Gorilla Protection

I am proud to show you photos of my newborn son, who came into the world on 23 January at 15h10.

Aline had many hours of labor at the local hospital, but my son and she are doing well. He is my 6th child - and I think we are going to stop there!

He is a good boy so far, most of the time.

We have yet to name him, but we will do in coming days.

I think he looks like me!

Germaine & Kevine are happy about our new family member.

Innocent

Technorati : congo, drc, iccn, wildlifedirect

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The aim of this post is to provide you with an update of how donations have been spent. If you would like more info on the concept of WildifeDirect please go to Richard Leakey’s blog post. The key idea behind WildlifeDirect is that all donations go in their entirety to the field, net of bank fees. They don’t get lost in admin and bureaucracy. And we work closely with different partners on the ground, most of whom have a blog, in order to achieve this.

This blog is WildlifeDirect’s most successful blog in terms of donations - as you can tell from all the posts I do about the amounts we have received each month. So we work in close partnership with other conservation organizations present in Virunga National Park to maximise the impact of these donations.

1. Uniforms & Boots for Rangers: $39,200

With your donations we have ordered 200 sets of uniforms and combat boots for the Rangers, at a cost of $39,200. They are being made by Manchester Outfitters in Kenya, and when they are ready they will be brought here for distribution to the Rangers. Uniforms include: shirt, trousers, belt, hat, beret, socks, jacket, poncho and boots. Frankfurt Zoological Society, one of our most important partners on the ground, is handling this for us.

The invoice

And a close up!

2. Salary Bonuses for Rangers: $48,000

WildlifeDirect donations are paying for Ranger salary bonuses - these are being routed via the Zoological Society of London, another of our partners on the ground. This amount will pay the salaries of the 165 Rangers and support staff in the southern sector of Virunga National Park for 8 months.

Note:We call them salary bonuses as opposed to salaries just for legal reasons as in theory an NGO cannot pay government salaries.

3. Care & Support for Mapendo, the gorilla orphan: $10,000

The care of Mapendo, the Grauer’s gorilla orphan, is being handled in part by WildlifeDirect donations, which we have channeled via the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. This includes for example the $1,132 that it cost to fly Mapendo and the body of Vumilia down to Goma from Mutsora.

4. Fuel wood for Refugees Campaign: $20,000

This successful $20,000 fuel wood campaign was conducted in December to supply fuel wood to refugees next to the Gorilla Sector. This aims to prevent the refugees from chopping down the forest and the gorilla habitat. An update on this was provided on 18th Jan, and another update will be coming soon. We are doing this with FZS and WWF.

5. Emergency Crisis Support following July Gorilla Massacre: $30,000

These monies were spent on the Crisis Cell following the July massacre of the Rugendo family. This cell, or grouping of conservation organizations, was formed to respond to the threat from the charcoal mafia and to support the Rangers in their fight to protect the park. Support ranged widely, from logistics, to transport, to patrols etc. When operations were stalled following the outbreak of fighting in early September, the Crisis Cell continued to function. Today funds are used to support the anti-charcoal burning patrols that have been blogged about, and the displaced Rangers at Rumangabo.

6. Miscellaneous

There are also many smaller items on which we spend donations. These can be very varied. For example donations pay the $30/month rent on Innocent’s house in Goma for him and his family while security at Rumangabo is not good. Donations also paid for the operation for Diddy’s wife in October.

Thank you on behalf of WildlifeDirect & the Rangers for making all of this possible.

And now for the latest donations information:

Donations 1-7 January: $4,247

One-Time Donations

Lynn Z, $25.00, LISA V, $50.00, walter F, $20.00, Robert G, $25.00, Robin A, $20.00, Jacob S, $10.00, Karen C S, $300.00, Carol C, $50.00, Robert W, $1,000.00, Cynthia W, $50.00, ellin v, $100.00, Simon S, $20.00, Martin R, $500.00

Medical Kits

Cherie F, $50.00

Monthly Donations

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

Donations 8-14 January: $7,035

One-Time Donations

Donna C, $200.00, Gearing Up 4 Gorillas, $3,800.00, Zoe K, $30.00, Stephanie W, $100.00, Lynn L, $20.00, Merrill P, $15.00, carmen e, $30.00, arun k, $20.00, Jill H, $25.00, JulieAnne Y, $20.00, Dane P, $40.00, ethan f, $20.00, Colet A, $100.00, Norma A, $140.00, Nancy H, $100.00, Wholesale D, Audi and Clothing, $15.00, David Y, $25.00, Shawn G, $50.00, Carlene W, $80.00, Silke B, $25.00, isabelle d, $50.00, Francis D, $20.00, Steve U, $150.00, Leonard J, $20.00, jim k, $50.00, Betsy S, $25.00

One-Time Donations for Mapendo

Monica H, $100.00, Anna M, $25.00, Suzanne C, $50.00

Medical Kits

David Van V, $25.00, Charles C, $25.00, David Diaz G, $50.00, CARLOS C, $50.00, Deepak J, $25.00, Georgette G, $25.00, Siri A, $25.00, Theresa S, $50.00, Mark S, $50.00

Patrol Boots

C, $35.00 - these are specifically for Diddy. Thank you

!, David Van V, $35.00, Mark S, $70.00

Ranger Uniform

David Van V, $45.00, Kirk P, $45.00, CARLOS C, $45.00, Eric S, $45.00, Mark S, $90.00

Monthly Donations

Tresha D, $20.00, Chris McL, $20.00, ATV Off Road S, $20.00, matthew c, $10.00, Zen S Inc., $25.00, Helene d, $40.00, Zonna p, $100.00, Joyce K-G, $25.00, Pirjo I, $20.00, Sean H, $40.00, Michelle W, $20.00, Madeleine P, $40.00, Marilyn L, $20.00, Gregory F, $15.00, Ross W, $10.00, Martha A, $30.00, Lisa H, $25.00, Anne K, $20.00, Nathaniel P, $10.00, Paul J, $15.00, mandi c, $10.00, Jana S, $5.00, NATHANIAL W, $20.00, Deanne D, $15.00, Eric O, $10.00, elizabeth d, $40.00, Teresa E, $10.00, Kathy B, $30.00, Lisa H, $50.00, Cynthia G, $20.00, Alan McD, $20.00, Paula J G, $15.00, Jesse W, $20.00, Ramsay B, $50.00, Kim M, $40.00, Kevin F, $15.00, Michael D, $25.00, beth m, $15.00, Erin M, $20.00

Note: Very very special thanks to G4G for the $3,800!

Donations 15-21 January: $4,491

One-Time Donations

brad h, $100.00, Elizabeth R, $50.00, Steve S, $75.00, Raelene A, $25.00, Steven G, $300.00, Kiat T, $50.00, Ian R, $20.00, Sebastian J, $500.00, Kathleen O, $500.00, David M, $500.00, Nigel H, $200.00, Chantal A, $20.00, Gearing Up 4 Gorillas, $965.00, Eric M, $100.00, Meghan H, $20.00, Elizabeth Mc, $50.00, Jason K, $100.00

Medical Kits

Jennifer K, $25.00, Christine K, $25.00

Patrol Boots

Raelene A, $35.00, Christine K, $35.00,

Ranger Uniform

Christine K, $45.00

Monthly Donations

Chloe F, $15.00, A B, $20.00, susan r, $20.00, Maria H, $30.00, Carol H, $15.00, Daniela M, $25.00, Caroline N, $10.00, l a kidd, $6.00, Baerbel W, $50.00, Andrea D, $10.00, Nicholas M, $5.00, Cathy R, $15.00, Annabel S, $40.00, L Vos, $30.00, Lera M, $50.00, Maryann S, $30.00, Simon N, $20.00, Helen S, $15.00, Chris S, $40.00, Timothy S, $10.00, Simon P, $15.00, Jennifer K, $20.00, Piya K, $70.00, MIRIAM C, $10.00, Rebecca P, $25.00, Daryl P, $20.00, Nikki N, $25.00, Hayez V, $20.00, Petrina L, $50.00, Brad Mc, $40.00

Donations 22-27 January: $1,210

One-Time Donations

Joseph K, $40, Katharine MacD, $50, Kathleen B, $100, Amanda P, $50, Christine C, $400, david w, $100, Rupert A, $10, Rupert A, $10

Medical Kits

Peter B, $25

Monthly Donations

Paige W, $10, KelliAnna Q, $25, Eric S, $25, Ted W, $20, wild ent, $25, Charla M, $10, Sandra S, $15, Richard I, $50, Michael D G, $15, Angela C, $15, Jacqueline T, $200, Tonia W, $15

THANK YOU

Finally, I have to tell you all that I will soon be leaving WildlifeDirect. My 1-year contract has already ended, and I have to get back to overdue obligations that I have in the UK. I am filled with many regrets about leaving, but we are currently choosing a replacement who will hopefully be able to start soon. So nothing will actually change for you all! I will keep you posted in any event.

Samantha

Technorati : congo, drc, iccn, wildlifedirect

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The Humba family of Mountain Gorillas is one we have talked about many times as this is one of our habituated families. Humba and his family were last spotted mid November by the Ranger who was allowed in by the rebels to the Gorilla Sector to see what he could find. Since then we have no news.

Humba is habituated and calm. So for many Rangers he is actually their favorite gorilla to visit with tourists or visitors, as you know Humba is unlikely to charge or do anything too surprising!

Humba

Humba is the brother of Senkwekwe, the Silverback executed in July. Mapuwa and Ruzirabwoba are also his brothers. Humba was born into the Rugendo family and has been a Silverback since 1998, so he is aged roughly between 20 and 22 years.

In 1998 he had an interaction with his father, and the family split. Humba left with 8 individuals - 4 adult females, 1 sub-adult male (Kakendi) and 3 babies. In 1999 a baby was born into the family, called Lubutu, which meant the group size increased to 10.

Lubutu today

Here is what happened next:

2000 - Kakendi became a Blackback and left the family. Today we dont know where he lives - but he could be in one of the non-habituated groups in DR Congo. So the family number fell from 10 to 9.

2001 - The Humba family structure remained unchanged, and life continued peacefully for them.

2002 - 2 births! So 11 individuals. Matembela was born on 12th January to Magori, and Mahindure was born on 18th January to Gato.

Humba

2003 - 1 birth! So 12 individuals in total. Assan was born on 7th March to Bwoba.

2004 - Back to 11 individuals because Assan disappeared in March 2004. This was after an interaction between Humba and an unknown family. We have no idea what happened to Assan.

2005 - This was a busy year, and the family ended up with the 9 individuals that remain today.

9 February: Semakuba was born to Magori.

Magori & Semakuba, taken a few months ago

30 May: Sub-Adult Female Mburanumwe emigrated to the Rugendo family. She was one of the females killed in the July massacre.

16 June: Kanyarwunka was born to Gato.

Gato - she was called this because she is a small female compared to other gorillas. In KinyaBwisha language we usually call someone Gato when they are the smaller one of twins. In this case we named her Gato because she was the smallest female of the family.

Kanyarwunka, a few months ago

9 August: Sub-Adult Male Mukunda emigrated to the Rugendo family. Last time we saw the family in September (following July massacre) he had taken over leadership.

27 August: The adult female Bwoba disappeared; she was never seen again.

Matembela - this is the name of a Ranger who died. It is also the name of a vegetable that is like sweet potato!

10 November: Mayani is born to Mukecuru, but disappears. We do not know how or why, but this gorilla is presumed dead.

12 November: The adult female Mukecuru is found dead, presumably of old age. We thought when she gave birth to Mayani that she would not have the strength to be a mother as she always seemed to have trouble keeping up with the group. As you know Mountain Gorillas can move very fast.

Nyakamwe - this is the name of a Ranger who died in Rwindi (in Virunga National Park).

Mahindure - this means “lava” in KinyaBwisha. He was born right near the lava at Bikenge patrol post.

We are anxious to know how the Humba family is doing today. What births, deaths & interactions there have been. We hope that with the signing of the peace accord last week, we will soon get back into the Gorilla Sector. First we need to get our patrol posts back - they are still occupied by the rebels and the military. But when you have seen as much war as we have, it takes a while for the trust to start to come back. And all of us are still in this phase.

Diddy & Innocent

Technorati : congo, drc, iccn, wildlifedirect

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In January 1988 Phil visited the Rugabo Mountain Gorilla family with my father, Sylvestre, who was then head of the Jomba patrol post. Phil got in touch through the blog, and sent along these photos.

Phil and my father, Sylvestre Mburanumwe. In 1988 there were not many visitors to DR Congo to see gorillas. People still did not know if there were habituated gorillas here.

This is Jomba patrol post. It has changed a little bit since then - there is now a sort of welcome centre in the middle. Sabinyo volcano rises up to the right, with Mugahinga and Muhabura volcanoes in the background.

A tracker with a young gorilla.

Not much has changed in 20 years at Jomba. The lady on the right, Micheline, is the widow of a Ranger called Gachuma. He died during fighting between rebels and the army at Kibati in 1996. The girl on the left is the daughter of a Ranger called Sebagabo. He died of old age.

At Jomba. That is my sister on the far left in blue.

And here is Rugabo, the Silverback, in all his glory. He was killed in 1994 by poachers.

Rugabo, as you know, is the first family to be habituated in DR Congo in 1984 by Conrad Aveling and my father. At the time of Phil’s visit Rugabo was also called Marcel - he had 2 names. One given by Conrad for habituation purposes, and one given by us.

Rugabo was the name of a king who lived in Rutshuru, just north of our park station at Rumangabo. We gave the Silverback this name to show the king he needed to protect the gorillas, and to show the Congolese people that the gorillas belong to them.

Rugabo was also a king who loved nature. He used to help us catch poachers and bring them to the station. Today sadly there is not the same level of collaboration with the local communities.

Rugabo. In 1988 we had still not yet started naming each individual Mountain Gorilla. We usually just named the Silverback. It was in 1997 when we started monitoring them that we gave them all names.

These are the only pictures we actually have of Rugabo. So thank you Phil for sending them to us!

Remember Rugabo had 4 sons: Lulengo, Pili-Pili, Mareru & Mvuyekure. We have not seen Mvuyekure for some time and believe he was the other Silverback, with Karema, that was killed in January 2007. To read more about all our habituated Mountain Gorillas click here.

A juvenile in Rugabo family.

Also, today on our BBC Diary they put up a link of some videos that Diddy and I shot in December. There is one that is funny with Diddy imitating gorilla sounds. And I am also talking about Kadogo, my favorite gorilla. Go to the link and you will be able to watch us. BBC did lots of editing that we are not able to do here. Innocent

Technorati : congo, drc, gorilla, iccn, wildlifedirect

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Since the end of December we have now seized over 40 tonnes of charcoal during anti-illegal charcoal patrols north of Goma. We are very pleased with this result and it sends a strong message that we will not stand back and watch our park be destroyed.

We blogged last week that the seized charcoal would go to schools, orphanages and hospitals - but instead ICCN decided it should go to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who are in camps near the park, which makes perfect sense. You can see a map of these camps here - it was posted by Samantha on Friday. We have been working closely with Rob Muir of Frankfurt Zoological Society to do this. The camps that have benefitted are: Mugunga I, Mugunga II, Buhimba & Bulengo - which include a total of some 65,000 IDPs who have lost everything.

Charcoal distribution at an IDP camp south-west of Virunga National Park; that is Rob in the cap

This kind of shelter is commonplace in IDP camps

People were curious

And looked on

Then the distribution began

Sack by sack

The women helped with the organization

And took control

To ensure it was distributed fairly

The seized charcoal was not distributed to the IDP camp at Kibati, because they do not yet have food from UNHCR. Samantha will be providing an update on that in coming days and the fuel wood.

This distribution is an excellent idea, as the charcoal is badly needed by the thousands upon thousands of people fleeing the conflict. We hope the peace conference will work because the humanitarian situation is simply catastrophic. Although the camps are not right next to the Gorilla Sector, they are right next to Virunga National Park. And it is all part of one eco-system.

We are continuing our anti-charcoal patrols and the number of tons of seized charcoal is going up every day.

Here Augustin takes the details of the people we arrested with the charcoal

There are still many, many trucks

And we need to stop them all

Augustin, our head of the Anti-Poaching Unit, is currently sick with malaria and is in the clinic at Rumangabo. He will be on his feet soon!

Also, the 3 Rangers who were badly beaten last week are slowly getting better.

Thank you everyone for your continued donations and support. We will be doing a post soon on how money has been spent so far.

Diddy, Innocent & all of the Rangers on the anti-charcoal patrols

Technorati : congo, drc, iccn, wildlifedirect

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This is Samantha. In recent days I have received many emails asking me when the Rangers will be going back into the Gorilla Sector. DR Congo has featured widely in the international media, as a result of the imminent signing of a peace deal that aims to end the conflict that has claimed thousands of lives. The accord includes an immediate ceasefire, the phased withdrawal of rebel troops in North Kivu province, and the resettlement of thousands of villagers, including those IDPs near the park we have been blogging about.

As I write, Wednesday morning, rival sides have yet to finalize agreement and a firm commitment has yet to be made by the respective groups. They say it is the Mai Mai rebels and those led by ex-General Laurent Nkunda who are having major disagreements.

We are all waiting.

This story came out on Monday on the BBC, that was fairly optimistic.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7199412.stm

Then on Tuesday the BBC reported that peace talks had stalled. So not quite as optimistic.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7202002.stm

Supposing the peace deal is signed today, or this week - what does it mean for the Rangers and the possibility of getting back into the Gorilla Sector? Well reactions vary enormously. There are Rangers who, after 2 decades of conflict, view the situation with skepticism, and say that peace on the terms proposed will simply not last. When I ask them if this is all going to work, I hear “Je ne crois pas” very often. That is “I don’t think so“.

And there are many, who are tired, very tired. They want to move on. They want to work. They want to go home. And so they hope it will stick.

Rangers want to know if gorillas have been born during the recent fighting

On a practical level, before the Rangers can actually get back in to check on the Mountain Gorillas, the army and the rebels must leave the patrol posts that they occupy - namely Jomba, Bikenge & Bukima (see map below). Jomba has been somewhat of a High Command for the rebels since September. This required departure is not expected to happen from one day to the next, ie immediately post the signing of a deal - but that is obviously a key factor for the Rangers. The army and the rebels also have to stop shooting at each other. There have still been exchanges, and assaults, even with the peace conference going on.

The Gorilla Sector (aka Mikeno Sector) is in green

So that is all I can really say for now. The people of eastern DR Congo are waiting - they all walk round with portable radios stuck to their ear. The Rangers are waiting. And the Mountain Gorillas are undoubtedly wonderfully oblivious to everything.

Samantha

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

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This is Innocent. Last week I was invited to Rwanda with fellow Rangers to visit the Kwitonda Mountain Gorilla family. Kwitonda emigrated to Rwanda in October 2004 from DR Congo. As you know Mountain Gorillas do not know international borders like us! Remember Ruzirabwoba who came back from Rwanda in September? Diddy & I also blogged about Kwitonda when we posted about the 4 sons of Rugabo.

I had not seen Kwitonda and his family since 2004, and it was wonderful to see how the family had evolved since that time. His family has grown from 14 to 16 members.

We and the Rwandans still consider Kwitonda Congolese, even though he is no longer in DRC. This is why we were invited and why we share the knowledge of deaths, births and interactions of this family. In 2004 I was of course not in charge of Gorilla Monitoring as I am now, but I was in charge of Gorilla Identification. And do I knew Kwitonda and his clan well.

I went with Director Norbert Mushenzi (who runs the southern sector of Virunga, including the Gorilla Sector), the Director of the whole of Virunga, Mr Wathaut, and also Joel, who works with Wathaut as his right hand man. The man in the beige fleece, Justin, is the Rwandan Director of ORTPN, the Rwandan equivalent of ICCN.

Here is the Silverback Kwitonda. It means “He who is calm” in KinyaBwisha. There are 16 members in his family - up from 14 in 2004.

Karevuro is 1 of the 2 blackbacks in the family.

This is Chiri, named after my uncle who was a Ranger in Kinshasa.

Marambo, a sub-adult male, looks out suspiciously at me.

Chiri again - who was very playful.

Kwitonda was still calm, much like Humba. He did not charge or show aggression at any time.

Karevuro seems like he will become a Silverback soon. It will be interesting to see what happens to him. He may be forced to leave the family and become a solitary.

Here I am with Kigoma, the other of the 2 blackbacks of the family.

The family is visited by tourists who come to Rwanda for gorilla-watching tourism and pay $500 to spend 1 hour with them.

Of course since 2004 the family had changed. Babies had become juveniles, and juveniles had become sub-adults and so on. Gorillas grow up, just like my own family.

Innocent

Technorati : congo, drc, gorilla, iccn, wildlifedirect

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This is Samantha. I know you have all been waiting for an update on the fuel wood for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at Kibati. This follows on from December’s fuel wood campaign when WildlifeDirect request $20K to provide fuel wood to 7,000 people for 4 weeks. This was to prevent IDPs from cutting down the park for fuel wood, something that would take years and years for the park to recover from.

This was always intended to be a stop-gap measure, until the humanitarian agencies provided the fuel wood to the IDPs themselves. There is simply no way that a small conservation organization like WildlifeDirect can commit to providing fuel wood in the long term to IDPs. We just do not have the funds, despite amazing generosity from all the blog readers.

To refresh your memory courtesy of WWF, with whom we are working closely on this issue as they have the expertise: Mikeno Sector is aka the Gorilla Sector. Kibumba site and around there is where IDPs have come from. Kibati is where the IDP camp has been set up. Nyamulagira Sector is the other part of the southern sector of Virunga National Park (with Mikeno Sector).

So on 27 December I blogged that we had reached the $20K campaign target - in fact we ended up surpassing it and reached $21,385. So these funds in their entirety will go to the IDP fuel wood.

Now when we started this campaign, I was clear that in the end we may not need to provide fuel wood. In other words the conflict may have ended and the IDPs could all return home. Regrettably this has not been the case. While the conflict has diminished in intensity due to the ongoing peace conference (see below), the insecurity is still there and no IDPs are returning home. So we absolutely need the money for the fuel wood.

You may have read in the press there is a peace conference currently being held in Goma that aims to find a solution to this conflict that has dogged the east of DRC for far too long. The conference, with 1,300 participants, over 60 working commissions, and reaching a cost of nearly $5 million (funded by the European Union), will continue toward the end of Jan. We all hope a compromise will be reached, that the fighting will end, that people will be able to go home and that the Rangers will once again be able to patrol the Gorilla Sector. We shall see.

So, back to the IDP camp at Kibati. I went there last Sunday. Last time I was there was mid-December, and I blogged about it, with pictures. In mid-December there were just a couple of “hangars”, large structures made of tarp. Nothing else.

Now the camp looks like this:

One of the “hangars” is to the left of the photo, and on the right is the water supply.

This was an empty space when I visited in December. Now there are some 4,500 IDPs living here.

Each shelter houses at least 4 people. Conditions are cramped and sanitation lacking.

IDPs are waiting for delivery of food.

The water truck in background and water storage in fore.

Children & adults mill about, waiting.

There are an estimated 4,500 IDPs in the camp, in what I can only describe as miserable conditions. UNHCR, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, is in charge of the camp, with management subcontracted out for the most part to NRC, the Norwegian Refugee Council. That is how it works basically, UNHCR subcontracts to other humanitarian NGOs for the management of IDP camps.

So the people have been moved there from around the Gorilla Sector. This is positive in the sense that now they are all in one place to help. The UNHCR however has yet to deliver food to the camp - which of course means we cannot deliver fuel wood. I have no idea how on earth people are getting by. I am hopeful that the food delivery will happen next week, and WildlifeDirect is coordinating with Rob at FZS and Bruno at World Wildlife Fund to see if the fuel wood can be delivered at same time as the food. Logistics as you know are fairly challenging here. In addition the price of fuel has gone up as a result of the Kenya troubles - everything in eastern DRC comes from Mombassa. But nevertheless we are ready to jump.

So the long and short of it is that the fuel wood has not yet been delivered, but it will be very soon, and so the campaign has been a success. In other words, we have ended up needing those funds that you all donated to this effect. Thank you to each and everyone of you who donated. This is a small step toward protecting the forests of Virunga National Park, and the habitat of the Mountain Gorillas.

Samantha

Technorati : congo, drc, fuel wood, iccn, idp, wildlifedirect

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This is Diddy & Innocent. During the last 4 weeks we have been intensifying the anti-charcoal patrols in the southern sector of Virunga National Park. You will recall that we spoke about the increase in charcoal burning as a result of the insecurity in the area caused by the war between the rebels and the army. We estimated in mid-December that there had been a 10-fold increase in the illegal charcoal trade since September.

So we have been trying to stop the illegal making of charcoal in the park, on 2 fronts. We have been doing sporadic patrols into the park, but security has been very precarious because of the presence of rebel groups. So we have focused more on stopping the trucks actually transporting the illegal charcoal to Goma for sale.

This is an example of one of such trucks. Absolutely packed with illegal charcoal.

Sometimes the trucks are SO overloaded they simply tip over.

We have to stop all trucks on the road because often there may be potatoes or cabbages in sacks that are visible, and in the middle there is charcoal. This was the case with this truck.

So we have been organizing ourselves - about 36 of us in total - at the Kibati patrol post which is about 15km north of Goma on the main road to Rumangabo and Rutshuru. Some of us are also at Kibumba. So we are split into 3 teams of 12.

We have legal permission to stop the trucks full of illegal charcoal from the National Prosecutor of DR Congo. This is the legal document that states that we are entitled to protect Virunga National Park, according to Law 069-41 of 22 August 1969.

This is the same law under which we are working to bring to justice those responsible for the July massacre, and the death of the baby gorilla in September. There is a blog post about this here.

Since about the 20th December we have confiscated over 240 sacks of illegal charcoal, which is equivalent to about 20 tons. These have been brought to Goma and will ultimately be distributed to orphanages, schools and hospitals.

The charcoal, once confiscated, is brought to Goma.

We have to store it while the judicial process is underway.

And then we will be able to distribute it.

All these patrols that we are talking about have been led by Augustin Kambale. He has been promoted to Head of Anti-Poaching. This is a significant promotion from head of the Bukima patrol post as he now heads up over 80 to 100 Rangers. He has started this job during a very very challenging time.

Jean Bosco, head of Community Conservation, & Augustin, earlier this week in Goma.

Late on Monday afternoon Rangers stopped a truck, that had illegal charcoal in it, at Kibati.

The truck driver knew that we had set up this barrier at Kibati to stop the illegal charcoal.

The driver tried to drive very quickly through the barrier. Because the roads are not even, he veered too much to one side and the entire truck ended up tipping over.

Heated arguments followed between the local people, the Rangers, and the military who were also present. The situation got totally out of control amid the shouting, and the local population beat up 3 of our Rangers. There was absolutely nothing we could do among all the people. At one point there were at least 15 people kicking the Ranger Asumani. Once the people had stopped beating up the Rangers, the military stole their boots & berets. A local man also stole one of the Ranger’s guns. Remember with the long war here everyone knows how to use a gun. There were so many people around, all shouting at once, it was absolute chaos.

Once we were able to gain hold of the situation we took the 3 Rangers to hospital in Goma where they spent 2 nights. They came out this morning.

Afterwards the local population also pushed our car off the road.

This morning Maniroho, Ndayumujina & Asumani went back to the Kibati patrol post, and will then go on to Rumangabo to rest for a few days and continue receiving treatment. Asumani’s leg, as you can see, is in plaster as a result of the beating.

Now Director Mushenzi is following the judicial process with the lawyer Maitre Mathieu to deal with the confiscated illegal charcoal to date and the debacle of Monday afternoon. We will keep you posted.

Diddy & Innocent

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

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I have been following Mapendo’s progress these past few days like you all, and lamenting the death of Vumilia. It always affects us. When you know these wonderful creatures, you simply cannot help it.

Before it gets a little late in 2008, I just wanted to share some pictures with you of my Christmas Day at my home in Kiwanja.

We woke early and went to church. This is my local church. We went with all the family.

There were lots of people there. So many that some had to stand outside.

Julien & Osee, 2 of my sons, came too.

Sara their sister wanted to wear her pink dress.

And then we went home.

We enjoyed a meal with chips and beef with our friends and family. Justine cooked it all. The children had soft drinks, which is a treat for them, and the adults had beer.

Here is a short video clip outside the church. I apologise but the sound is not that consistent!

This week I am also going to post about our anti-charcoal patrols and confiscation of charcoal that has been successful in recent weeks. This is one of the actions we do to protect the park and its wildlife. We need to fight as hard as possible to prevent more orphans like Mapendo, Vumilia, Ndeze and Ndakasi. We need to protect the wild mountain gorillas and their habitat. Diddy

Technorati : congo, drc, iccn, wildlifedirect

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