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Protecting the Mountain Gorillas of Virunga
Why Aerial Surveillance Can Help Save Virunga
There were a number of important questions over the issue of an aircraft for Virunga. I think it’s impossible to manage a park as big and as complicated as Virunga without adequate aerial support. There are three main areas where we need an aircraft: for surveillance, medical evacuations and for logistics.
Surveillance is becoming increasingly important as the pressures on the park and on the rangers increase. This is for all sorts of reasons. Of course, the primary purpose is to get law enforcement teams in place rapidly when we find poachers. Our main aim is to prevent poaching, so we need to try to find the poachers before they kill an animal. With regular surveillance flights, we can often spot the poachers fires, even if they’re in the forest. Poachers know that they have a much greater chance of being detected and this acts as a very important deterrent, ultimately helping us to ensure that poachers give up even trying to enter the park. The same is true for the charcoal fire.
Virunga is 7,800 square kilometres of park - much of it inaccessible by road
Another important issue is that our wildlife authority is currently going through a reform process. One of the outcomes is that our staff will be reduced by almost 50%. This reduces our ability to carry out widespread surveillance on foot. However, it does mean that the remaining rangers will be younger, and more able to carry out interventions against poachers, but only if we are able to guide them effectively, and for that we need aerial support.
Of course, it is not just about law enforcement. Sometimes we come across a problem, like a land invasion. If we detect it early on, we can talk to the local chiefs and to the people involved, and through persuasion, convince them to leave the park. But if we aren’t even aware that the land invasion has happened, weeks or months can go by, and the situation becomes almost irreversible. An aircraft would help us to set up a very effective early warning system that is in everyone’s interest.
Elephants are just one of the many species that need protecting in Virunga
Medical evacuations are an serious problem for us. Last year, Kanyangara died from bullet wounds eight hours after he was shot by poachers. He died in a dug-out canoe as his team were trying to get him to hospital. If we had had an aircraft, we could have evacuated and got him into intensive care in about three hours. I don’t know if that would have saved him, but it certainly would have increased his chances.
Logistics would improve enormously with a light aircraft. At the moment it takes me 5 days to a week to cover all the stations and sub-stations of the park by road. I need to do these rounds to check on staff and make sure that things are running smoothly. If I were flying a plane, I could do it in a day. It also means that we can deal with urgent supplies, like dropping medicine for rangers during operations.
There are other important reasons to acquire an aircraft, but in essence, I don’t think we can succeed in protecting the park without aerial support. Thank you for your donations. And if you have any more questions please leave a comment here.
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15 Responses to “Why Aerial Surveillance Can Help Save Virunga”
Thanks Emmanuel for the clear explanation.
Does reform and the 50% reduction of staff mean that any addition of volunteers (like the ones you got on board lately, after the death of the young baby gorilla) would become impossible? Do the donations give you the possibility to take on more “unofficial” rangers, or is this not feasible (no long term job security, not in line with ICCN rules etc)?
Thanks Dominique. No, we can take on “volunteers” to help with the conservation effort. Infact it’s a key part of our strategy to keep up the wildlife protection levels, and we we’re hoping to increase local involvement in future.
This is such an important project. I believe it is the best way to protect the wildlife and the rangers. I really want there to be zero rangers murdered this year!!! Last year during this month Ranger Katambiri was murdered while protecting the hippos. I wish I could give more. By the way I want to tell Emmanuel how much I enjoy his book “Virunga: The Survival of Africa’ss First National Park”. What a fantastic book! I found the information about the Semliki River particularly interesting. Perhaps in the future on this blog some pictures of the gorges and waterfalls of the Upper Semliki could be posted. I’m sure everyone would find that very interesting. Happy Easter to the rangers.
Yes, the Semliki Valley has to be one of the most beautiful places on the African continent. When you’re at Ishango, at the top of the valley, you have the glaciers of the Ruwenzories to the north east and the Semliki River river with its beautiful gallery forests flowing north. To the west are the Mitumba mountains, with the lowland gorillas on Mount Tshiaberimu and Lake Edward to the south. All around is the most beautiful acacia savanna I’ve ever seen. Three of the four rangers who died last year were killed protecting this area.
I lived at Ishango for a year in 2001. It was at the height the war, and we counted only 14 hippos. Today there are about 150. Godefroid estimates that there are also about 150 elephants, up from 21 in 2001. It’s a beacon of hope for the rest of the park.
I agree with Dave about the book. One detail: the maps on pp 19 to 25 (French edition) are quite helpful: maybe a few of them on this site would be helpful as well, especially for the French speaking people who are not too familiar with English and only surf through the essentials?
Emmanuel, as always, yours is the voice of reason. Thank you, and best wishes, Iris.
I am great lover of nature, and when I fly over Virunga park, I am always proud as a Congolese for that asset. I agree a 100% that a helicopter will do a great job in preventing animal massacres and will save the lives of rangers. Go for the Idea.
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I gather from a Swara article (last year) that Garamba has aircraft. Pretty essential but not an absolute deterrent.
I 100% support the acquirement of aircraft.
It will take your work to the next level.
Emmanuel - Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions on the importance of aerial surveillance in Virunga. It provides greater clarity of purpose and I hope you are able to reach you goal. I am now happy to offer another donation for this campaign. Cheers
Selina, many many thanks for that. It’s actually really appreciated when people discuss and question the strategies that we are putting in place. Quite a few of the ideas that we have implemented in Virunga were developped from suggestions and ideas from people on this blog
[...] United Sates and paid a deposit on it (to read more on how aerial surveillance can help Virunga go here). We’re making adjustments to the aircraft to make it a good bush plane, and we’ve found [...]
I think an aircraft is good for Virunga given it’s size but ideally this is an operation between Rwanda, Uganda and Congo so as to make it more economically viable (costs are divided by three) and effective (given the region sits with the three countries). Each country could play a role in supporting the aircraft so as to feel some value for money. Although I while a light plane can cover more ground and is probably cheaper, a helicopter is more effective in evacuations and taking action.
Your work is our work. We support you and would very much like to sponsor a contest in our community to try and raise your budget for one year. Please contact me at the email address supplied. People can make a difference. This is our planet and these are our ancestors that deserve a peaceful life. Governments make wars. We can override them and build a sustainable earth. Together. Blessings to you and your good works.
[...] very effective wildlife protection by maintaining good surveillance through regular patrolling, establishing good observation posts and providing aerial support. We also need to deploy well trained rangers very quickly to areas where the wildlife is at risk. [...]