Garamba National Park, DRC

Achievements

Law Enforcement

Due to the history of armed conflict in the region, anti-poaching plays a crucial role in Garamba. As a first step in setting up an effective law enforcement division, park rangers were restructured. Eighty elderly guards retired, 59 new rangers were recruited and 120 ICCN officers were re-trained. An experienced supervisor brought in from Kenya oversaw all aspects of the training, both theoretical and practical. Rangers were equipped with full patrol kits that included radios and GPS units and much improved field rations.

Numerous fact finding excursions were made outside the park to gather information on poaching. These missions resulted in numerous arrests, including people involved in organised poaching and the ivory trade.

The need for a dramatic intensification of the law enforcement effort in Garamba was realised in early 2009 following an LRA attack on the park headquarters in Nagero. It was recognised that to leave the park as a result of this attack would mean the end of Garamba and it was therefore unanimously decided to continue operations. However, the loss of life and damage to infrastructure were unacceptable and as a result serious security measures were put in place to ensure the well-being and safety of the staff. Park staff started receiving assistance from UN helicopters and Congolese troops who were responsible for patrolling and guarding the Nagero region. Both the Congolese and the Ugandan armies have been instrumental in reducing the LRA influence in the country and the combined military force of the DRC, Uganda and Sudan have been successful in pushing the LRA militia out of the country.

As a direct result of such relentless efforts to rid DRC of the burden of the LRA militia, Garamba management could in 2010, for the first time in ten years, patrol the northern sections of the park. The Azande hunting block, where the LRA headquarters use to be, could also be surveyed for information on human settlement and wildlife distribution. Since the incident, park rangers have been accompanied by FARDC (The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo) soldiers while on patrol which has enabled the surveillance of the southern section of the park between the Dungu and Garamba Rivers.

In 2010, as in 2009, Garamba scouts received the Abraham award which recognises the heroism of staff in Central African protected areas. The 2010 recipients were Lyomi Lyatshi, Atakuru Surandi and Langostsi Pipili. The three had been wounded when they defended Nagero during the LRA attack the year before. The widows of the rangers, Mayumbu Pela, Atolobako Vukoyo and Takipi Mamvotama who also fought bravely against the militia but were sadly killed in 2009, were also honoured.

Despite the complexities associated with managing Garamba, situated in what is effectively a combat zone, the dedication and unwavering perseverance of the Garamba staff is ensuring the continued survival of this irreplaceable wilderness.

Conservation and research

In March 2006 an intensive aerial survey enabled park management to learn a great deal about wildlife numbers in the southern region of the park and the most important regions of the Gangala na Bodio hunting area. This survey was repeated in July 2006 and in April 2007.

As a result of the violence in early 2009, few field-based monitoring programmes were conducted. Instead the monitoring team focused on training and project preparation. Two scouts travelled to Uganda to receive training in chimpanzee tracking techniques; 70 scouts received training in the use of GPS units and four scouts received eco-guide training in Murchison Falls National Park. During 2011 the monitoring department was also equipped with new hardware, including a computer, digital camera, batteries, radios etc. A geographic information system (GIS) was set up to integrate and map data such as climate, socioeconomic conditions, patrol routes and surveillance flights.

To further the understanding of wildlife movements and habitat use, five elephants were fitted with satellite collars in 2009 and another five in 2011. At the time of the elephant collaring in 2011, park staff used the opportunity to place collars on five lions as part of an ongoing project to monitor lion density and distribution. Seventeen lions and 75 hyaenas have been identified at 34 call-up stations to date.

Research and monitoring programmes on the ecology and movements of giraffe are ongoing. Thirty-six individual giraffe have been observed on 11 different occasions in the south of the park. Faecal samples from the giraffe have been collected and sent to the Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre in Frankfurt, Germany, for DNA analysis. A chimpanzee study is also underway and chimpanzees have been observed on 17 occasions with 99 nests thus far identified. A vegetation map of the park was produced in 2010 which will greatly facilitate our understanding of animal distribution and habitat use. A botanist from the University of Kisangani has identified and labelled 100 species of trees and other plants and set in motion plans for a herbarium in Garamba. Also in 2010, a survey of a small freshwater fish, the Cyprinodontiformes, was undertaken by a team from the museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid. And finally, a new weather station and four camera traps were set up in 2011.

Some aerial surveillance flights have been devoted solely to establishing if any northern white rhino remain in the park. Their numbers fell to 19 by 2003 and to 10 by 2004. Only four animals were counted in 2005 and only two in 2006. The last northern white rhino was seen in November 2007. Four expert rhino trackers, two from Zimbabwe and two from Kenya, were employed to assist the Garamba ground team in the search for rhinos in 2008. A total of 2,560 hours and 4,709km of monitoring patrols and 165 flying hours were completed, however, despite this intensive search effort, no signs of rhinos were found. There is still some hope of locating rhinos in the areas that remain inaccessible for security reasons, however it is now considered likely that the northern white rhino (Ceratotheriumsimumcottoni) has become extinct.

Infrastructure Development

One of the most pressing management problems in Garamba is the poor condition of the roads. The few "passable” roads are difficult to navigate even in the dry season. The preferred means of travel is by motorcycle or bicycle. Thousands of push bikes carrying loads of over 100kg use these routes to transport agricultural products and manufactured goods between markets. Trucks carrying heavy equipment often take routes through South Sudan, especially in the rainy season.

In 2011 Kibali Gold Mines completed the rehabilitation of the access road from Durba and the Ugandan border. The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has been working on the Durba-Faradje-Dungu stretch of road and Garamba has assisted by repairing the bridge at DunguMoké. This will facilitate access to the park and ease the cost of transport but will also facilitate the transport of illegal bush meat. Four kilometres of the road to Nagero has also been repaired by the park in collaboration with the local community.

The LRA attacks in 2009 caused heavy losses to Garamba's infrastructure. An old revamped store room that was built in 1938 was burnt to the ground and with it large stores of fuel, vehicle spares and rations. The communication room with all its equipment was also destroyed. Several cottages from the previous guest house as well as tourist accommodation tents were entirely ruined. A unimog truck and several motorbikes were set alight and both ultra-light aircraft were burnt. The damage was estimated at around US$2 million.

Since then construction and restoration has begun anew. An office block has been completed, two houses have been renovated and three boreholes have been drilled to provide staff with clean drinking water. The Garamba Guest Lodge was completed in May 2010 and officially opened by the Deputy Director General of ICCN. A radio system has been installed which allows all sections of management to maintain communications with headquarters in Nagero.

An ultra-light aircraft was purchased and several vehicles were procured to assist with wildlife surveys, transporting goods and people and surveillance activities. A tractor with a trailer has been purchased as well as an interlocking brick machine. With the recent acquisition of a road grader, the park's road system will gradually reopen.

Staff

Garamba has experienced a significant increase in personnel during African Parks' tenure. There are currently 240 permanent staff members employed in Garamba, including 35 rangers based at Gangala na Bodio station and 96 at Nagero. Some staff have been seconded from the ICCN and African Parks has employed a doctor based at Nagero. Furthermore up to 100 temporary workers are employed at any one time, including builders, carpenters and general workers. Garamba is one of the largest employers in the region, with the community earning an estimated $40,000 - $50,000 in wages and payments for services monthly.

The accomplishments to date have been considerable, especially if one takes into account the remoteness of Garamba. The logistical considerations for the transport of equipment, material and people to and from Garamba require creativity and persistence. Although much remains to be done, African Parks and the staff of Garamba National Park are motivated and equipped to deal with the challenges ahead and all firmly believe that the preservation of Garamba and the species it holds is not only achievable but is already successfully underway.