Gorilla Protection

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Oct 06 2008 | By: admin

In Innocents latest post on the official website of the Virunga National Park he reports in great detail how soldiers were caught ‘red handed’ making charcoal in the forest.

” We drove to Mwaro and hiked into the forest near a Congolese army position on the road. We very soon discovered vast areas of forest that had been cut down. Logs had been chopped and stacked in preparation to make charcoal. Soon after we found dozens of charcoal kilns at different stages- some had just been stacked, others were still burning, and some had sacks of charcoal next to them ready to transport to Goma for sale.

There were dozens of people working on the kilns, including women and children. We detained all the men and arrested two soldiers who were running the operation. We ordered the men to destroy the kilns they had just built and then marched them out of the forest.

The atmosphere was tense and we had to leave quickly. After explaining to them why we had to stop what they were doing, we decided to let most of the men go free. The two soldiers were placed in our vehicle and we drove them to our headquarters in Rumangabo. They are now under arrest and will be transferred to Goma to be handed over to the military tribunal.

Read more about it and check out the photos here

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Tags: charcoal, DR Congo, gorillas, wildlifedirect

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Category: Kabirizi Family | Date: Oct 05 2008 | By: gorilla

Looking for Miza was only just recently launched in New York at the first childrens Gorilla Summit

The book was developed to raise awareness amongst young people about the crisis facing mountain gorillas, and the need for everyone to help. Like it’s predecessor Owen and Mzee, “Looking for Miza” is already no. 1 in Amazons non fiction childrens books on monkeys and apes.  This book was made possible through a collaboration with the ICCN and involved working with  Diddy and Innocent, two rangers who are the heroes of the story. After spending time with them in Congo they both came to Kenya to help tie up ends. Both Diddy and Innocent were wonderful to work with and are recognized in the book along with others for their important contributions towards the story and photos. from is the editorial review on Amazon

“In a magical place called the Congo, in the beautiful forests and jungles of Virunga National Park, lives a young female mountain gorilla named Miza. She was just like any other baby gorilla, riding on her mother’s back, playing, taking naps. Then, one day, when Miza and her mother were out searching for food, Miza’s mother disappeared, leaving her baby alone and frightened. Miza’s father, a fierce silverback named Kabirizi and the leader of Virunga’s largest family of mountain gorillas, set out to find Miza. The Congolese rangers, who dedicate their lives to protecting the gorillas, were searching for Miza, too. Everyone was worried about her. Then something amazing happened: Kabirizi found Miza and brought her back to live with her family.

Virunga is home to roughly 380 mountain gorillas, just over half of the planet’s remaining mountain gorilla population. Miza and other mountain gorillas face an especially uncertain future. They are an endangered species, disappearing at an alarming speed. Without our help they could vanish completely.

Filled with lush photographs by award-winning photographer Peter Greste, LOOKING FOR MIZA is a powerful call to action. The fate of these majestic creatures is in our hands. This is Miza’s story. It’s our story, too. “

Children are signing the Kids Global Act  Pact and leaving suggestions for solutions to the crisis on the Scholastic website here

You can order the book on Amazon here 

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Tags: Congo, gorillas, Looking for Miza, Mountain Gorillas, Virunga National Park

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Category: Political situation, Press, Threats | Date: Oct 05 2008 | By: admin

The situation on the ground in eastern Congo remains tense and the official website of the United Nations Monuc.org the peace keeping force have declared “The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) firmly condemns the recent declaration of Laurent Nkunda calling for an insurrection against the elected legitimate Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). MONUC and the international community will not tolerate this renewed attempt at destabilizing the political process.”

Sensibilisation campaign organized by MONUC to protect street children. Photo Myriam Asmani / MONUC

Secretary-General’s Special Representative Alan Doss has asked for additional peacekeepers beyond the nearly 19,000 uniformed personnel already there to prevent the vast country from slipping back into “horrendous” conflict.

Photo: MONUC

Responding to this condemnation from the United nations a spokesman for Nkunda, Bertrand Bisimwa, has denied that the rebel leader Laurent Nkunda was threatening to expand his rebellion. It has been captured in the press here and here

“”We haven’t said we are going to wage war outside of the borders of North Kivu,” Bisimwa told Reuters by telephone, responding to questions about Nkunda’s comments.

Nkunda’s statement broke months of silence, amid rumours that he was ill. His fighters have since August launched attacks on the Congolese army in eastern North Kivu province, forcing at least 100,000 people from their homes.

The United Nations, which has its biggest international peacekeeping force, around 17,000 strong, in Congo, said it was studying Nkunda’s comments, which seemed to threaten an escalation of the long-running conflict in North Kivu.”

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Tags: Conflict, DR Congo, Laurent Nkunda, MONUC, United Nations

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Category: Humanitarian Situation, Political situation, Threats | Date: Oct 04 2008 | By: gorilla

According to this article in the Associated Press fighting in Eastern Congo could escalate into a wider conflict.

“The top U.N. envoy to Congo warned Friday that renewed fighting in eastern Congo has heightened ethnic tensions and could lead to the renewal of a wider conflict in central Africa.

Alan Doss urged all militias in the country’s hilly eastern border area — the scene of the worst fighting and a humanitarian crisis in Congo — to support a U.N. disengagement plan to bring peace to the conflict-wracked region.

He expressed dismay at reports this week that a key rebel leader, Laurent Nkunda, who initially said he would discuss the plan, was now reported to be backtracking and “walking out of any effort to move the peace process forward.”

Nkunda launched a low-level rebellion several years ago claiming Congo’s transition to democracy had excluded the country’s minority Tutsi ethnic group, which is being targeted by ethnic Hutus from Congo as well as Rwanda.

The U.N. estimates there are about 20,000 militia fighters in the east, belonging to a number of different groups.

Among them are members of an extremist ethnic Hutu militia accused of orchestrating the 1994 genocide of 500,000 ethnic Tutsis in Rwanda. The group and others are accused of razing villages, terrorizing the local population and perpetrating rapes”.

The fighting in this region directly affects conservation efforts and the needs of Virunga National Park are now greater than ever and although the original authors of the gorilla blog have stopped posting here, WildlifeDirect will continue to support gorilla conservation efforts by maintaining this blog and raising funds to continue support the rangers in the field.

To date we have sent over $400,000 to the Virunga National Park  from funds raied on this blog which has helped significantly in keeping the rangers on the ground. Thank you all for your support. The situation in Eastern Congo is very serious but we cannot give up hope that peace will return. Our goal is to help ensure that wildlife, especially mountain gorillas survive through this trying period. Our thoughts and prayers are with the rangers who continue to work despite the escalating conflict.

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Tags: Congo, Mountain Gorillas, Virunga National Park, wildlifedirect

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Category: Community, Humanitarian Situation, Mountain Gorillas, Press, Threats | Date: Oct 02 2008 | By: gorilla

If you have a cell phone, DVD player or use a computer then chances are that some part of these devices are made of  Coltan. Coltan and Cassiterite are minerals found mainly in the Congo where it’s exploitation has been linked to the deadly conflicts and human abuses.

These mines are typically worked by children

The good news is that U.S. Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) have introduced the Conflict Coltan and Cassiterite Act, legislation which would require certification of minerals imported from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Their press release earlier this year

“We are witnessing a grave humanitarian crisis in Congo, and we must act now to put an end to the death and suffering,” said Brownback. “Everyday, Americans use products that have been manufactured using inhumanely mined minerals. The legislation introduced by Senator Durbin and I will bring accountability and transparency to the supply chain of minerals used in the manufacturing of many electronic devices.”

Every day in Congo, 1,500 people die as a direct or indirect result of the conflict over the mining of minerals like cassiterite and coltan; to date, the conflict has displaced more than 1.3 million Congolese and has resulted in over 5.4 million deaths.

“Without knowing it, tens of millions of people in the United States may be putting money in the pockets of some of the worst human rights violators in the world, simply by using a cell phone or laptop computer,” Durbin said. “We ought to do all we can to make sure that the products we use and the minerals we import, in no way support those who violate human rights abroad.”

The Conflict Coltan and Cassiterite Act requires the President to compile a list of armed groups in the DRC committing serious human rights violations, and prohibits the importation into the U.S. of any product containing columbite-tantalite (”coltan”) or cassiterite (tin ore) from the DRC if groups on the list would financially benefit.

Approximately 65% of the world’s coltan reserves are located in Congo. Congolese civilians are terrorized and brutalized by warring rebel groups seeking to capitalize on the mining of these minerals. Coltan is commonly used in electronic devices like cell phones, computers, and DVD players.

You can read more about this piece of legislation and what you can do on Take Action website here. According to this site, the bill has been referred to the Committee on Finance.

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Tags: Cassiterite, coltan, Conflict, Congo

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Category: Uganda | Date: Oct 01 2008 | By: gorilla

Uganda has just announced some good news. A new family of mountain gorillas  is ready for interaction with tourists, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) here and here “There is a new group of 13 members that has been habituated,” UWA spokeswoman Lillian Nsubuga said.

Ugandan wildlife experts have been habituating the family, headed by a silverback named Nduhura, since October 2006 and now the endangered primates draw foreign visitors to Uganda’s Impenetrable Forest at a cost of 500 US dollars per visit. Mountain gorilla tourism is one of the cornerstones of Uganda’s tourism industry. Uganda is home to 350 mountain gorillas, half of the world’s population, and the population in Uganda is stable and possibly even increasing.

Uganda’s mountain gorillas are restricted to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, 13 hours from the capital Kampala.  Bwindi the the only forest in Africa in which chimpanzees and mountain gorillas occur together.  National Geographic also highlight the importance of this population in a new article here. The gorilla population is not contiguous with the Virunga population which is found in DR Congo and Rwanda. Some scientists think that the Bwindi population may in fact be a separate subspecies.

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Tags: Bwindi, mountain gorilla, Uganda

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Sep 30 2008 | By: gorilla

Virunga National Park - its Rangers, Mountain Gorillas, and other wildlife - has a new website.

Please go to www.gorilla.cd or click on the picture links below. Meet the Virunga team - and join the Virunga team in the fight to protect the park and the last remaining mountain gorillas!

You of course already know our new logo!

From all the Team at Gorilla.cd and Virunga National Park - please leave comments on the new site and let us know what you think!

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