Problems and Risks

War and refugee camps

The crisis that has gripped the Great Lakes' region in Africa for about 10 years impacts upon all aspects of society. The region's fauna and flora are no exception. The economy is in a desolate state and the population has become extremely poor, some people survive by poaching animals within protected areas and by unsustainably harvesting the timber resources (e. g. through the production of charcoal, illegal trade in precious timber etc.).
Park guards were disarmed in November 1996 and due to lack of operational funds (some guards have not received their salary for several years), poachers and other people whose actions negatively impact on the park’s resources are at an advantage and can operate easily.

Park guard next to a gorilla whose arm has been lost to a landmine (source: UICN website, credits:WWF/Martin Harvey)

An important negative impact on the park's biodiversity has been observed between 1994 and 1996, when Rwandan refugees arrived en masse on Congolese territory (former Zaire), and were settled in the vicinity of Virunga National Park. Several hectares of forest were subsequently cleared within a short period in the park. Village forest plantations (woodlots) were also cut before the trees reached maturity and the wood was sold in the refugee camps. Consequently, the entire region of North Kivu has been virtually deforested.

Deforestation in 1996 (Two Years after the arrival of the refugees) Imagetype : SPOT, Credits: I-mage
LEGEND
Total Deforestation	Strong Deforestation	Weak  Deforestation

Another example of deforestation can be found in change detection.
The negative impact political events in the region have had on the fauna are enormous. This is illustrated by the numbers of hippopotamuses that decreased from 10 000 in 1990 to fewer than 4 000 in 1996. For these reasons, Virunga National Park was inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger at the 18th session of the World Heritage Committee (1994).

Currently, there are two major problems namely:

• Pressure on forest resources within park increased due to shortage of fuelwood in settlement areas around the park.
• There are many armed groups presently situated in the park, such as the Mai Mai (local rebels) and Rwandan Interahamwe militias. Military having been settled in the park to combat these groups also often resort to poaching with firearms

Skulls and bones of poached gorillas discovered by guards

Tourism

Through the war, the park lost almost all of its infrastructure and does not have any means of generating its own revenue. Tourism activities in the central part of the park ceased since 1996.
Gorilla tourism, which generated a considerable income for the park was discontinued since August 1998. The rationale for tourist visits is to assist gorilla conservation by generating revenue from them. The money spent by tourists is used to pay the wages for the park guards and is invested in the management and protection for the park. Many other people profit from the tourism business. Tourism can generate important resources for gorilla conservation on the condition that it is organized in a careful way. Approaching the gorillas too closely, for example increases the risk of transmitting diseases. Another risk has become evident over the last few years: gorillas habituated to people can be tracked down and killed by poachers much more easily. Therefore, it is often the habituated groups that are killed first.

A sleeping gorilla that later was killed by poachers.	At this short distance, diseases can easily be transmitted.