The Okapi Reserve

Category: Community Work, Mbuti Pygmies | Date: Apr 30 2007 | By: admin

The Okapi Wildlife Reserve, a habitat protected area in DRCongo was only created by a Ministerial law on 2nd of May, 1992. It is almost 15 years old. Pygmies who are the first occupants of the Congo live inside the Reserve in interaction with fauna and flora.

An old pygmy woman

We conserve Nature including people, because the Government of Kinshasa decided not to evacuate men from the Reserve, especially Pygmies who depend 100% on the forest. Pygmies are healthy only inside the forest where they have the chance to hunt, pick fruit, mushroom, termite,…. The activity of hunting for them is a kind of gymnastic or relaxation. Could you imagine that an old man of 50 years old can accept easily participating for hunting?? Really it’s happening….

According to their tradition, hut building and the collection of food from the forest is a woman’s task. A woman is there to feed her husband, and it is serious.

Mr. Somba admiring a pygmy Woman building her hut.

The management of the Reserve started to zone the reserve in specific zones such as integrated zones, agricultural zones and hunting zones. At this time some agricultural, and hunting zones are limited. This is a long process which takes time and the community as a stakeholder plays a key role during the limitation. In fact, the main importance of zoning the Reserve into agricultural zones is to see how to stabilize farmers in groups, in case of crop devastation,

Rangers can intervene when there are problems with wild animals. We discourage farmers who do not like to cultivate in groups, because then they cannot benefit from our intervention.

Could you imagine the 13,700 square kilometers is controlled by only 83 Rangers?? Is it easy??? And we are not sufficiently equipped by the Government, and sometimes animals are hounded by poachers from a region and so they slowly move into a secured zone, maybe along the main road.

This is the result of crop devastation in the OWR region. Really farmers are suffering. Below, the recent dung of an elephant that devastated crops of Mr. Madodoyi

Recent dung of elephant in crops.

Favorite crop of the natives are banana, rice, beans,casava, ……

Banana crop

Devastation of banana plantation by elephants.

In case of devastation, we always tell farmers to report to the Management of the Reserve for organizing a patrol, and Rangers once on patrol have the opportunity to communicate with the Warden by satellite phone calls “Thuraya “. This kind of communication equipment allows the Anti Poaching Unit (APU) to be in permanent contact with Rangers in any corner of the area to intervene for instance for crop devastation,……or to readjust their routing.

Mr. Somba in patrol instructing a second rangers team

The lesson learned in the Reserve is that people have not enough money to survive (3 $ are used for feeding a family of 5 people/ day ), also the ICCN as a parastatal company is very limited in terms of job opportunity. We encourage villagers to work close to the road where our intervention can be consistent.

Somba

Technorati : congo, epulu, okapi, wildlifedirect

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Category: Mbuti Pygmies | Date: Apr 30 2007 | By: admin

First and second gereration of Mbuties

Ever since GIC started the project 1987 in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve the Mbuties became a part of our work crew.

There knowledge of the forest and what kind of leaves the Okapi eats in the wild is impressive.The number of Mbuties we offered a job at first consisted 15 people belonging to the same clan. Today we employ 49 Mbuties from 11 different clans.

MAKUBASI AND ISA

Those two, Makubasi on the right and Isa on the left side, are the ones who worked with us many years until their children reached the age to take over from them.

Neither Makubasi nor Isa know how old they are but judging to the storys they tell they must be more than 65 years old. Today they are retired but remain still very active. The food ration and medical care is the kind of pension they receive from the project. Unfortunately Isa lost his wife last year and Makubasi’s wife left him a few years ago. This phenomenon we call divorce is very unusual in their culture. Lucky the family ties are very deep and the two old men (muzee) are very well taken care off. They still remain as chief of the clan and the young people still respect them.

ISA, APUMAO AND BROTHER OF ISA KAKUMBA

Isa has only one son and like his father Apumao followed in his father’s footstep. Kakumba retired today also used to work for us during many years.

MAKUBASI, WANGONDA, MUSA, ALUFANI, BAYAA AND HIS GIRL

Makubasi with four of his nine children (five boys and four girls). Four of his son’s work with us today. Wangonda is not the tallest on the picture but the first born. Musa has been chosen by Makubasi to become the next chief of the BABWEME clan.

MAKUBASI A PROUD FATHER WITH HIS SONS AND GRAND CHILD

A longtime relationship connects the clan of Makubasi and Isa to the project. It is to hope they will stay for many more years with us.

Technorati : congo, epulu, okapi, wildlifedirect

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Category: Epulu, Videos | Date: Apr 29 2007 | By: admin

It is nice to observe the passage of Ankole cattle through the Reserve. People start singing. In the forest region cattle do not have enough food, and there are many parasites that cause their death. They always come from Bunia to Mambasa to Bafwasende to Kisangani… a long long way. People walk with the cattle, and it is not easy because the guardians must walk nightly with them to protect them against mosquitos.

This video was given to me by WildlifeDirect and I want to share. Ankole cattle are very old and go back thousands of years. They are known to all people for their beautiful horns.

Somba

Technorati : ankole, congo, drc, epulu, okapi wildlife reserve, wildlifedirect

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Category: Ranger Patrols | Date: Apr 23 2007 | By: admin

The anti - poaching operation in my Reserve ended on July 2006. It consisted to fight poachers and sweeps all sectors uncontrolled for years because of the war in the surrounding region of the Reserve, and the second phase was to eject all illegal miners out of the Reserve. An operation order was signed by the high Military hierarchy of the Province. We shall be ungrateful to not let you know that this operation was sponsors by the emergency fund of UNESCO. Below the mixed contingent .

Mixed team : Rangers et militaries ready for operation.

I wonder what is the main reason that people are determined destroying ecosystem?? Is It poverty?, if so ; but it does not mean We are not supposed to respect the Law of the country.

At all, the result of the operation was fine while:

• fire arms confiscated ,
• A big quantity of bush meat confiscated and burnt
• poachers arrested were transferred to court at Bunia and condemned for more than 5 years,

AK47 confiscated

Bush meat confiscated and burnt

10 AK magazines with 300 amunition confiscated

I mentioned that the 2nd target of the mission was to see how to eject all miners out of the reserve, really It was serious because 90 % of those mining camps belonged to traditional chief, and They did not like to let go of this activity because It was their source of gaining money and survive. In order to protest this high decision , those chief prepared an anti campaign by intoxicating local community, and some pygmies of their jurisdiction and advanced them to fabric arrows which could be used to attack the contingent. Fortunately, We had disciplined guys, and they succeeded destabilizing those pygmies installed around mining camps.

One of the Responsible of illegal miners in the Reserve

Contingent burning Muchacha mining camp

poisoned arrows to attack rangers and militaries,macheties,and spades used to exploit gold

Gold mining activity in a protected area is totally forbidden by the conservation Law in DRCongo, but not easy to be understood.

After the mixed operation, an aerial survey was conducted inside the Reserve with the aim to discover any reopening mining, poachers camp,… and also for discovering some attractive site such us Inselberg in the North, Edo (saline) in the Center and South of the Reserve , this allows the management to plan pedestrian patrol,…. and boosting tourism in the Reserve, so this is the result of the exploration.

Edo Boea ( natural water point ): 3 forest buffalows , and 1 Bongo antilop observed

The Aketu North Inselberg

Letu river flows inside the rainforest of the Reserve

In summary, We would like to let you know that the task We are given is sometimes undermined by some people which their interest are directly touched , so our appeal is to wake up all conservationists to come in help ,and conserve together the nature of DRCongo in general, and in particular of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve.

Somba

Technorati : epulu, okapi. wildlifedirect

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Category: Community Work, Epulu, Okapi, Rangers | Date: Apr 19 2007 | By: admin

The Okapi Wildlife Reserve which is situated in Northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo and covers 14,000 square kilometers of tropical rainforest remains the habitat of the endemic specie ” okapi ” (okapia johnstonie ) which interacts with other animals such us forest buffalo, leopard, forest elephant, bongo antilope, duikers, monkeys, and so on. It overlaps 2 Districts namely Ituri and Haut - Uele .

The TransAfrican road which connects Nairobi-Kampala-DR Congo to Matadi port crosses the Reserve for almost 117km. Could you imagine how much importance this has in the region? Every 2 months, a hired truck brings patrol food, ICCN materials from Butembo-Beni via Mambasa. In the rainy season it can take a week to cover a distance of 212km because of the state of the road.

Ranger Nzoigba on the bike crossing a traditional bridge inside the reserve.

Since October 2006, The Chinese company SINOHYDRO started fixing the road inside the Reserve, so it allows us to quickly reach Beni-Butembo (6 hours by car), rather than the 2 days that it used to take.

Ranger Claude BAKIAKA travels on the new road

As a conservationist, the road is a good thing for the country - both for the economy and development. But I can image it also provides an easier opportunity to have poachers, illegal loggers, illegal miners and the migration movement in the Reserve. So we are supposed to intensify operation inside the protected area and also to reinforce the intelligence network in the villages. In this matter, a 6 week training course was planned and executed.

Paul Naish from South Africa was the lecturer. 11 Rangers were selected to attend teh course. So far the results on the ground are good. The course consisted to establish a kind of intelligence network around the Reserve, the manner of reporting, how to recruit an informer? How to search a car once in the reserve? Finger prints?

illegal miners detected and arrested during a patrol

As I mentioned earlier, the timber exploitation is growing in the surrounding region of the Reserve, and this moment trucks from Nairobi often load 15 to 20 tons of wood in a bad road, but nowadays with a good fixed road the truck owners exaggerate and load over 60 tons.

The Ituri river is one of the natural resource of the Reserve which takes its source from Bunia and crosses the reserve by South . It has a bridge built during the colonial period, and we cross on it when going from Mambasa to Komanda , Bunia or Beni .

Actually, we are facing a critical situation. An overloaded truck broke the Ituri bridge recently that was newly maintained by the Chinese, who warned people not take more than 25 tons. Unfortunately it does not make sense for timber traders. The truck is still in the water. 3 people died and the driver himself lost one of his arms.

Bridge Ituri broken by an overloaded truck

In this stage, the negative side is that we are now completely blocked in Epulu and the reserve in terms of quickly providing patrol rations and equipment. The big questions is WHO or WHAT organization could come in and help repair this bridge???

You should see the difficulties we have in DR Congo! Especially in Conservation!

Somba

Technorati : congo, epulu, okapi

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Category: Community Work, Epulu, Mbuti Pygmies | Date: Apr 15 2007 | By: admin

A PART OF THE MBUTIE’S SALARY is distributed as food rations. The total of 10 kg of rice, 3 kg of beans, 3 bottles of palm oil, 1 bar of soap, 1 kg of salt and 4 tobacco leaves are divided up three times a month for every Mbuti.Those days are party days for the entire family which is present when the distribution takes place.

Preparation ration Rice, Beans, Soap and Salt

This Orange looking mass is palm oil

This is the local tobacco which the Mbuties love to smoke probably anti smoking campaigns wouldn’t be successfull.

The value of the ration for the Mbuties is almost equal to their salary.They definitely have a different relation to money than we do. Unfortunately many of them are illiterate and lost if it comes up counting money. Their employment contributes to local economic development, as many people benefit from their money when they purchase goods. It improves their livelihood, in terms of managing their money, in addition to the traditional hunting, gathering and swopping lifestyle. That’s why together with them we came up with the food solution and they appreciate this arrangement.

Woman and children are patiently waiting for their ration

She was not sure when I took her picture but was smiling when she saw herself on the screen

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Category: Epulu, General, Ranger Patrols, Rangers | Date: Apr 14 2007 | By: admin

I want to inform all of you that The Okapi WilDife Reserve is going through a critical period. Two Rangers have died in recent days one after the other.The Assistant Ranger at the reserve, Jean MUNDUELE MUNENE who was supervising the anti-poaching activities in the East and Northeast of the Reserve was suffering and had his treatment at Mambasa Hospital , near the reserve. Things did not go very well so he was transferred from Beni to University Clinic of Kinshasa (the capital city of DRCongo ). Unfortunately, on 4th March we received a message from the General Director of the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature announcing his death. Really it was very sad news.

A team of 5 rangers were deployed to patrol the Southeastern sector of the Reserve where illegal miners were ejected only one week ago. Once they arrived to the Base the patrol leader MOZANGADIKO decided to cross the Ituri river and check that the miners were not coming back. The leader came across a group of 8 irregular military men protecting illegal miners digging gold in Ituri river. The first armed contact started and Rangers succeeded in dispersing the illegitimate soldiers from their base.


from left to rigth: Masumbuko, Mozangadiko ( team leader ),

Gbondo, Selemani and the brave porter Mapoli

On 22nd of March, the Patrol leader conducted a patrol to an other sector called Masasa ( South East ) of the Reserve where again the team were fitgting against military poachers ( same group ). It was serious, and Mozanga won again by destabilizing those poachers, and the village was completely controled by him.

Once checking inside a house to ensure of security, one of the brave Ranger called KONGOLO alias Sadam did not know if an enemy is inside a house, unfortunately he entered and be shot and die.

Realy, the Reserve looses the brave ranger . It was his first patrol after fininshing his paramilary training on last February 2007

KONGOLO (on the rigth) during his paramilitary graduation ceremonyLet me tell you that we are facing a critical moment in DRCongo in terms of poaching in protected areas. The Government is still in a process of mixing soldiers from different rebels factions with regular military, but others are escaping and become poachers in the parks or reserves of our country.

So, we have to provide excellent training for our rangers for the protection of our ecosystem.

Your support in terms of buying patrol rations, first aid kits, fuel for patrols and other items are warmly welcomed.

Somba

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Category: Epulu, General | Date: Apr 12 2007 | By: admin

It’s great to meet you again on the net, and I seize the opportunity to inform you more about my house. I can imagine how busy you are but I encourage you to exchange ideas with me on any topic.As I’ve told you in my first blog, I am married with 6 kids. My last baby who is named Mapoli Aboubakar is 10 months old, he feels strong, and all moment smiling. His sisters are at primary school in Epulu, in grade 1 and 6. With all hope, I hope that his older sister, 12 years old, is finishing soon her primary school, and go to Beni (nearest town) where should start the secondary school.

Here is Mapoli Aboubakar at 2 months old (left) and his sisters Jacky and Salama ready for school.

Life in DRCongo is not easy, so I am discussing with my wife the planning of the family and I am sure it can work.

Rice and beans is the favourite meal for my kids, rather foufou for their Mum. I always buy 100 kgs of rice and 100 kgs of beans. If I stock this quantity, I feel okay and my children should not suffer from hunger.

Somba

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Category: General | Date: Apr 09 2007 | By: admin

BLOG DISCOVERY IN EPULU,

Dear all,

In this moment, I am obliged to thank very much WildlifeDirect for their initiative to set up a relationship with us Rangers in Epulu/ DRCongo. To be realistic, I’d to express my warm gratitude to Miss Samantha and Ephrem who took all their time to reach my area and teaching me more about a blog. I am able to read directly some news from others once online.

Honesty obliges to let you know that the blog technology is new to my area, and I’ll do my best to assimilate the system for a forever communication with the rest of the world.

From left to right J.J.Mapilanga, Rosie Ruf ,Ghislain Somba and Samantha Newport during a preliminary course on ‘blogs’ in Epulu.
We spent 2 days with the Wildlife Direct Staff in the H.Q. of the Reserve and they taught us how be connected to the Web site, different ways of posting in a blog etc.

Two weeks after meeting Miss Samantha, I got opportunity to reach Beni, and interested to visite the main Office of the Wildlife Direct. It was fine, and by phone Samantha introduced me to Mr. William Deed.

On 31st of March, William welcomed me in the office and solved some of my gap on blog. See picture below:

from left to right : William, and Somba during an exercise

Somba

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Category: Community Work, Epulu, Mbuti Pygmies, Okapi, Rangers | Date: Apr 02 2007 | By: admin

Hi. My name is Rosy and I am the representative of Gilman International Conservation in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve. The first time I visited this place was as a tourist in 1984. I did not know then that 3 years later I would return to this part of Congo to work and live. I have been here for 20 years.

Epulu, where I live, is in the heart of the Ituri forest and is the HQ of the Congo Rangers in the reserve. You already know about Somba and Mapilanga.

One of my responsibilities to take care of 15 Okapis kept at the breeding station here. Okapis are browsers and the base of their daily diet is leaves. They are fed twice a day with approximately 30 different kind of fresh leaves which are collected in primary and secondary forest.

This is Karu, feeding in the afternoon.

The work of collecting the leaves is carried out by the Mbuti Pygmies. We employ 49 Mbuti men and women. They collect the leaves and ensure that the Okapis have what they need every day to feed. Seven days a week these brave people are carrying out their job with a dedication that is incomparable.

The Mbuti Pygmies leave their camp just as the day begins, and head towards the forest. After cutting and bundling up the leaves which takes them around 3 hours they return from the forest and bring leaves to the station. This is their daily task.

It is impressive to watch how well the Mbuti Pygmies are adapted to the forest. No one else knows the forest better than them.

Technorati : congo, drc, epulu, gic, ituri, okapi, pygmies, wildlifedirect

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