VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK: OPEN FOR BUSINESS AGAIN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000529 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV EIND PGOV PREL PREF CG SUBJECT: VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK: OPEN FOR BUSINESS AGAIN ¶1. (U) Summary: Virunga National Park in the eastern DRC reopened for limited tourism in early May 2009 following two years of inactivity. There are still pockets of FDLR rebels and Mai Mai militia in the park, but Park Director Emmanuel de Merode believes tourism is vital to the park's survival. Poachers continue to pose a threat to this World Heritage site, home to rare mountain and lowland gorillas. Over 130 park rangers have died protecting the park's mission of conservation, science and tourism. End summary. Consequences of war -------------- ¶2. (U) Founded as the first national park in Africa in 1925, Virunga National Park boasts the most varied natural habitat of any environment in Africa. With glaciers, active volcanoes, swamps, savanna and three great ape species, the park was a premier tourist attraction until the early 1990s. The influx of millions of refugees and displaced persons into Congo in 1994 put unsustainable pressure on Virunga National Park, resulting in the slaughter of thousands of hippos, massive poaching and depletion of the lowland forests for firewood. UNESCO declared the park an endangered World National Heritage site in 1994. ¶3. (U) Virunga Park reopened in the mid-90s, but closed to tourism again in 2007 as Laurent Nkunda's CNDP rebellion revived regional conflict and displaced hundreds of thousands of Congolese. The reopening to tourism in May 2009 reflects growing confidence in improved relations between the DRC and its eastern neighbors, Rwanda and Uganda. At present, only three tourist routes are open for business: gorilla trekking in the far south near the Rwandan border at Bukima; visits to the Rwindi Plains savanna along the Ugandan border; and a mountain trek to the glaciers of the Ruwenzori Mountains. The first intrepid tourists arrived on May 9 for a gorilla trek conducted without incident. Rangers from the Congolese Institute for the Protection of Nature (ICCN),who patrol the park, prefer visitors use commercial tour operators to free up ICCN personnel for conservation-related tasks, but it is now possible to obtain a $100 daily park entry permit at ICCN offices in Goma. Making tourism attractive -------------- ¶4. (U) Park Director Emmanuel de Merode told Goma poloff he has mixed sentiments about tourism -- conservation of the park's dwindling natural resources is his first priority. In the longer term, however, he recognizes that income from tourism, both for the government and the local community, is vital to the park's survival. He has implemented financial controls that require all cash transactions be handled through the carefully monitored ICCN office in Goma. He has also established a revenue division that returns 30% of fees to the local community (50% goes to the government and 20% to the park). Virunga now has a web site and Facebook page, as well as a retirement plan that has accumulated a half million dollars in contributions in two years and a pension plan for employees that pays out $1000 to the families of rangers killed in the line of duty. More than 130 rangers have died in the past decade, protecting the park from poachers, Mai Mai militia and charcoal traders. Gorillas survive the war -------------- ¶5. (U) The famed mountain gorillas have rather amazingly survived recent conflicts. Protected by the dense forests of the upper elevations, the population has increased slightly to 350. The gorillas provide the greatest potential source of revenue, with limited viewing permits available for $300-400 per day. FDLR elements occasionally threaten the gorillas in response to anti-FDLR actions by DRC state security services, and many suspect the FDLR are responsible for the gorilla slaughtering featured in National Geographic in late 2008. Many other species, especially the huge hippo populations that were once so prevalent in Lake Edward, have faired worse as they were systematically targeted to feed the massive refugee population influx. Charcoal: the greatest threat -------------- ¶6. (U) De Merode believes deforestation is the greatest current threat to the park. The charcoal trade is devastating the forests, and thousands of acres have already been lost. Local officials are involved in the trade, but de Merode states that no one can exploit charcoal in Virunga without the cooperation of the FDLR. ICCN rangers are targeted when they attempt to disrupt the trade. In early May 2009, local residents besieged an ICCN station when a ranger arrested a local official who was escorting charcoal porters. KINSHASA 00000529 002 OF 002 MONUC troops intervened and freed the local official, stating that it acted to defuse an explosive situation. ¶7. (SBU) Diplomats in Goma noted that MONUC has a mandate to disrupt such trade, which would put pressure directly on the FDLR. Almost all of the charcoal transported in overloaded trucks into Goma is produced in the park, as non-park forests are virtually gone. Even de Merode realizes, however, that stopping the business abruptly is a dangerous proposition. Large numbers of locals are employed as porters, and Goma residents, who depend on charcoal for cooking, would likely riot if the supply was cut off. Biomass briquettes and Virunga rangers -------------- ¶8. (U) The ICCN has begun to implement a program to substitute charcoal with biomass briquettes, which are produced in presses from organic material. The briquettes cost less than half the price of charcoal, and are already in use in some IDP camps around Goma. De Merode estimates it would require 5,000 presses to replace the charcoal trade, which could lead to 36,000 jobs. (Note: Several NGOs note that the briquettes do not get hot enough to cook some types of food. End note.) ¶9. (U) Meanwhile, 664 beleaguered rangers struggle to contain the environmental damage (550 carry arms). Military officers from South Africa and the UK trained many of them, and a core group of 50 received intensive training and equipment to deploy in emergency situations. Although they are generally respected for their professionalism, local support is key to the park's survival and it is difficult to gain such support for nature conservation. ¶10. (SBU) Comment: With tourism dormant, most residents of the crowded villages on the park's perimeter view Virunga as an exploitable, rather than sustainable, resource. If the security situation in North Kivu continues to improve, it may be time for the DRC to more actively promote tourism to Virunga, a return which may well serve as a barometer of security in the region. End comment. Garvelink