Wildlife crime in DRC parks: a complicity of forms, practices and issues

This article analyses the worrying rise in wildlife crime in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park (KBNP) in the DRC, highlighting the diversity of its forms, actors and impacts. Excessive exploitation of resources - poaching, artisanal mining, deforestation and illegal occupation - has profoundly degraded ecosystems and caused the disappearance of key species. These pressures are amplified by poverty, high demand for bushmeat, persistent insecurity and weak governance. Commercial poaching, often organized in transnational networks, is the major threat to Grauer's gorillas, elephants and chimpanzees. Armed conflict encourages these activities, with certain rebel groups and members of government forces profiting from the clandestine exploitation of minerals and wildlife. The expulsion of Batwa pygmy communities, historically dependent on the forest, has generated socio-cultural tensions complicating park management. Insecurity thus remains the main obstacle to conservation. The article concludes by stressing the need to strengthen governance, awareness-raising and the integration of the local community into the park's management.

Pages: 60, Paperback, Our Knowledge Publishing