Elie Mundima

Category: Back Then, Outside of Virunga | Date: May 03 2007 | By: admin

Following on from yesterday, here are a few more photographs from my past that I would like to share with you.

Back in 2001 I spent a year in Tanzania doing a certificate course in Wildlife Management at Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Above you can see me with fellow students at the Mkomazi-Limba Game Reserve, outside the Information Centre. We came here to do some research on the fauna and flora and the local community.

In this park they protect the black rhino, as well as dealing with the problems of Tourmaline (both green and red) mining. Local communities complain about the presence of the park and that the park has taken land from the peoples. From this, when I was there, a story was going round that Mr Tony, a white man, was killing people by shooting them from his aeroplane. Of course this story is unfounded, but that does not stop the story from preventing a good relationship forming between the park and the local population. It is a common problem in many African parks.

Here we are during the exercise of animal capture, and the animal that we are catching is a dik-dik, which we captured by using nets.

Once we examined it’s health, we then attached a ring on the ear for future studies and then let him free. Using a net is one of of many methods to catch an animal, other methods include either a dart or to use a hole like trap for a large animal such as a hippo or a rhino, which is a method often used for translocation.

You can see me at the bottom on the left, with a Maasai lady on the right, and a man from Tanzania on the left. For the moment then, at Tanzania, the Maasai were studying how to take on modernisation. Before that they lived in isolated tribes, but now they are being integrated into conservation methods, and learning how to adapt with that.

This photo was also in Tanzania, taken in the Museum at Olduvai. The bones on display are extremely ancient, and also there was the skull of the Olduvai Man.

Here is where they found his skull.

And finally, here I am in front of the President of Tanzania, Benjamin Mukapa, with the Military Colonel on the left. He came to visit the college and I gave him a short presentation on the bones of animals. The event was filmed by Tanzanian television, and it was really such an honour to get to meet the president as I had never met a president before. I hope one day to do a similar thing with our new president here in Congo. That is a wish of mine.

Technorati : Benjamin Mukapa, Congo, Conservation, Olduvai, Tanzania, WildlifeDirect

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Category: Outside of Virunga | Date: Apr 20 2007 | By: admin

On the last day at Kahuzi-Biega was the Passing Out Parade for all of the recruits. This was done in the presence of VIPs from the area as well as the FARDC military who were used as witnesses to the ceremony. This is necessary as with so many rebels in the area we need to have witnesses in place to prevent accusations that we are training rebels along with our recruits.

One of the exercises was to strip and assemble an AK47, blindfolded, in less than a minute.

It was Somba, the only guard to get 27/30 on his target practice, who was able to achieve this first in just 40 seconds. He showed remarkable skills throughout the training ad I have recommended that he is given the responsibility of the whole of his troop - The Chef de Promotion.

After the exercises, all of the recruits marched past the watching crowd. At the front is the Commander of LAB (Lutte Anti-Braconnage: Fight Against Poaching), and in the background you can see the administrative offices of the park.

It was the job of Director Mashagiro Honore of ICCN (Virunga National Park) to give out the certificates. In the background you can see Madame Martinuque, in blue, from the WWF, and the ceremony was also filmed and televised by the Congolese National Channel, RTNC.

Technorati : Congo Rangers, DRC, WildlifeDirect

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Category: Outside of Virunga | Date: Apr 19 2007 | By: admin

Much of the training was in the form of lectures. Using maps for orientation, the map above shows the whole of Congo with all of the different National Parks inside. This was to show the recruits the vast richness of Congo, and with such a large rainforest we must protect it not only for us and our future generations. The forest of Congo is one of the largest to be found on the planet, which means that for conservation, Congo is one of the most important in the world.

The lecturer also addressed the vast richness to be found under the forest, such as all the minerals that we have here, and that we must move with extreme caution when trying to extract these minerals. A balance must be kept between keeping our nature, but also mining these minerals to help the development of Congo.

At the end of the training, the recruits did target practice at 100 metres. Songa, the guard pictured here, was the only guard to get 27/30. The number of recruits we had was 26, but unfortunately only 7 of them were able to reach the target.

As you can imagine, the selection was not good as many of the men were old and weak. Some of these men weren’t even able to understand Swahili as they only spoke their local language. It is a difficult position because so many of these men have put in so many years to help the park, without a salary, and so there is a responsibility for their future, but at the same time they are no longer strong enough to patrol effectively. We have written to the government to verify that they have put in the years and to see if we can get some kind of pension for the men and free up what little resources we have so that we can find younger and stronger recruits.

Technorati : Congo, Kahuzi-Biega, WildlifeDirect, rangers

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Category: Outside of Virunga | Date: Apr 18 2007 | By: admin

I was sent to Station Chivanga at Kahuzi-Biega to help with the training there.

Above you can see me training the recruits for the station, although they’re not really new recruits as many of them have been used before as trackers, especially those from the Bantu Pygmy tribe. They have helped the park here for many years, decades even, without any recognition from the government, which means no salary as well.

The training that took place over the next few days was essential as there are many rebel groups in this area, and so it is necessary that they learn how to use arms to protect not only themselves but also the fauna to be found here, such as the lowland gorillas.

As you can see, we mostly used sticks rather than real rifles because we simply do not have enough guns for training. There is only a small group of arms which are used by one small group of rangers at a time, when out on patrol, leaving those back at the station unarmed.

We have asked the government to provide guns so that the rangers can protect themselves, visitors, conservationists and of course the animals, because this is such a dangerous region. And with a new government just installed, we can but only hope that they will be able to provide the weapons.

Technorati : Congo, DRC, National Parks

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Category: Outside of Virunga | Date: Apr 17 2007 | By: admin

After being in Epulu for a couple of days I made my way to the Park Station at Kahuzi-Biega in South Kivu to help train the guards who are working there. Outside the entrance to the station I saw these Rangers and their families celebrating.

The man in the middle, in blue, is called Jean Marie and is a guard at the park.

Two years ago he was kidnapped by a rebel leader known as ‘106′. 106 was a soldier who left the army with a group of men to form their own rebel group. They came to the Kahuzi Patrol Post and took this guy into the bush, where he was held hostage for two years.

He was often badly treated and menaced by the group, but luckily for Jean Marie he knew how to write in French and Swahili, and so the leader, 106, decided not to kill him and used him as a secretary instead. Also, because he is such a good guard, he was also used by the rebels, by force, to train them in military movements and tactics.

All the time for two years, day and night, there was always a man pointing a gun at him so he could never escape. On the very last day of his captivity, the leader 106 finally decided to kill him because he was no longer of any use to the group. It was a day of violence with him being hit and badly wounded, in preparation to kill him that night. But that evening there was a true miracle and Jean Marie was left alone in his state, probably thought too badly injured to flee, and so he took this, his first chance in two years, and made his escape.

He fled into the forest and spent eight days on the run. The leader 106 has many connections with the other rebel group, the interhamwe, who have many roadblocks in the area. 106 sent a message to the interhamwe telling them to bring this man Jean Marie back to him when he crosses one of their roadblocks.

When Jean Marie reached one of these roadblocks, the interhamwe knew who he was and showed him the message that asked for him to be returned to 106. Jean Marie told the interhamwe that he had been a prisoner of 106 and forced to work for him for two years as a slave, and that if they sent him back to 106 then he would be killed.

God was with Jean Marie, for the interhamwe said that they had no problem with him and that if what he said was true, and he had already managed to escape just before being killed, then chance was on his side and it was not for them to take chance away.

Just three days before this photo was taken, Jean Marie made it back to his wife and his family here near the station. In the picture below, on his right, is Jean Marie’s wife, and on the left is the Chief Warden of Kahuzi-Biega, Monsieur Beghene Katsumbano.

Technorati : Congo, Kahuzi-Biega, Rebels, South Kivu

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Category: Outside of Virunga | Date: Apr 16 2007 | By: admin

Just recently I went to the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in Epulu, and above you can see me with a habituated Okapi.

It has always been believed that the endangered Okapi are only to be found in Epulu, but now with our recent patrols in the area, we now have strong evidence to believe that they can also be found in the north of the park, around Djuma. It is at this point that I would like to give a big thank you to all those who have donated money to the Congo Rangers, as it is thanks to what we have bought from this money, tents and boots etc, which has made it possible for us to go out on so many patrols.

Now, with the knowledge that we are gaining from these patrols, I would like to in the future, if possible, do the same as in Epulu and conserve the Okapi because they are such an endangered species.

On our next patrol to Djuma we are going to go with Scientific Conservationists from WWF to do research on the trails and the dung found in this habitat, because we need to know how suitable it is for the okapi and whether it would be a good idea to have a project here. The tall trees that I have seen at Epulu are the same species that we have seen near Juma and Mukakati, so I am truly hoping that it will be possible to start a project as the okapi are such magnificent creatures.

Technorati : Congo Rangers, Epulu, Okapi, WildlifeDirect

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