Environmental Team Responds to Congo Crisis

Environmental Team Responds to Congo Crisis

2007 September -   A 
fact-finding team from the UN Environment Programme, UNEP, arrived in 
Kinshasa Monday to learn more about how the Democratic Republic of Congo, 
DRC might safeguard its fragile ecosystems against the onslaught of 
warring factions and refugees fleeing the violence of a 10 year long civil 
war. 
This team is the second technical operation fielded by UNEP Executive 
Director Achim Steiner following a recent call from DRC Environment 
Minister Didace Pembe Bokiaga. The DRC minister was seeking assistance to 
cope with the central African country's many environmental challenges. 
A joint mission was organized with UNESCO in August to investigate the 
escalating conflict in the Virunga National Park, which resulted this 
summer in the death of a park ranger and injuries to others, as well as 
the deaths of nine mountain gorillas since the beginning of the year. 
The park is occupied by the Congolese Army, dissident members of the army, 
Rwandan refugees, Nkunda forces and various Mai Mai rebel groups, 
according to UNEP. 

The global conservation group WWF says the armed conflict has pushed more 
than 35,000 people from their homes and threatens the forest habitat of 
the mountain gorillas and other wildlife in Virunga National Park. 
The status of the park's mountain gorillas is still unknown. Three patrol 
posts were abandoned after attacks by rebel forces, and recent reports 
indicate that rangers are still unable to access certain sectors of the 
park to determine the gorillas' health or location. WWF and the Congolese 
Institute for the Conservation of Nature are working to restore patrols. 
More than half of the world's 700 remaining mountain gorillas live inside 
the park, along with hundreds of bird and mammal species. Talks are 
underway to open access to these sectors, and WWF says it is possible that 
rangers will soon be able to search for the gorillas. 
WWF says that in times of peace, Virunga National Park brings over $3 
million a year from ecotourism - mostly from visits to the mountain 
gorillas. 
The complex issues at the Virunga National Park, with its abundant 
diversity of plants and animals, have been further complicated by unrest 
in the eastern part of the Congo. 
UNEP's current exploratory mission comes as a result of recommendations 
made after the joint UNESCO-UNEP mission in August. Mission members will 
attempt to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the need for post 
conflict assessment and intervention. 
The UNEP mission will be in the DRC through Saturday holding meetings with 
heads of the major institutions within the government, public and private 
sectors as well as nongovernmental organizations. 
They will look at what can be done to build the DRC's capacity for 
environmental protection, pollution control, and mitigation of fighting 
and resources extraction on environment conservation efforts in protec
ted areas. The UNEP team will assess the impact of mining on the 
environment in the mining areas in the Kasais and the Katanga regions, and 
assist the government to set clear measures to be followed by mining 
companies.

Some 1,100 wildlife rangers protect the national parks of Eastern Congo, a 
region affected by the 10 year long civil war. These parks are inhabited 
by mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, forest elephants and rhinos. The 
rangers have remained active in protecting these parks, four of which have 
been classified as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. 
"Mountain gorillas in Congo face enormous perils, as do the rangers. They 
need our support even more now," said Dr. Emmanuel de Merode, director of 
WildlifeDirect, an organization founded and chaired by African 
conservationist Richard Leakey and funded by the European Union and 
private donors. It was set up to support conservationists in Africa 
working on the ground in isolated and often dangerous conditions, 
particularly the rangers of the DRC. 
"We do not believe the rebels are specifically targeting the gorillas," 
said de Merode. "The gorillas happen to live in one of the areas of the 
worst areas of the world for conflict that is strategically important for 
armed groups. But we fear for the safety of these endangered creatures." 
UNEP says there is need for continued technical assistance to strengthen 
the capacity of the countries of the African region to harness and access 
knowledge to support the management of their natural resources. This is 
particularly urgent in the Great Lakes Region and the Congo Basin which 
comprise the second largest world forest ecosystems after the Amazons, 
with more than 60 percent of the biological diversity of the continent. 

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