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
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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
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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
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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
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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.

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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
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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