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Building Conservation Capacity in DRC Conserving wildlife and forest in and around Virunga National Park ZSL Conservation
Conservation of Virunga National Park Created in 1925, Virunga National Park is Africa’s oldest protected area and the first to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its unrivalled diversity of habitats and species. Stretching for 300km along the border with Uganda and Rwanda in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), it was sadly relisted as a World Heritage Site in Danger in 1994 following catastrophic armed conflict and humanitarian disaster in the region, causing huge pressure on the park’s land and resources whilst weakening the © JeanJean -Denis Kramkimel
authority responsible for the park, ICCN (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature). Originally working in all five World Heritage Sites of DRC, since 2004 ZSL has been focusing its efforts on rebuilding the capacity of ICCN to manage Virunga National
Virunga’s wildlife highlights
Park and conserve its biodiversity, and is now looking beyond the park’s borders, working with local communities to develop alternatives to unsustainable use of the park’s resources.
• Both subspecies of eastern gorilla — the mountain gorilla (over half the remaining world population of around 700 individuals are found in the park) and the eastern lowland gorilla (perhaps the leastknown gorilla subspecies, only found in DRC)
• Congo’s flagship species, the okapi, a type of forest giraffe — a special species not just for ICCN (see their logo overleaf) but also for ZSL (the type specimen,
© Lucy Fauveau/ZSL
© Noëlle Kümpel/ZSL
© Lucy Fauveau/ZSL
Conservation after conflict
which originated from Virunga’s northern sector, was originally described at a
The varied habitats of Virunga National Park (lowland and montane forest, savannah,
meeting of the Society in 1901 and a
swamps, lakes, volcanoes and glaciers) contain exceptionally diverse and endemic flora
ZSL/ICCN team obtained the first camera
and fauna, including both mountain and eastern lowland gorillas, chimpanzee, elephant,
trap pictures of okapi in the wild in 2008)
hippo and the elusive okapi, endemic to DRC. However, conservation in the country
• The greatest vertebrate diversity of any
has been severely constrained by three successive decades of dictatorial rule, economic collapse and armed conflict, with the Virunga region a hotspot for insecurity
African protected area and endemics
as well as biodiversity, suffering an influx of nearly two million refugees. Ongoing illegal
such as the Ruwenzori leopard and
occupation of the park by impoverished local people and armed groups, with
Ruwenzori turaco
associated poaching, fishing, agriculture, mining, logging and charcoal extraction, have seriously depleted the park’s resources. ICCN’s human and material resources suffered greatly during the conflict, severely hampering its capacity to manage and protect the park. During the 1996-2003 civil wars, over 100 park rangers were killed, infrastructure was destroyed, the northern and central sectors of the park were abandoned, and staff went unpaid, lacked the means to patrol, suffered from low morale and had little technical support or training. Since 2001, ZSL, alongside ICCN’s other partner NGOs, has been working to restore the integrity of Virunga National Park and to improve the capacity of ICCN to protect, monitor and manage it. © ZSL
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The Zoological Society of London (ZSL), founded in 1826, is a world-renowned centre of excellence for conservation science and applied conservation (registered charity in England and Wales). ZSL’s Mission is to promote and achieve the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. This is realised by carrying 48 carrying out original scientific research at our Institute of Zoology, and through out field conservation and research in over 50 countries across the globe, education and awareness at our two zoos, ZSL London Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, inspiring people to take conservation action.