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An Assessment of Poaching and Wildlife Trafficking in the Garamba-Bili-Chinko Transboundary Landscape
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An assessment of poaching and wildlife trafficking in the Garamba-Bili-Chinko transboundary landscape of southeastern Central African Republic and northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. TRAFFIC and IUCN
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... BUPAC´s wildlife has experienced severe pressures from an increased demand for wild meat and ivory due to increasing human population in the vicinity of the park and from violent conflicts. population densities of large mammals declined over the last twenty years like in other Congolese PAs such as Garamba (Ondoua et al., 2017). ...
... The vast BUPAC area has been difficult to protect efficiently due to insecurity and poor transportation infrastructure. Artisanal mining, poaching, the influx of pastoralists from the north, the continuous presence of local rebel groups and militia, and the large influx of refugees from the civil strife in CAR have posed significant threats (Akana, 2015;Hicks et al., 2010;Ondoua et al., 2017). As in most of the DRC, protection and research in the BUPAC, was obstructed by the First (1996First ( -1997 and Second (1998Second ( -2003 Congo Wars, as well as by other more sporadic, localised armed conflicts. ...
Protected areas are crucial to safeguard Sub-Saharan Africa’s extraordinary and abundant
megafauna. In many of these areas, instability has derailed conservation efforts and
impeded adequate wildlife monitoring. Discovered in 2004, Eastern chimpanzees are found
in the Central Uele Basin in northern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) within the Bili-
Uéré Protected Areas Complex (BUPAC), the largest contiguous protected area in the
country. BUPAC is threatened by habitat destruction, mining, wild meat trade, and insecurity.
BUPAC chimpanzees are part of the largest remaining continuous population of the species
in Africa; they are also being behaviourally unique. Forest elephants were frequent in the
1960’s in the BUPAC but have declined significantly up to 2004 - 2007. We used line
transects to estimate Eastern chimpanzee and forest elephant density in the BUPAC core
area in 2016 and 2019 and compared these with the 2004-2007 surveys. A total of 37 and
137 two km long line transects were systematically placed in 5,841 km2 and 6,176 km2
survey areas in 2016 and 2019, respectively. We found that chimpanzee density did not
change during the two survey periods but indicators for forest elephant density decreased
eight-fold. Human activities were detected mainly along the core area periphery in both
survey years, where they overlapped with centres of animal activity. The stable high density
of chimpanzees is a positive outcome for the core BUPAC. However, despite being a
conservation priority area that has received relatively intensified protection, declining forest
elephant numbers are likely to reflect the high number of human conflict hotspots in vicinity
as well as the increasing human population density around the core area. We propose by
elevating the core area to National Park whilst strengthening on the ground enforcement and
management structures as well as legal measures against poaching might ensure the longterm survival of such an important area in Africa.
... Our research opens lines for further work. While our paper analyzes the effect of CMPs on habitat conservation, PAs actually face a confluence of threats going beyond deforestation, such as wild meat hunting and high value poaching [42][43][44][45]. Due to the large demand for bushmeat across the continent and the high value of the commodity, it is likely that the threat from poaching is insidious and more difficult to control than that of deforestation. ...
Collaborative management partnerships (CMPs) between state wildlife authorities and nonprofit conservation organizations to manage protected areas (PAs) have been used increasingly across Sub-Saharan Africa since the 2000s. They aim to attract funding, build capacity, and increase the environmental effectiveness of PAs. Our study documents the rise of CMPs, examines their current extent, and measures their effectiveness in protecting habitats. We combine statistical matching and Before-After-Control-Intervention regressions to quantify the impact of CMPs, using tree cover loss as a proxy. We identify 127 CMPs located in 16 countries. CMPs are more often located in remote PAs, with habitats that are least threatened by human activity. Our results indicate that, on average, each year in a CMP results in an annual decrease in tree cover loss of about 55% compared to PAs without CMPs. Where initial anthropogenic pressure was low, we measure no effect. Where it was high, we see a 66% decrease in tree cover loss. This highly heterogeneous effect illustrates the importance of moving beyond average effect size when assessing conservation interventions, as well as the need for policy makers to invest public funds to protect the areas the most at risk.
... Three species detected in this study represent new country records and four are range extensions, while another bridges a gap between eastern CAR and north-west Ethiopia (Table 1), reflecting the lack of survey work in South Sudan. Indeed, this landscape has been dubbed the 'African Pole of Inaccessibility' due to its remoteness, poor road access and persistent insecurity (Ondoua et al. 2017). ...
Avian camera trap image data from two game reserves in south- western South Sudan produced three new country records, four other range extensions, and one filled a distributional gap between north-west Ethiopia and eastern Central African Republic. The study took place at Bangangai (31 traps, January 2015‒February 2016) and Bire Kpatuos Game Reserves (52 traps, September 2015‒August 2017). A total of 40 species (18 families) was recorded, including two Near Threatened species of global conservation concern: Crowned Eagle Stephanoaetus coronatus and White-naped Pigeon Columba albinucha. The occurrence of Black Goshawk Accipiter melanoleucus, Grey-throated Rail Canirallusoculeus and Nkulengu Rail Himantornis haematopus represent first records for South Sudan.
... In eastern DRC, armed groups involved in artisanal mining are responsible for much of the bushmeat poaching. In both eastern and northern DRC, poaching and illegal wildlife trafficking have been driven by insecurity over the past 20 years (Ondoua Ondoua, et al., 2017). Another major threat is habitat loss and degradation due to smallholder and shifting agriculture. ...
Report on the Status of Great Apes to the CITES Standing Committee by United Nations Environment Programme Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
"Beginning in 2013, the Central African Republic has been engulfed in a civil war pitting successive governments against a substantial number of armed groups who also compete against each other for control over territory, population and resources. Some of these groups are claiming to be defenders of religious groups in the country, with the Séléka militias fighting for the Muslim communities and the anti-Balaka groups claiming Christian roots and inclinations. Other religiously inspired armed groups such as the Lord’s Resistance Army are also present in the country. The following study is an attempt to understand how the “religious” label can be applied to such armed groups and whether it can influence their behavior, thus bringing into light a valuable, albeit lesser known example on how AGs and religion are connected in contemporary Africa. Keywords: armed groups, religion, Central African Republic, violence, civil war "
There have been widespread reports of elephant poaching by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Garamba National Park (GNP) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), presenting a narrative that ivory poaching funds terror and that both can be solved by the same (military) intervention. This narrative distorts the complex dynamics. It identifies clear villains, edits out other poaching actors, and legitimises particular interventions. Poaching is portrayed as a moral, non-political issue and military intervention is portrayed as a logical outcome. The wider history and current context are neglected. The LRA's poaching threat, relative to other actors, is overemphasised. It ignores how the LRA poaching—real as it was—fits into a history of poaching caused by problems with state capacity and territorial control, including incursions by armed actors. The situation demands solutions that are more complex than merely defeating the LRA. More so, military intervention against the LRA has worsened poaching, due to state military implications in poaching. The article shows how the 'LRA ivory–terrorism' narrative is a discursive tool for particular agendas, which primarily allow particular interventions, legitimisation of resources, or wider readership. In this way, the actors involved create their own echo-chamber, which is less concerned with local dynamics and which does not include practical conservation actors in Garamba. The narrative has also begun to shift.
This chapter contextualizes the development of green criminology and the study of environmental crime. In specific, it examines the stages of the illegal wildlife trade: (1) poaching, (2) smuggling, (3) processing, and (4) online distribution.
Ivory poaching and trading in central and eastern Africa has recently received a lot of attention. On the one hand, there have been a number of analyses highlighted how ‘tusks fund terror’ for the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). On the other hand, there have been a wide range of news reports on the confiscation of large consignments of ivory, in Entebbe airport, but particularly in Mombasa , all of which highlighting the intensified trade in ivory and the important (transit) role of Uganda. This analysis wants to better document both of these points, by linking them together: it wants to explain the poaching dynamics in Garamba National Park (GNP) in the DRC, where the LRA is active. It particularly wants to show how the LRA is a relatively minor actor in poaching – it can by far not explain the strong intensification of elephant poaching in the park: whereas from 2007 to 2012, 7 to 8 elephants were killed in the park, in the first 10 months of 2012 alone, a staggering 50 elephants were killed. Related with this, the analysis wants to show how much of the ivory passing through Uganda, or confiscated in Mombasa, comes from GNP. Therefore, while calls from the UN Security Council to investigate the role of the LRA in ivory poaching are useful in bringing attention to the poaching problem, the strict attention to the LRA is not particularly helpful, and will only have a limited impact.
This paper discusses the justice and security mechanisms in Haut-Uele district. It shows how the district has a long history of marginalization and degradation. In the context of degraded state institutions and geographical isolation, the resolution of conflicts remains limited to a local and isolated level through which a small number
of actors – particularly the customary chiefs - play an important role. Moreover, it is shown how different actors make deliberate efforts to concentrate decision-making processes at their own level. All this has strongly negative consequences for the beneficiaries. Secondly, it is shown how the presence of the LRA rebel group has
further accelerated this process, since the conflict has increased the isolation of certain areas whilst at the same time making conflict resolution more multi-layered, as other actors such as the army and international organizations have become involved. The latter has had a positive impact for the beneficiaries.
The escalating illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is one of the most high profile conservation challenges today. The crisis has attracted over US$350 million in donor and government funding in recent years, primarily directed at increased enforcement against IWT. There is growing recognition among practitioners and policy makers of the need to engage rural communities that neighbour or live with wildlife as key partners in tackling IWT. However, a framework to guide such community engagement is lacking. Here, we present a Theory of Change (ToC) to guide policy-makers, donors, and practitioners in partnering with communities to combat IWT. Our ToC identifies four pathways for community-level actions: a) strengthening disincentives for illegal behaviour; b) increasing incentives for wildlife stewardship; c) decreasing costs of living with wildlife; and d) supporting non-wildlife related livelihoods. The pathways all require strengthening of enabling conditions, including capacity building, and of governance in order to succeed. Our ToC serves to guide actions to tackle IWT and to inform the evaluation of policies. Moreover, our ToC serves as a tool to foster dialogue among IWT stakeholders from local communities through to governments and international donors to develop a more effective, holistic and sustainable community-based response to the IWT crisis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Alternative livelihood project is a widely used term for interventions that aim to reduce the prevalence of activities deemed to be environmentally damaging by substituting them with lower impact livelihood activities that provide at least equivalent benefits. Alternative livelihood projects are widely implemented in conservation, but in 2012, an IUCN resolution called for a critical review of such projects based on concern that their effectiveness was unproven. Here, we focus on the conceptual design of alternative livelihood projects by considering their underlying assumptions. We place alternative livelihood projects within a broad category of livelihood-focused interventions to better understand their role in conservation and their intended impacts. We present and dissect three flawed assumptions based on the notions of substitution, the homogenous community and impact scalability. Interventions based on flawed assumptions about people's needs, aspirations and the factors that influence livelihood choice are unlikely to achieve conservation objectives. We therefore recommend use of a sustainable livelihoods approach to: understand the role and function of environmentally damaging behaviors within livelihood strategies; differentiate between households in a community which have the greatest environmental impact and those most vulnerable to resource access restrictions to improve intervention targeting; and learn more about the social-ecological system within which household livelihood strategies are embedded. Rather than using livelihood-focused interventions as a direct behavior-change tool, it may be more appropriate to focus either on enhancing the existing livelihood strategies of those most vulnerable to conservation-imposed resource access restrictions, or use livelihood-focused interventions that establish a clear link to conservation as a means of building good community relations. However, we recommend that the term "alternative livelihood project" is replaced by the broader term "livelihood-focused intervention". This avoids the implicit assumption that "alternatives" can fully substitute for natural resource-based livelihood activities. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Vast, pristine ecosystems and their biodiversity are vanishing globally at frightening speed, but many large tracts of wilderness have not yet been systematically inventoried and important natural populations of threatened species remain poorly characterized. The forest-savanna ecotone of the Eastern Central African Republic (CAR) is one such poorly studied area. Using camera traps, transect walks and collected fecal samples, we provide the first quantitative survey of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in this region previously classified as a highly important chimpanzee conservation unit. In contrast to species distribution models and expert predictions, we did not find any evidence of chimpanzees in the large and remote forest blocks west of the Chinko River despite considerable search effort. Our study thus highlights the limitations of relying solely on remote sensing data to predict the presence or absence of endangered species and illustrates the necessity of extensive field surveys to accurately assess occurrence and density in remote areas. However, we did discover a sizeable and reproducing population of chimpanzees east of the Chinko River. Based on a density of 0.81 chimpanzees/km² in closed canopy forest that we inferred from nest count data, we estimate 910 weaned chimpanzees to inhabit the Chinko Nature Reserve (CNR) and further predict additional 2700 individuals in adjacent, unmanaged hunting zones and reserves. According to microsatellite data, these chimpanzees genetically cluster with P. t. schweinfurthii populations in East Africa. Conservation action and appropriate management plans are urgently needed to protect this important population and to prevent heavily-armed nomadic pastoralists from the Sahel, illegal miners, as well as elephant and meat poachers, from irretrievably destroying the natural vegetation and local biodiversity of the area.
