VZCZCXRO2782
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0529/01 1590744
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 080744Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9684
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000529 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EIND PGOV PREL PREF CG
SUBJECT: VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK:  OPEN FOR BUSINESS AGAIN 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  Virunga National Park in the eastern DRC reopened 
for limited tourism in early May 2009 following two years of 
inactivity.  There are still pockets of FDLR rebels and Mai Mai 
militia in the park, but Park Director Emmanuel de Merode believes 
tourism is vital to the park's survival.  Poachers continue to pose 
a threat to this World Heritage site, home to rare mountain and 
lowland gorillas.  Over 130 park rangers have died protecting the 
park's mission of conservation, science and tourism.  End summary. 
 
Consequences of war 
------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Founded as the first national park in Africa in 1925, 
Virunga National Park boasts the most varied natural habitat of any 
environment in Africa.  With glaciers, active volcanoes, swamps, 
savanna and three great ape species, the park was a premier tourist 
attraction until the early 1990s.  The influx of millions of 
refugees and displaced persons into Congo in 1994 put unsustainable 
pressure on Virunga National Park, resulting in the slaughter of 
thousands of hippos, massive poaching and depletion of the lowland 
forests for firewood.  UNESCO declared the park an endangered World 
National Heritage site in 1994. 
 
¶3.  (U) Virunga Park reopened in the mid-90s, but closed to tourism 
again in 2007 as Laurent Nkunda's CNDP rebellion revived regional 
conflict and displaced hundreds of thousands of Congolese.  The 
reopening to tourism in May 2009 reflects growing confidence in 
improved relations between the DRC and its eastern neighbors, Rwanda 
and Uganda.  At present, only three tourist routes are open for 
business:  gorilla trekking in the far south near the Rwandan border 
at Bukima; visits to the Rwindi Plains savanna along the Ugandan 
border; and a mountain trek to the glaciers of the Ruwenzori 
Mountains.  The first intrepid tourists arrived on May 9 for a 
gorilla trek conducted without incident.  Rangers from the Congolese 
Institute for the Protection of Nature (ICCN), who patrol the park, 
prefer visitors use commercial tour operators to free up ICCN 
personnel for conservation-related tasks, but it is now possible to 
obtain a $100 daily park entry permit at ICCN offices in Goma. 
 
Making tourism attractive 
------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Park Director Emmanuel de Merode told Goma poloff he has 
mixed sentiments about tourism -- conservation of the park's 
dwindling natural resources is his first priority.  In the longer 
term, however, he recognizes that income from tourism, both for the 
government and the local community, is vital to the park's survival. 
 He has implemented financial controls that require all cash 
transactions be handled through the carefully monitored ICCN office 
in Goma.  He has also established a revenue division that returns 
30% of fees to the local community (50% goes to the government and 
20% to the park).  Virunga now has a web site and Facebook page, as 
well as a retirement plan that has accumulated a half million 
dollars in contributions in two years and a pension plan for 
employees that pays out $1000 to the families of rangers killed in 
the line of duty.  More than 130 rangers have died in the past 
decade, protecting the park from poachers, Mai Mai militia and 
charcoal traders. 
 
Gorillas survive the war 
------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (U) The famed mountain gorillas have rather amazingly survived 
recent conflicts.   Protected by the dense forests of the upper 
elevations, the population has increased slightly to 350.  The 
gorillas provide the greatest potential source of revenue, with 
limited viewing permits available for $300-400 per day.  FDLR 
elements occasionally threaten the gorillas in response to anti-FDLR 
actions by DRC state security services, and many suspect the FDLR 
are responsible for the gorilla slaughtering featured in National 
Geographic in late 2008.  Many other species, especially the huge 
hippo populations that were once so prevalent in Lake Edward, have 
faired worse as they were systematically targeted to feed the 
massive refugee population influx. 
 
Charcoal:  the greatest threat 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6.  (U) De Merode believes deforestation is the greatest current 
threat to the park.  The charcoal trade is devastating the forests, 
and thousands of acres have already been lost.  Local officials are 
involved in the trade, but de Merode states that no one can exploit 
charcoal in Virunga without the cooperation of the FDLR.  ICCN 
rangers are targeted when they attempt to disrupt the trade.  In 
early May 2009, local residents besieged an ICCN station when a 
ranger arrested a local official who was escorting charcoal porters. 
 
KINSHASA 00000529  002 OF 002 
 
 
 MONUC troops intervened and freed the local official, stating that 
it acted to defuse an explosive situation. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Diplomats in Goma noted that MONUC has a mandate to 
disrupt such trade, which would put pressure directly on the FDLR. 
Almost all of the charcoal transported in overloaded trucks into 
Goma is produced in the park, as non-park forests are virtually 
gone.  Even de Merode realizes, however, that stopping the business 
abruptly is a dangerous proposition.  Large numbers of locals are 
employed as porters, and Goma residents, who depend on charcoal for 
cooking, would likely riot if the supply was cut off. 
 
Biomass briquettes and Virunga rangers 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) The ICCN has begun to implement a program to substitute 
charcoal with biomass briquettes, which are produced in presses from 
organic material.  The briquettes cost less than half the price of 
charcoal, and are already in use in some IDP camps around Goma.  De 
Merode estimates it would require 5,000 presses to replace the 
charcoal trade, which could lead to 36,000 jobs.  (Note: Several 
NGOs note that the briquettes do not get hot enough to cook some 
types of food.  End note.) 
 
¶9.  (U) Meanwhile, 664 beleaguered rangers struggle to contain the 
environmental damage (550 carry arms).  Military officers from South 
Africa and the UK trained many of them, and a core group of 50 
received intensive training and equipment to deploy in emergency 
situations.  Although they are generally respected for their 
professionalism, local support is key to the park's survival and it 
is difficult to gain such support for nature conservation. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Comment:  With tourism dormant, most residents of the 
crowded villages on the park's perimeter view Virunga as an 
exploitable, rather than sustainable, resource.  If the security 
situation in North Kivu continues to improve, it may be time for the 
DRC to more actively promote tourism to Virunga, a return which may 
well serve as a barometer of security in the region.  End comment. 
 
Garvelink