L'impact de la guerre sur les aires protégées dans la région des Grands Lacs

The area referred to as Virunga Volcanoes Region (VVR) is that part in Central Africa covered by three protected areas in three countries. These protected areas, currently managed as national parks are : Parc National des Volcans (PNV, 160 km²) in Rwanda, Parc National des Virungas (PNVi, 240 km²) in Democratic Republic of Congo) and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park (MGNP, 33.7 km²) in Uganda. Parc National des Virunga was Africa's first national park gazetted in 1925 and it was later reclassified as a World Heritage Site because of its internationally recognized unique natural and cultural sites. Straddling the international boundaries of the three countries, the Virunga Volcanoes Region has no physical demarcation along the borders and free ranging animals within the area are transient between the different neighboring countries.

Of notable significance, the region harbors the rare and endangered mountain gorilla, Gorilla gorilla beringei whose total population worldwide is approximately 600 animals. Slightly less than 50 % of these are within the Virunga Volcanoes Region (Butynski, T.M., S.E. Werikhe and J. Kalina, 1990). The other population is found in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda.

For a long time, only the Virunga Volcanoes portions of Rwanda and Congo were managed as national parks. Until 1991, the Ugandan portion was managed as a Forest and Game Reserve (Werikhe, 1991). The creation of MGNP six years ago elevated its level of protection and matched it with the other two national parks in the region. This was a significant breakthrough in support of conservation and it now seems certain that the three countries recognize the importance and urgent need to safeguard the mountain gorilla and its habitat.

The Virunga Volcanoes Region protects a large number of plant and animal species endemic to the Albertine Rift. This valuable biological diversity with a high level of endemism is related to the long natural evolution and tormented geological and volcanic history during the Plio-Pleistocene era (D'Huart, 1989).

Human population density in the region is considerably high. At a population density averaging 300 people/km², there is enormous pressure onto these protected areas for livelihood needs especially fertile land for agriculture, fuel wood , construction wood, coffee plantations, food and lots of other forest products. The conservation policies in place have therefore been designed to address the above pressures but also to ensure a balanced situation with the adjacent people for enhanced protection and continued existence of the resource.

The region is well known for its very high tourism potential exhibited by presence of mountain gorillas, other taxa and impressive scenery. Sorne groups of gorillas have been habituated to human presence and are currently viewed by tourists, fetching a fair amount of revenue to the three countries. The substantial amounts of money generated by tourism are used by the Rwanda, Congo and Uganda's Wildlife institutions of Office Rwandais du Tourisme et Parcs Nationaux (ORTPN), Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN), and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), respectively, to manage conservation activities in the Virunga Volcanoes.

During the late 1990s, a civil war was waged onto the Rwanda Government and this is reported to have started from the Mutara Region, Rwanda. Launching war from the Mutara was detrimental to conservation because of its location in the Virunga Volcanoes Region. Over the years, the war advanced slowly into deeper regions of Rwanda until 1994 when the Rwandese Patriotic Front took over power. This saw over 700,000 refugees fleeing Rwanda to North Kivu District, Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, for sanctuary.

The effects of this war on conservation in the region we re directly felt for about seven years since the war broke. They were most seriously felt when refugees camped in or near protected areas and utilized resources there in with impunity. Other negative effects included loss of lives among protected area staff, destruction of wildlife species and of their habitat, breakdown in communication, destruction of infrastructure, halt on tourism activities, and above all, complete degeneration in staff work effectiveness due to insecurity.