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Components of the aerial GIS/camera system (upper right) that Virunga hopes to acquire for its Cessna 182

Virunga National Park has an urgent need to increase its geographic information system (GIS) capability in order to better protect wildlife and habitat. The greatest need at the moment is to equip the park’s Cessna 182 surveillance aircraft with a GIS system that is able to simultaneously photograph and “geo tag” the exact location of each image. How would that help Virunga’s rangers? Here are some of the most important ways:

• Increase the accuracy of wildlife surveys
• Help the park defend itself against land encroachment
• Catalog unprotected areas adjacent to the park that contain critical habitat
• Document and monitor illegal forest clearance and charcoal operations, and direct rangers to them as efficiently as possible
• Monitor illegal militia camps inside the park in order to improve security and prevent poaching (especially elephants and hippos)
• Improve ranger response times to poaching incidents

Unfortunately, advanced GIS mapping is not a skill that Virunga National Park has “in house”. Thankfully, that’s where Adam Kiefer of Orlando, Florida comes in. Adam and his girlfriend visited Virunga National Park a few years ago, and like many people, fell in love with the park. Once back in the USA, Adam reached out to us via  info at gorilla.cd and asked if we had ever considered using GIS mapping to protect park — something Adam knows a great deal about. Funny he should have asked… Turns out, GIS mapping had been high on the list of priorities, but until Adam volunteered his time and expertise, the project was without a champion.

At the end of April, Adam plans to travel to Virunga to help retrofit the park plane with the system depicted in this post. For the last several months, Adam has been working with Jim Russell of Russair to develop an aerial GIS/camera system similar to the one Russair uses on a daily basis. Jim has graciously allowed Adam to join him on flights in order to to get familiarized with system operation, and has been giving Adam critical installation/implementation advice.

As Adam’s trip to Virunga approaches, we urgently need to raise $5000 of the over $8000 needed for the retrofit. Please help us bring this powerful tool to Virunga National Park.

Photo coupler navigation and triggering component

GIS/camera unit affixed to floor in front of the co-pilot’s seat. The camera shoots down through a hole cut in the floor of the aircraft. To comply with FAA rules, all work must be performed by an FAA-certified engineer.

The exhaust system on Virunga’s plane will need a kick-out extension like the one pictured below so hot exhaust is directed away from the GIS/camera unit. Like the cut-out, all work must be performed by an FAA-certified engineer.

A quick update on the events of the past two weeks… With the renewal of fighting within the M23 rebel movement, security has been our biggest concern.  The fighting was most intense, for about a week at Rugare, which is about four kilometres south of Rumangabo. The station was put on high alert , as thousands of terrified families from the village of Rugare took refuge around the park station. The school that we built in 2008 was made available to them as a temporary centre. There was heavy mortar fire for six days and close combat in the village.

The approach for our staff is now well rehearsed. Non-uniformed staff worked from Goma, and rangers continued as best they could on the ground. A teams of 12 rangers kept our positions active in the Gorilla Sector at Bukima and Bikenge. Ranger Sekibibi reported back yesterday that three of the groups, Kabirizi, Humba and Mapua were in good shape, and the others should hopefully be located in the coming days, but there is no significant cause for concern at this stage.

Thankfully the fighting moved south to Kimbumba where a decisive battle was fought, and the defeated faction of M23 was effectively neutralised, bringing a degree of calm to the area. Yesterday we received confirmation on the news that Bosco Ntaganda was on his way to the International Criminal Court.  The displaced families have largely returned to their homes and we’re hoping, praying, that this may signal the end of what has been a truly difficult year.

By Ranger Sekibibi.

Virunga’s Head Warden of the Southern Sector, Innocent Mburanumwe, recently received a tip from someone in the Biruma sector of the park (7 km from Virunga HQ in Rumangabo) that three individuals were illegally hunting bushbuck with their dogs. Despite the insecurity caused by the presence of FDLR (who’s command structure is made up of those who led the 1994 genocide in Rwanda), Innocent dispatched a group of rangers to apprehend the suspects. By the time rangers arrived on scene, one bushbuck had already been killed, but the men were arrested before they were able to kill again.

When caught in the act, as these poachers were, requiring them to bury the animal is part of the education process

Rangers then transported the poachers back to Rumangabo where they were directed to bury the dead bushbuck. The poachers spent the next 48 hours in the Rumangabo prison. While in custody, the poachers were educated about why they should respect the rules against poaching Virunga’s protected wildlife. Typically, no fines are levied against such poachers because they have no way of paying them. Education and two days in a cell is really the only option for such poachers. Repeat offenders, however, can end up in Goma prison, which is known to be a difficult place to endure.

Snares such as this one maim and kill wildlife and are nothing short of torture for the animals caught in them

Along with the great news of the boom in newborn mountain gorillas comes the sobering news of increased poaching in the Mikeno sector. While carrying out the census, rangers found there to be a marked jump in the number of wildlife snares being set. During the fall hostilities between government forces and M23 — when it was too dangerous for Virunga’s rangers to patrol certain areas — poachers took their chances and went into the forest to lay new snares. When rangers finally made it back into the Mikeno mountain gorilla sector, they discovered and destroyed 156 snares.

Community scout, Ndunviriye dismantling a snare in the Mikeno mountain gorilla sector in December 2012

Ranger Sekibibi Bareke with a collection of snares just removed from the forest

Snares are particularly dangerous for baby gorillas and smaller animals such as bushbuck.  A few years ago, some of you will remember a post about Virunga rangers that found a baby gorilla that had been slashed across the face by a snare. Vets from MGVP were able to reach the baby, stitch the laceration, and give a dose of antibiotics, but the wound was too much for the young gorilla and he died of infection a few days later. With all the recent newborns, rangers have to double their efforts prevent such a tragedy from happening again. When you make donations to Gorilla and Wildlife Protection on this site, this is one of the main activities that you are supporting.

The devastating effect of a poacher’s snare on a baby mountain gorilla

Here are some photos from Monday and Tuesday’s battle for the city of Goma between rebel group M23 and the Congolese army. The city appears to be back to “normal” although banks are still closed, and no one is certain what will happen next and how life will change.

The Virunga Alternative Energy facility in Munigi on the edge of Goma was in the center of the battle when the cease-fire ended on Monday afternoon. Balemba and about 30 rangers hid in the offices, crouched on the floor during the worst of the fighting with mortars and tanks firing at each other just meters away. Thankfully they suffered no injuries, and the facility was undamaged.

Congolese army and UN tanks side by side on the frontline on Monday afternoon.

Munitions on the road near the frontline.

A young boy in the M23 rebel camp just north of the city of Goma before the major battle began.

A dead Congolese army soldier lies in the road north of Goma.

Goma residents flee the fighting as the “24-hour” cease-fire ends after only a few hours.

At the Heal Africa hospital in Goma, a boy is treated after losing his arm in the fighting.

A small column of M23 soldiers march toward the main border post between Congo and Rwanda, and take it without firing a shot.

It’s 100% official that M23 rebels have control of the city of Goma. They have just made a victory lap down the main street of town.

They took the main border post to Rwanda a few hours ago without firing a shot, and also have control of the airport (although reports on this vary – one UN contact reports that the UN has control but is surrounded by M23). Our park plane was moved to Goma earlier this month for security reasons and we were unable to get it out when it became clear that Goma was now the real security risk. We don’t have confirmation yet if it survived the attack, which we’ve heard was intense and included a major fuel tank hit.

At this time, we can still say that our staff is safe at both Rumangabo park headquarters and Goma, but the security risks are far from over, and the army may still try to take the city back.

Thank you all for your support through this very difficult time.

At around 3:00 this afternoon, tank and mortar fire could be heard in the city of Goma as fighting erupted again following a complete breakdown of negotiations between the rebel group M23 and the Congolese government. Even across the border in the town of Gisenyi, the sound of mortars and gunfire could be heard clearly.

Rangers at the Kibati patrol post (the start of climbs up Nyiragongo volcano) had to be evacuated to Goma as fighting swept south toward them. Not soon after, M23 rebels moved even further south to the town of Munigi on the outskirts of Goma. Now, even Munigi is behind the front lines. No one expected the battle would take place inside the city of Goma, but this has become a reality. For the rangers and their families that were evacuated to Goma, and the staff whose families live in Goma, now there is really no safe place to go. Unlike us expats, they can’t simply pop across the border to safety.

It’s early morning in the city of Goma and news of the rebel advancement in the night is unclear.

Last night as the sun went down, M23 rebels faced an army of Congolese tanks just a few hundred meters away and very close to Virunga’s alternative energy center on the northern edge of Goma.

A camp of 60,000 displaced people north of Goma completely vacated as M23 advanced on the city, taking the plastic tarps and what they could carry. Reports say thousands of new refugees have fled the fighting.

The staff, rangers, and ranger families at the park headquarters of Rumangabo are thankfully safe.

For more information from yesterday’s fighting around Goma, check out these stories from the few reporters on the ground:

Rebels in Congo Reach Door of Goma

M23 Rebels Close in on Goma

This past Thursday, after nearly three and a half months of calm between M23 rebels and FARDC Congolese military, fighting renewed with a vengeance both north and south of the park headquarters, trapping the staff, rangers, and ranger families as the road south to Goma closed.

On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, rumors and reports circulated that two other rebel groups, Mai Mai and FDLR, had joined in the fighting to the north causing serious concern for the safety of everyone at Rumangabo.

Yesterday and today, M23 appears to have gained ground and reports indicate that they have pushed the FARDC back both north and south and have now made it as far as the outskirts of Goma. Conflicting reports are coming from people on the ground in Goma right now and conditions are changing by the minute. We will let you know as this situation evolves.

The good news so far is that all of our Virunga staff and rangers are safe. We do not know the casualties yet among the population.

Here is a link to a recent Reuters article:

 http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/1…

Following the attack on a Virunga ranger patrol on Lake Edward last week, we buried our men who died and the soldier who worked alongside them at the fishing village of Vitshumbi on the south side of Lake Edward in the central sector. Due to serious security issues, no one from the southern sector was able to travel into the area, but Rodrigue Mugaruka, warden of the central sector, attended the funeral and provided us with information and photos.

The stories of our two colleagues represent the kind of hardship that so many in Congo have suffered.

Ranger Paluku Matembela lost his wife, Dieu Merci, in childbirth on the 7th of May this year. A friend in Kiwanja has been taking care of the child for the last six months. Paluku’s 14 year old daughter who lived with him in Vitshumbi fainted when she heard the news of her father’s death and spent two days in the hospital.

Benoit Karvante, age 32, lost both his parents at the age of five. He was raised by the family of Muchele, a human resources officer for the park, and grew up in the company of park rangers. Benoit was mute, and although he could not be a ranger, he worked as a boatman for the park, going on dangerous patrols with park rangers for 10 years. Benoit was married with two children age three and five.

Ngangwa Walinoga, the soldier who died on the patrol, leaves behind a wife, Marie, and six children.

Your generous gifts will make an enormous difference in the lives and futures of the families and orphans for years to come. It sends a message as well to all our rangers that their work is valued and their families will be taken care of. Thank you for your support.

If you would like to join others in support of the families, use the “Donate” button to the top right of this blog post.

Ranger and soldier stand side by side - both have lost friends.