Garamba National park celebrates 80 years anniversary amidst conservation challenges

BY SAMUEL NABWIISO 

Garamba National in the Democratic Republic of Congo recently celebrated its 80 Anniversary as national park the colorful event was organized by the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Institute Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) and conservation organization African Parks.

Garamba is one of the continent’s oldest national parks, declared in 1938, and is an extremely diverse, globally important natural landscape. The 5,133 km2park, which is also a World Heritage Site, has been the decades-long target of militant poaching groups, including the Lord’s Resistance Army.

Rhino,s  in Garamba National park

Once home to 22,000 elephants, the Northern white rhino, and herds of Kordofan giraffe as recently as the 1970s, today there are fewer than 1,200 elephants remaining, the rhino has been extirpated, and only 48 Kordofan giraffe remain this problem has been fuelled by the increasing trade in illegal wildlife products. 

To ensure that more Animals are protected from poachers, African Parks assumed management of Garamba in partnership with the ICCN in 2005, this helped to curtail poaching because African parks overhauled law enforcement and implemented systems to match the level of threat, providing improved security for the park’s wildlife and surrounding communities. In just 18 months, elephant poaching has been reduced by fifty percent, and so far in 2018 only two elephants have been poached.

“The illegal wildlife trade has had devastating effects on our natural heritage, both in DRC and throughout Africa. It not only impoverishes landscapes, but negatively affects the millions of people relying on these areas as well” said the Director General of the ICCN Cosma Wilungula Balongelwa.

He adds that  “But seeing the emerging role a secure Garamba plays in the stability of the region, we are committed more than ever to combating poaching and to our partnership with African Parks, which is creating a safer landscape and a brighter future for countless people and wildlife in the region”.

The park’s 80thanniversary was attended by His Excellence the Governor of the Haut-Uélé province, dignitaries, partners, representatives from the EU, USAID, and Randgold Resources and over 1,000 community members. The Director General of ICCN Cosma Wilungula Balongelwa and CEO of African Parks Peter Fearnhead led the proceedings, during which a symbolic quantity of Garamba’s ivory stockpile was burnt. In an official parade to commemorate this historic occasion, the park also celebrated the passing out of 50 newly recruited and trained rangers, who will join the park’s law enforcement team.

“Garamba is one of Africa’s most challenging landscapes to protect, where both people and wildlife have borne tremendous costs inflicted by heavily-incentivized militant groups and regional instability” said Peter Fearnhead, CEO of African Parks.

He added by explaining that African parks will continue to work with ICCN to ensure that the park is protected from all kinds of threats

  “ What we’re demonstrating here with the ICCN and our partners is that with a shared vision, political will, donor support and engagement with local communities, we can shift the trajectory of this region and are now offering a safe place for biodiversity and people in even the most extraordinary circumstances” he said.

Garamba National park stretches distance of 261 kilometers it border with South Sudan, Garamba is situated in a volatile corner of north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Besides the constant threat of poaching by outside factions, the violence in neighbouring South Sudan has displaced thousands of people creating an increasing flow of refugees into the region who are depending on the park’s resources. 

Enlisted as a World Heritage Site in Danger in 1996, Garamba National Park is of irreplaceable natural value warranting significant efforts to secure its protection. After eighty years as a national park, spanning many losses and more recent signs of progress to restore stability, the commemoration occurs amidst growing concerns for the state of the world’s protected areas and World Heritage Sites. In 2017, thirty-six percent of World Heritage Sites were assessed as being of ‘significant concern’ or ‘critical’ in the IUCN World Heritage Outlook.