Congo Rangers

Category: Active Service, Mountain Gorillas, Rangers | Date: Aug 15 2006 | By: admin

In late January 2006 Norbert Mushenzi, the ICCN Director responsible for the Northern Sector of the Virunga National Park, received urgent news that the eastern flanks of the gorilla habitat had come under attack by illegal cultivators.

Mother and baby under threat

We received confirmation that a large number of settlers had entered the park and had started hacking down and burning the forest to make way for agricultural land. They had been incited by local landowners who we knew to be intent on acquiring park land during the final days of lawlessness associated with the aftermath of eight years of civil war. These landowners could make significant revenues by renting park land to unsuspecting farmers.

An uncertain future for one of our closest relatives

Mushenzi contacted Conrad over the radio and requested immediate intervention by the rangers at Ishango. The rangers were still undergoing training but Conrad believed that they were ready to handle such an operation, and that it could in fact form a valuable part of the training process. At 0430 on the 7^th February 2006 40 rangers, under the watchful eye of Conrad, moved into the Maramba area during a 24-hour training operation to peacefully dislodge more than a thousand farmers who had now gathered at the foot of the mountain and were working their way quickly up the slope towards the critical gorilla habitat. The atmosphere was tense as the rangers split up into two troops to carry out the operation quickly and effectively. Over 125 farmers were taken into custody, educated on the conservation laws of the country, and warned not to return before being released.

After a lesson in Congo’s conservation laws, the illegal settlers were accompanied out of the park by ICCN rangers

The operation demonstrated the overall utility and rapid deployability of the anti-poaching and law enforcement unit. More telling was the manner and conduct of the rangers, who remained restrained and behaved in a manner appropriate to the situation. They conducted themselves fairly and with self discipline, despite the obvious stress and tension involved in such an operation.