Archive for the ‘Patrol Posts’ Category
I last posted about the Museya patrol post construction about 3 weeks ago. Now it is almost done which is very impressive considering how isolated we are. The materials must travel far along bumpy roads. Some materials, for example bricks with holes in for ventilation, have to be flown, brick by brick, from Goma to Beni to then be transported by road for several hours. We are very grateful to the European Union for funding this via WWF.
I would also like to extend a special thanks to The Andrea and Michael Banks Nature Fund. WildlifeDirect has just told me that Andrea and Michael have sent a check for $360 to fund the conservation work at Ishango. This amount is what I am still missing on a monthly basis to reach the $690 monthly target - ie the amount that keeps Ishango going. Thank you Andrea & Michael for this.
Here are the latest photos of Museya patrol post - one of the 6 patrol posts (or “pps” as we call them) that are under my responsibility. Samantha blogged last month about the construction that is going on there - it will be transformed from mud huts to brick buildings! The EU is funding this, and the building process is being overseen by William from the French organization Soderu who comes to visit us regularly. He also oversaw the schools in Mutsora, and the other buildings here in Ishango. We are very very excited! As you can see the European Union funds many projects in eastern DR Congo - and we are grateful of each one.
My collegue Elie has just written a post about Kambale, the Ranger who was shot in the leg during the Mai Mai attack at the end of May. You should read it….
Lulimbi Station was attacked last night. There was not much damage, and fortunately no one was injured or killed. It seems that insecurity is on the rise once again in Virunga National Park.
We have gathered more information on the Mai Mai attack in Tshiaberimu on Sunday. The reason for the attack was the plundering of equipment from the Gorilla Organisation, which they had only recently acquired. A complete inventory is not yet made but they took 6 rifles, ammunition, uniforms, boots, tents, bedding, GPS units, the equipment used for the monitoring of gorillas, as well as the personal effects of the guards and their families. According to the Officer of Monitoring, who was taken hostage, the attackers were pleased with their mission. They said that they work in favour of the local population, and that the gorillas are only one part of the land and that much of the park should be given to the bordering populations. The attack started around 5am, when the Mai Mai encircled the camp of Burusi and quickly took control. They fired shots at the houses, and then forced the women and children to flee from the area. They then entered all the houses, in search of arms as well as other effects to plunder. Everything that they took they loaded into bags, and then used the men they took as hostages to carry these bags. Nicolas Mbusa, a worker for WWF and who was in the same room as Vwosi at the time, was shot dead after being asked to hand over his weapon, which he did not have. Vwosi the welfare officer for Gorilla Organisation, was shot in the thigh. Alain Mali, a student of ISDR-Beni and park trainee, had been taking refuge under his bed but was forced to leave because of the continuous gunfire into his room. Once outside, he was shot twice in the shoulder. Kambale Mulonda, a first class guard, received a bullet in the leg during shooting. The wife of the guard Katabasi, who was pregnant, went into shock and lost her baby. She then later died on the morning of the May 22. After the attack of Burusi which lasted approximately an hour, the hostages were forced to make their way to Kalibina. The officer of monitoring could not estimate the number of the attackers. He said that they were many and also well organised. He also said that along the route the Mai Mai left ambushes for those who could be following. Once at Kalibina, they quickly took the control of the patrol post. They plundered all monitoring materials. They continued onto the Ngai camp where they waited until night and then released the hostages. Despite attempts by the ICCN officer, he was not able to find out the actual names of the attackers. Victims of the attack were Nicolas Mbusa Viranzire, 34 years old, Organizer of PEVi - Kacheche (Program of environmental Education around Virunga) WWF, who was shot dead. Madame Katabsi, a wife of a guard, died after a shock abortion caused by the attack. Jean de Dieu Vwosi, 36 years old, social Assistant of the Gorilla Organization, married and father of 6 children, was wounded in the thigh. Kambale Mulonda, 38 years old, First Class Guard, married and father of 7 children, also wounded in the leg. Alain Mali ya Mutoto, 28 years old, student finalist at the Higher Institute of rural Development of Beni, trainee in PNVi, was wounded in the shoulder. Support is urgently needed. We need to provide cover for the hospital bills as well as the rations for at least 30 families who were displaced by the attack. They also need to be provided with clothing, bedding and other personal affects. WWF has already provided funds for the funeral of the wildlife officer, Nicolas Mubusa Viranzire. Troop II of the Advance Force are in Tshiaberimu and are on patrol around Burusi and Kabilina. Funds are needed for both petrol and rations.
Nicolas Mbusa Viranzire 1972 - 2007
At 4h00 this morning Mai Mai rebels attacked the Burusi Patrol Post here in Virunga, leaving one park ranger dead, four critically wounded, as well as kidnapping Officer Monya. There were 10 Park Rangers stationed at Burusi, including the Conservateur and the Conservateur Communicateur.
The Burusi Patrol Post is the sub-station and also the entry point for the Tshiaberimu area in Virunga, where there are lowland gorillas.
It was reported on this blog that only 10 days ago the Mai Mai in Muramba, of the Jackson group, were rumoured to be around 50. But following meetings between the Mai Mai and the farmers of Mulango wa nyama, with plans to attack ICCN Patrol Posts in order to continue cultivating within the park, there numbers were able to quickly swell. This information was reported on several occasions to the Commander Brigade and MONUC, but to no effect. ICCN have deployed two troops of the Advance Force of Congo Rangers to track the attackers, as well as contacting the military authorities of the eighth, based at Butembo. It is feared that the Mai Mai have plans to attack the lowland gorillas as they are now heading towards the Patrol Post of Kalibina, where the gorilla monitoring takes place. We urgently need funds to support the Advance Force, as well as money for the hospital bills for the Park Rangers who are critically wounded. Please donate now, all money received will go directly to this cause.
Following on from the meeting last week I want to tell you our plans for Ishango. For the moment we are lacking in three things; vehicles, men and money. Without money we are unable to go out on patrol, and without men we are unable to patrol effectively around the Ishango area. Luckily we do have a boat that we are able to use for patrolling the lake, and with this also we are able to do one day patrols into the forest along the edge of the lake as well as along the Semliki river. However, we are not able to do more than one day as we do not have enough money for tents or rations. We also have a motorbike which we are able to use to fetch rations from nearby Kyavinyonge.
However we are unable to use this often as we do not have the money for petrol nor the money for repairs. Already it is running on little more than faith.
And so the immediate things that we need here in Ishango, to be the most effective, are money for petrol and rations. In the coming weeks we would also be very grateful if we received enough money for the following items: Tents x 3 ($60 each) Life Jackets x 6 (to be priced) In the medium term we are looking to acquire a vehicle as the Ishango Station actually covers an area of 50,000 hectares. We know that this is a great cost but we are in discussions with obtaining a vehicle which is in need of a new engine. In the long term we need more guards in the Ishango area. For now there are eight Patrol Posts with only 27 rangers. This is not a good number as it means we have only a token presence and not really enough men at each post to challenge those who threaten the security of the park. We are thinking of reducing the number of PPs and putting more guards at each post to make these positions more effective. We are unable to recruit more guards for here at Ishango because we currently do not have the space to house them. At present we have only two houses for four families.
And so also in the long term we need to think of a way to house more men here at Ishango. I know the situation looks desperate but only a few years ago Ishango was home to rebels and hippo carcases. We have already come a long way and, even though they are the last hippo group in Virunga National Park, at least we do still have some hippos here.
As you know there was a meeting held on Saturday between myself, Norbert Mushenzi, the Director of the ICCN for the Northern sector of Virunga, Elie, Commander of the Advance Force, Troop Leader Balikwisha, and Ephrem, Samantha and William from WildlifeDirect.
I will tell you about this meeting, but first I must reflect on some of the decisions made before I give details on this blog. This is a sensitive issue and although I am sure there is no internet in Muramba, I must think about what information I am to make public. Thank you for your understanding. I will however tell you more about the rebels in Muramba. It is too long that they have been able to cause such destruction here in Congo. It was previously stated on this blog that there were 40 rebels in the area, but recent intelligence has said that this figure is closer to 50. Even though the Mai Mai live outside of the law, taking food from the villagers, traditionally they have been able to settle with communities because of the promises that they make in return. The same is so in Muramba where the Mai Mai have promised to help villagers poach freely and cultivate within the park, which is of course against the laws of Congo. They also promise to put pressure on ICCN to move the boundaries of the park, to the villagers’ advantage, even though the boundaries have been set by law since the establishment of the park, back in 1925. More worryingly, we have also learnt that they have promised to give hippo meat to the villagers, a delicacy here. With the mass slaughter of all other hippo groups in Lake Edward at the end of the last year, the Mai Mai can only have plans to kill the hippos here in Ishango. We have also learnt from intelligence that the situation in Muramba is about to change. Tensions are rising between the villagers and the Mai Mai because of the Mai Mai’s failure to deliver on any of their promises. The rebels have also been cutting down banana groves of the villagers for their own consumption, as well as bullying them for other food. At the same time, they have also managed to recruit men from the surrounding area to join their rebel group, which is why previous estimates of their number has now risen, and we think that this could be for one of two reasons. The leader of this rebel group is known as Jackson, and it is believed that he wants a larger group of men underneath him before he enters the Camp de Brassage; a government initiative to disband rebels and integrate them into the Congolese army. It is thought that he wants to do this so that when he enters the Congolese army he will have more leverage to negotiate himself into a stronger and better paid position within the army. However, the Mai Mai could also be strengthening their position to take on Nkunda’s men, who, it has been reported, has turned his back on the current mixing of his men into the Congolese army. Whatever the situation, neither looks good for the wildlife here. Unfortunately the poaching of hippos brings in money for the rebel groups to help their cause, and this is already a tactic that they have used only too recently. Tomorrow I will post up more on our meeting and how we are going to use your donations to strengthen our position here in Ishango.
I want to give you all an update on the situation here in Ishango, and also say a thank you for the donations that I have received through this blog and to let you know where this money will go. As I stated on a message in the last post, it is the Mai Mai who are back in the area. This is the same rebel group who were responsible for the mass slaughter of hippos in Lake Edward at the end of last year. For the moment they are in Muramba again, which is about 12 or 13 kilometres from here, and I have heard from my sources that there are about 40 men altogether. To be honest, at the moment in Ishango we are not equipped to deal with the Mai Mai should anything happen. And at the moment the situation is not serious enough for us to keep the Advance Force here on standby, however, if the situation should change for the worse then they will be deployed to Ishango immediately. At Ishango, I have only five guards working here. Ideally, as Ishango covers a large area, we would like to have about twenty men here, but for the time being there is neither the money nor the resources to have a Patrol Station this large. As you can see below, where two of my men sleep, we are already making the best out of what we have.
With the guards that we have it is not possible to do proper patrols of the area and protect what wildlife is here. Not only would this leave the small patrol group vulnerable should they come across armed poachers or indeed rebels, but it would not leave enough men back at Ishango to keep the area secure. Our situation may look hopeless, but there is still plenty that can be done. At first we must take small steps if we are to secure the future of the hippos and all of the wildlife here in Ishango, and I am pleased to say that with the support that we have started to receive, this is now possible. Last month we received our first donations from Sue A. and Simon G., together they have donated $65 which is going to help enormously with our work here. With this money we are going to pay for petrol which we will then use for patrols of the river and the lake. With these patrols we can increase our presence around the spawning grounds and deter local people from fishing here illegally. Thank you Gillian for your comment, it is a very good idea to put buoys on our item list, and this weekend Will from the WildlifeDirect team is in Goma and will find out the prices for the buoys. Once he has looked around for the best price, we will put these on our items list. Thank you once again to everyone for your support, finally with your help we are able to get things moving here in Ishango.
Ishango is not just a Patrol Post on the north shore of Lake Edward, but also the main station for a further seven PPs in the Ishango area. To get an idea of where Ishango is in Virunga National Park go to the map here, and you will see a red icon on the north shore of Lake Edward, where the lake begins its journey as the Semliki River. To the west you will see the PP of Kyavinyonge, and just a little further is the PP of Muko, which we have just recently reopened. Both these Posts are located in fishing villages within the park, as well as the PPs to the east, one in Mahigha and another in Kasindi Port, on the border of Uganda. It’s difficult to see on the map but, each marked in grey with a black line of text, there are a further three PPs along the western edge of the park, Vikingi, Museya and Karuruma. Karuruma is the furthest from Ishango, at just over 200 km. All of the guards at these PPs are my responsibility, and so it is that I have to make sure that they all have sufficient equipment to do their job effectively and protect the wildlife in the park. Which, I’m afraid to say, is not yet possible.
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