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Yesterday Emmanuel wrote about the joint patrols we are conducting with our Rwandan counterparts. Last week I led one of these patrols on the flank of the Visoke volcano. We found a patch of forest where we found many snares, probably all left by the same poacher. As we were dismantling the snares, I heard the cries of an antelope not far away. We found the antelope, which was caught in a snare and had probably been struggling to get out for hours.

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My family lives in Kiwanja, but thankfully our neighborhood was not as badly hit by last week’s fighting as Diddy’s. My wife Josephine and my three sons Samuel (10), Meshac (6), and Enoch (3) stayed in our house and waited it out.

However, on Friday I decided to go get them out of there, because the fighting could get even worse. I took a motorcycle and rode up through the front at Kibati and through rebel-held areas around Rumangabo. I spent the night in Buvunga just north of Rumanagabo and then finally made it to Kiwanja in the morning. I was pleased to find my home and my family OK.

Enoch and Meshac

Other people in Kiwanja were not so lucky. When I passed through the Mabunga area near Kiwanja, I saw one house with the bodies of 10 men on the floor. They had all been killed by spears- whoever killed them did not want to waste any bullets.

For obvious reasons we didn’t hang around and left as soon as possible. I took my two eldest sons on my motorcycle, while Josephine and Enoch were able to get a ride on a truck down to Goma. We are now all staying with our cousins here and won’t go back until things calm down. I hope our house will not be looted, but the important thing is that we are all safe.

This is Augustin. Bad news I’m afraid: yesterday we had to evacuate from the Gatovu Patrol Post.

There have been significant movements by Nkunda’s CNDP rebels over the past few days in the Mikeno Sector. Yesterday they arrived at the Rwankuba Hill, which is right next to the Patrol Post and just opposite from a Congolese Army position.

Gatovu Patrol Post

The rangers were concerned that an attack was about to take place with them caught in the middle, so at 7PM last night we decided to evacuate them. We are today trying to find out more information from the army about what is going on, and when it might be safe to return.

You will remember that we only recently re-opened this patrol post and had launched successful anti-poaching patrols from there in the past few weeks.

I will keep you informed as things develop…

This is Augustin. The Makala Campaign is the effort to prevent the destruction of the gorilla habitat for charcoal, which is the most important threat to the future of the mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park. Our charcoal roadblock at Kibati on the route between the park and Goma has been difficult to manage, with trucks trying to force their way through at night and at high speed.

The charcoal we confiscate is sent to our station at Rumangabo for storage and is then redistributed to people who have been displaced by the war. On Monday the UNHCR came with two trucks and picked up 240 sacs of charcoal for redistribution in displaced people camps. Considering that each sac is worth $30 in Goma, that is $7,200 worth of charcoal that we are donating to the refugees.

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This is Augustin. The patrols from the newly reopened Gatovu ranger post have been fruitful. The front between the Congolese Army and Nkunda’s rebels is nearby, so the forest has suffered from illegal activities by hungry soldiers. My team of rangers have already destroyed more than 10 charcoal fires and 51 snares in the past two weeks.

Inspecting the snares

The presence of so many snares is very worrying, since the area is within the home range of the Kabirizi group of mountain gorillas. We can’t try to track down the gorillas, since most of their range is still crawling with rebels who would shoot at us on sight.

Mesi from the Kabirizi Family Group

Bonane and Kwibesha

You may remember that we arrested a poacher near Gatovu and I filmed an interview with him. The best we can do right now is patrol where we can safely, removing snares when we find them and tracking down poachers.

I just hope that the gorillas have been able to avoid the snares and are doing OK without us…

Karibu and Serundori

This is Augustin. Late last week we continued our patrols in the Gatovu area, where we discovered 21 snares and caught a poacher. Please watch the video:

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This is Augustin Kambale.

Last Monday, I led a patrol on the south side of the Nyiragongo volcano with ten men. It was an “out and back” patrol, meaning we left early and came back the same day. Spending the night would have been too risky because we had heard that the FDLR militias were operating in the area, protecting the network of illegal charcoal kilns. This was the first patrol in Shahero in quite some time because the Interhamwe (FLDR) presence has been too strong. The Interhamwe, for those of you that don’t know, are made up of extremist Hutus, the band credited with the Rwandan genocide in 1994. We left our camp at 5 am and climbed the slopes of Mt. Nyiragongo. By 7 am, at an altitude of 2850 meters, we found a large deforested area, the obvious site of illegal charcoal production. The tip-off we received about the kilns proved to be true. We found 70 kilns burning and 10 sacks of charcoal staged and ready for transportation. In the following hours, we destroyed all 70 kilns, seized 10 hoes, burned 2 make-shift camps, and apprehended two kiln workers. It was because our patrol started so early that we didn’t catch more workers. The majority were not back yet from spending the weekend in Goma, where they go to re-supply and relax. The charcoal “bosses” in Goma are the ones who pay these men to go into the park to make illegal charcoal. These workers are paid an average of USD$1 per day to cut trees, make kilns, and to burn and put the charcoal into sacks. Once the charcoal is ready (normally it is a 6-day process), the bosses hire people as “mules” to transport the charcoal from the Virunga NP to Goma city. They don’t cross Kibati checkpoint to reach Goma any more because of all the recent seizures of illegal charcoal. Instead, they use a footpath far to the south-west. One look at the area makes it apparent that charcoal production in this area is rampant. Now that we know the FDLR isn’t operating in the Shahero area, we need to step up our patrols to shut down all the illegal activity. We must protect the vulnerable flora and fauna in the area.

Destroying a charcoal kiln

Trees cut down to make yet another illegal kiln

What was once beautiful forest is now moon scape.