Joyce J, $1,000.00, Steven T, $50.00, Linda G, $50.00, karen h, $400.00, Dawn S, $100.00, Joanne S, $500.00, anthony g, $100.00, J T, $250.00, georgia w, $100.00, Frances H, $140.00, charmaine r, $25.00, Quentin V, $165.00, Robert W, $100.00, Michael R, $100.00, Brendan W, $75.00, Joe C, $25.00, Erik F, $100.00, Mary H, $50.00, Paul R, $50.00, sandra c, $100.00, Carol Z, $101.00, Gerard F, $100.00, Susan B, $50.00, megan t, $50.00, Patrick S, $40.00, Robert C, $50.00, Callie C, 100.00, Rebecca L, $50.00, LeeAnn A, $100.00, Jennifer A, $100.00, Daniel B, $100.00, Mark M, $100.00, Jennifer B, $300.00, Michele D, $25.00, Cathryn R, $100.00, Rosann R, $100.00, Zoe D, $50.00, zoe d, $50.00, Sheryl B, $10.00, charles f, $20.00, Jeanine S, $50.00, Malinda M, $100.00

Fuel Wood Donations - Tom F, $100.00,DOMENIC C, $20.00, Lenore S Ltd, $20.00, Robin S, $140.00, THERESA S, $500.00, Diana W, $20.00, Sheryl B, $20.00, Elisabeth B, $100.00, james a, $20.00, Leah S, $100.00, Gerald I, $60.00, Dana T, $260.00, Jennifer and Damon B, $40.00, Faye B, $20.00, Gregory F, $200.00, Gretchen C, $40.00, Anthony B, $20.00, Lauren F, $20.00, Cynthia G, $40.00, angela s, $20.00, Lucia C, $200.00, sue d, $100.00, christian d, $40.00, Mark S, $20.00, Michelle W, $40.00, Michelle A, $20.00, Jennifer R, $100.00, Erki L, $20.00, Jennifer A, $40.00, Kathy S, $20.00, Jennifer R, $40.00, katie l, $20.00, Nancy C, $20.00, Celeste L, $100.00, sidney g $20.00, Oliver T, $40.00, Wendy S, $40.00, Cuneyt S, $100.00, Alexander H, $40.00, Wanda H, $20.00, Pamela R, $20.00, Joseph K, $20.00, Pirjo I, $40.00, Wine A Services, LLC, $200.00, carmen e, $200.00, Christine C, $40.00, Leah W, $20.00, Sharon S, $20.00

Medical Kits - Wine A Services, LLC, $25.00, Lisa M, $100.00, Dan S, $25.00, Ann K, $25.00, karen h, $25.00, Bonnie H, $25.00, Joanne S, $50.00, Kerry L, $25.00, Tracee R, $25.00

Patrol Boots - Wine A Services, LLC, $35.00, Dan S, $35.00, Ann K, $35.00,

d, $35.00, karen h, $35.00, Joanne S, $140.00, Kerry L, $35.00, Tracee R, $35.00

Patrol Tents - Wine A Services, LLC, $60.00, Laura F, $60.00, karen h, $60.00, Joanne S, $120.00, Kerry L, $60.00, Gina O, $60.00

Ranger Uniform - Wine A Services, LLC, $45.00, Lisa M, $90.00, karen h, $45.00, Joanne S, $180.00

Monthly Donation - Zonna p, $100.00, Joyce K-G, $25.00, Zen S Inc., $25.00, helene d, $40.00, Marilyn L, $20.00, Gregory f, $15.00, Michelle W, $20.00, Sean H, $40.00, Martha A, $30.00, Lisa H, $25.00, Ross W, $10.00, NATHANIAL W, $20.00, Deanne D, $15.00, Eric O, $10.00, Paul J, $15.00, Nathaniel P, $10.00, Jana S, $5.00, elizabeth d, $40.00, mandi c, $10.00, scarlet w, $10.00, Madeleine P, $40.00, Kathy B, $30.00, Alan M, $20.00, Cynthia G, $20.00, Lisa H, $50.00, Teresa E, $10.00, nathan f, $40.00, Diane D, $10.00, Michael D, $25.00, Ramsay B, $50.00, Kim M, $40.00, Kevin F, $15.00, Paula J G, $15.00, Jesse W, $20.00, Erin M, $20.00, beth m, $15.00

TOTAL 8-14 December: $17,188.01. THIS IS OUR BEST WEEK EVER SINCE THE BLOG STARTED NEARLY A YEAR AGO!

Donations 1-7 December

One-time Donation - Mike J, $50.00, Mike P, $25.00, Judy F, $100.00, Pawe Z, $20.00, RUSTIC M CRAFTS, $25.00, Lisa C, $100.00, Pirjo I, $40.00, Tijl M, $20.00, david i, $100.00, James N, $10.00, Sheryl Bottner, $20.00

Medical Kits - Frank G, $25.00, Cynthia A, $100.00, thomas s, $25.00, Malcolm J, $25.00

Patrol Boots - Frank G, $35.00, Cynthia A, $350.00

Patrol Tents - Cynthia A, $300.00

Ranger Uniform - Frank G, $45.00, Cynthia A, $450.00

Monthly Donation - kari h, $40.00, scott d, $25.00, rebecca w, $10.00, Thomas T, $20.00, Kristin O, $100.00, James H, $55.00, Pamela R, $30.00, Deanene E, $10.00, Anna R, $25.00, PRISCILLA L C, $30.00, Jim H, $100.00, Joy E, $10.00, Stefan M, $30.00, Donald T, $35.00, Oliver M, $500.00, Mark T, $20.00, justin m, $20.00, Joseph S, $20.00, Meghan L, $25.00, AMBER G-B, $25.00, Sherri S, $25.00, Shine W Design, $25.00, Micaela B, $10.00, Jennifer L B, $15.00, Barry I, $25.00, Anne K, $20.00, Janice G, $10.00, David A G, $10.00, Gretchen R, $10.00, Bhavani J, $10.00, Maria H, $15.00, karith c, $100.00, William P, $10.00, Kindree B, $10.00, Lina G, $10.00, Lynne T, $20.00, Haishin O, $27.00, Claude H, $50.00, hayley g, $5.00, Patricia L-O, $15.00, Terry P, $15.00, Jeanie N, $10.00, william c, $35.00, ruth t, $15.00, Jeffrey , $20.00, Angela S, $25.00, Angela M, $50.00, mr glyn c c, $15.00, Marlis B, $20.00, Brian M, $100.00, Mark H, $20.00, brigitta s, $20.00, Jimmy G, $10.00, Sheryl B, $10.00, doug b, $20.00, DARIO R, $50.00, Nikki N, $10.00, jeffrey b, $20.00, Martana R, $15.00, Stephani A, $25.00, reisa v, $30.00, Mark S, $20.00, Kari S, $5.00, Shawn K, $30.00, Tasha C, $20.00, Renee H, $10.00, freya e, $15.00, freya e, $15.00

Total 1-7 December: $4,067.10

Donations 22-30 November

One-time Donation - Wendy S, 50.00, Irvin S, 250.00, Nicola B-W, 50.00, Rachel S, 50.00, Karen K, 25.00, Karen K, 25.00, Atomicode S, 100.00, JAMES T, 100.00, roger mc n, 25.00, Rita B, 200.00, Catherine A, 100.00, Nathan F, 50.00

Medical Kits - louis van l, 25.00, Rob S, 25.00, Benjamin V, 50.00, Herve B, 50.00

Patrol Boots - louis van l, 35.00, Joseph K, 35.00

Ranger Uniform - louis van l, 45.00, Herve B, 45.00, Paul B 90.00

Monthly Donation - Karin T, 55.00, Lara D, 10.00, David Li, 20.00, Robert J, 10.00, diana t, 50.00, Jessica I, 20.00, Suzanne C, 30.00, Chris V, 50.00, Tammie F, 25.00, Kelly M, 50.00, Elizabeth V, 20.00, Paige W, 10.00, KelliAnna Q, 25.00, Ted W, 20.00, Eric S, 25.00, Sandra S, 15.00, Charla M, 10.00, wild e, 15.00, Michael D G, 15.00, Tosh M, 20.00, Tonia W, 15.00, Angela C, 15.00, Simon P, 15.00, Jacqueline T, 200.00, Shawn M, 15.00, julia b, 20.00, Gary C, 100.00, Lalita S, 20.00, gregory k, 10.00, Cynthia J, 25.00, Etienne B, 50.00, Kate B, 25.00

Total 22-30 November: $2,430

Technorati : congo, donation, drc, iccn, wildlifedirect

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This is Samantha. I am here in Goma with Innocent, Diddy & Balemba. I saw Rob yesterday after his trip to Rumangabo HQ (map), and a stop at the refugee camp at Kibumba next to the park. This is an update of the situation with the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), the charcoal trade, and the protection of the forest in Virunga National Park - Africa’s oldest national park.

The charcoal trade is flourishing. Since early September there has been an estimated 10-fold increase in charcoal production in the southern sector of Virunga. This is because of a lack of control in the area as a direct result of the fighting.

Trucks are loaded to the hilt. Often the vehicles simply cannot take the strain, and just tip over.

Sacks of charcoal from Virunga National Park at the Kibumba camp. This camp remember is never going to be an official UNHCR IDP camp - but there are over 4,000 people here now, and growing. They urgently need to be moved to the official site at Kibati that is being prepared for their arrival. That is where we will send the fuel wood.

This is a typical IDP shelter. Sticks, grass, earth and plastic sheeting. Innocent said this plastic sheeting came from the government. Although it is the government’s responsibility to assist the IDPs, they rarely do.

This is how you start making your shelter, with sticks. These sticks come from Virunga. You can also put banana leaves on top of the sticks.

This burned-out vehicle is at the side of the road just south of Rumangabo. Diddy said the driver was going too fast to avoid the bullets during a gunfire exchange between the army and the rebels. The car rolled, and burst into flames. The driver just managed to get out in time.

And another charcoal truck. The road from Virunga to Goma is full of trucks like these. Other people carry the charcoal out to Rwanda. It is quite literally a free-for-all due to the total insecurity in the area.

This is a track used by charcoal burners to get into Virunga National Park - both Congolese and Rwandan charcoal burners.

The Rangers have identified 8 of these tracks going into the southern sector of Virunga National Park. People wanting to make charcoal pay off the DR Congo military or the rebels - whoever is controlling the track. An adult may pay $0.40 for daily access and a child half of that. Then when the charcoal is actually carried finally out of the forest, the burners pay $10 to whoever is controlling the access. So business is booming.

Yesterday I went to the site of the IDP camp at Kibati (see map) that is being prepared. This is where the people from Kibumba will allegedly move to - and this is where we need the fuel wood for.

A few hangars, as they call them, had been built, but toilets, water and shelter have not yet started. The hangars are not for people to sleep, but for people to be “processed” (as it was explained to me).

The people on the ground told me they want to bring the first IDPs here on 17th December. I do not know if it will be ready by then - but we must be ready with the fuel wood. These people must be provided with an alternative to chopping down the forest.

With people making a business out of charcoal, and the people who need fuel - Virunga National Park is under attack.

Thank you for your donations for fuel wood yesterday that came to $940: Tom F, $100.00 DOMENIC C, $20.00 L Suttle Ltd, $20.00 Robin S, $140.00 THERESA S, $500.00 Diana W, $20.00 Sheryl B, $20.00 Elisabeth B, $100.00 james a, $20.00.

Sheryl donated: “In honor of my friend Leanne F. who loves all wildlife.”

This comes to $3,460 of the $20,000 needed. PLEASE KEEP THE DONATIONS COMING.

Samantha & the Rangers

Technorati : charcoal, congo, drc, gorilla, iccn, idp, war, wildlifedirect

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Bonane, from the Kabirizi family, born 1st Jan 2000

This is Samantha. I am waiting for Diddy, Innocent, Nestor, Rob & Balemba to get back from Rumangabo so I can provide a comprehensive update of what is going on in the Gorilla Sector and surroundings today. Weather and fighting are bad - so they may not be back til late.

Thank you again everyone who donated specifically to the fuel wood campaign yesterday. The total came to $1,120. Leah S-$100.00; Gerald I-$60.00; Dana T-$260.00; Jennifer and Damon B-$40.00; Faye B-$20.00; Gregory F-$200.00; Gretchen C-$40.00; Anthony B-$20.00; Lauren F-$20.00; Cynthia G-$40.00; angela s-$20.00; Lucia C-$200.00; sue d-$100.00.

With the $1,400 from yesterday this comes to: $2,520 of the $20,000 target.

Gerald posted this comment when the payment was made: We saw the photos in National Geographic and were very saddened. Jerry, Marnie, Jacob, age 10 and Eli, age 7, Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, USA.

Dana said: from the Tori Amos ‘07 crew!

Finally, for those of you who have not seen this video by Augustin Kambale, head of Bukima patrol post, I wanted to post it again. It is a few months old, but I originally posted it when we had less traffic, and I just think it is terrific. The same message stands today.

Technorati : charcoal, congo, drc, iccn, virunga, wildlifedirect

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The armed conflict is still right next to the Gorillas - literally bullets are flying, army and rebel positions are constantly moving, and if there are any civilians left, they are fleeing.

Yesterday Innocent and Director Nestor, who has replaced Director Mushenzi while he has taken some well-deserved R&R, got caught in the crossfire at Rugari (directly west of Bukima on the road south of Rumangabo). The bullets were literally flying around the car - and they were not sure whether to stop and take shelter, or keep driving. So Innocent sped up.

Diddy was also just in front of them, on a motorbike, on his way to Goma from Kiwanja. He could hear the bullets too. So, in his words, “I drove like a madman.”

Director Nestor, Innocent, Balemba and other Rangers have gone back up to Rumangabo HQ today for meetings about patrols. Rangers are desperate to continue and intensify anti-charcoal burning patrols. Not only do you have the problem of the IDPs (basically the refugees from the fighting) who desperately need fuel wood, but it seems that with increased lawlessness Virunga National Park has become a free-for-all for anyone wanting to make charcoal.

The Mikeno volcano rises up. Mountain Gorillas live on the flanks of this mountain. Not far away are the charcoal-burners.

Rangers today were telling me that 3 months ago there were perhaps 50 people a day going into the southern sector of Virunga National Park to make charcoal illegally. That number is now estimated to be at around 500. So a 10-fold increase. A significant portion of the charcoal makers are from Rwanda. Again - charcoal is a great business over there. Except that Rwanda has very strict conservation policies - so you cannot chop down their forests. So the Rwandans who are trying to eek out a living at a very basic level see DR Congo’s forests as a soft target. And with all the mayhem going on, they are. As you can see this is an incredibly complex situation.

Aerial view of the DR Congo/Rwanda border near the Gorilla Sector. The Rwandan side is cultivated & the DR Congo side is part of Virunga National Park. This area of the park was destroyed by illegal settlers, allegedly paid by Rwandan speculators, in 2004. You can read a comprehensive National Geographic News story about this here.

Both the park and international borders are clearly demarcated. The contrast is stark.

The good news is that we have already raised $1,400 for the fuel wood for the refugees. We need to provide fuel wood to the refugees so they stop cutting down Virunga National Park for charcoal. They need wood to cook and boil water. There is absolutely no other alternative.

Gorillas like Semakuba from the Humba family live on the flanks of the Mikeno volcano.

Many, many thanks to those who donated specifically to the fuel wood campaign (I downloaded this info about 90mins ago from Paypal so if you have donated since then your name will appear tomorrow): christian d-$40.00 Mark S-$20.00 Michelle W-$40.00 Michelle A-$20.00 Jennifer R-$100.00 Erki L-$20.00 Jennifer A-$40.00 Kathy S-$20.00 Jennifer R-$40.00 katie l-$20.00 Nancy C-$20.00 Celeste L-$100.00 sidney g-$20.00 Oliver T-$40.00 Wendy S-$40.00 Cuneyt S-$100.00 Alexander H-$40.00 Wanda H-$20.00 Pamela R-$20.00 Joseph K-$20.00 Pirjo I-$40.00 Wine A S, LLC-$200.00 carmen e-$200.00 Christine C-$40.00 Leah W-$20.00 Sharon S-$20.00 THERESA S-$100.00.

I will (hopefully) write about more donations tomorrow.

Samantha

Technorati : congo, drc, fuel, iccn, wildlifedirect

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I blogged last Friday about the situation of the civilians who are fleeing the fighting between the army and the rebels and taking refuge next to Virunga National Park. The crux of the issue is that these Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), as they are called in the humanitarian world, are in need of aid. This means shelter, food, water, sanitation… and fuel wood.

The current situation is that over 4,000 IDPs (at rough estimates) have set up a spontaneous camp at Kibumba, next to the park. There are another 2,000 sheltered in churches and schools, in areas adjacent to the Gorilla Sector, according to the United Nations Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The spontaneous camp at Kibumba is not going to become an official IDP camp because there is no water.

Thanks to Bruno at WWF who did this map you can clearly see where the 4,000 IDPs at Kibumba are in relation to the park.

So UNHCR is setting up an official IDP site at Kibati, which is just north of Goma. They are still literally in the process of setting it up, and this obviously has to be complete before you encourage people to move to the IDP site. You cannot have hundreds of fleeing civilians arriving at a site that has no water, or sanitation, or shelter, for example.

This WWF map gives you an idea of where other IDP sites are - you can see Kibati. The Mikeno Sector is the 250km2 Gorilla Sector.

Now in an ideal world all the materials would be on standby for a new IDP site. But we don’t live in an ideal world, and if we want to protect the forest we need to provide fuel wood, immediately. Otherwise the Congolese people fleeing this war have no alternative but to go into Virunga National Park and make charcoal by destroying the forest. People need fuel wood to cook and boil water ie the basics.

So we must provide an immediate solution, to avoid what could potentially be a very long term problem.

Rob did a fly over of Kibumba on Monday. This is what he saw: IDPs in the foreground, park in the background.

Charcoal burning inside the park is illegal, but people need to be provided with another source of fuel.

We need funds urgently for fuel wood, to support these displaced families, and to prevent the destruction of Virunga National Park.

This patchwork gives an indication of how densely populated this part of the world is.

Now the way this will work is that we are going to try and raise $20,000, that will supply fuel wood to circa 7,000 people for 4 weeks. This is by no means a one-time blanket solution - but we need to do something. This is how the calculations go:

UNHCR estimates some 7,000 IDPs are in the area and can potentially fit in the planned Kibati site (initial capacity is 5,000 but we hope this will be extended). They are all in need of fuel wood.

7,000 IDPs equals 1,400 families (average of 5 members per family).

1 family needs 7 kilos of fuel wood/day.

Fuel wood costs $12 for 500 kilos.

With transport and logistics we have to double this to $24 for 500 kilos of fuel wood.

So this means that it costs $0.32 to provide fuel wood to 1 family/day.

So it is $19.20 to provide fuel wood to 2 families for 1 month - this is why we made the donation amount for fuel wood on the sidebar $20.

We are working very closely with World Wildlife Fund on this matter. They have been involved in providing fuel wood to other IDP camps next to the park since early September. They have the expertise for sourcing the fuel wood, transporting it to Goma, and distributing to IDP camps. They also have a deep rooted institutional knowledge of forestry issues. The fuel wood is also sourced from individual tree planters, who have been re-foresting in eastern DRC with the support and guidance of WWF. In addition, usually fuel wood takes 3 weeks from sourcing to receiving it in Goma. But WWF can help us speed this up.

This is important: Before we can start distributing fuel wood to the IDPs at the new site in Kibati, the IDPs actually have to get there. We are totally unable to do anything until IDPs are in an official site - it would just be too chaotic. This is not a certainty yet. If the war ends tomorrow, which is unlikely, the IDPs in Kibumba could potentially be the first to return to their homes.

But we have to act now on the premise that this war is not going to be over, and that the IDPs will be moved to the Kibati site within the next 4 weeks. If we wait, we will simply not give ourself enough time to react effectively. As I often say on this blog, it is about those windows of opportunity. Operating in DR Congo during these times of conflict is a lot about planning for different scenarios. You have to do this else you simply will end up doing nothing. In which case you may as well not be here.

If we do not end up providing fuel wood to the IDPs, we will re-allocate these resources to the Rangers who work protecting the Mountain Gorillas.

WildlifeDirect donations on this blog have just allowed us to order 200 uniforms and pairs of boots for the Rangers. These come from Kenya and take a while to get here. This comes to $40,800 including transport. We have also just made a $48,000 contribution to salaries for the Rangers. I will blog about this another time, but I just wanted to keep all of you who have donated so generously in the loop. We are also planning and are poised to re-enter the Gorilla Sector as soon as we can.

To donate for the fuel wood, simply go to the fuel wood item on the Donate list on the right, and add the Quantity - ie number of times you would like to donate $20. This will go in its entirety to the fuel wood emergency. $20 will buy enough fuel wood for 2 families for 1 month.

Thank you for all of your continued support.

Samantha & the Rangers

Technorati : congo, drc, iccn, refugee, wildlifedirect

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