Searching for Bonobo in Congo

Lessons from the Lomami

January 21, 2012 – 11:37 pm

By Eleanor (Jojo) Hart — born in DRCongo (Zaire) 22 years ago.

Knee-deep on a rainy-season trail in the Lomami Park

I returned to Congo this September. My friend Andrew Bernard and I, both with newly earned undergraduate degrees, traveled together. He continued directly to the Lomami Park to spend three months studying birds.

Before joining Andrew and my parents I worked first as a substitute teacher at the international school in Kinshasa, my alma mater, then as a volunteer at a missionary hospital, where I observed surgeries and witnessed my first childbirth. I spent my last month in Congo opening transects in the proposed Lomami Park. Below are observations from that time as I became acquainted with the land, field work, and the remarkable people with whom my parents work.

October 28th: After spending a few days in Kisangani where my parents had meetings we flew south along the Congo River to Kindu, a smaller more isolated town than Kisangani and the southern entry into the TL2. From Kindu it is 5-6 hours on motorbike northwest to Tshombe Kilima, a collection of mud-wattle houses on the eastern edge of the future Lomami National Park. From Tshombe Kilima it is 36 km of hiking, to the village of Katopa on the western edge of the forest. Katopa was my base for the next couple of weeks.

Two major themes of my trip to TL2 this year were the importance of suiting up and of the mushasino (or hip-pack), an indispensible article. I had not come prepared with a mushasino, so I used the removable top of my frame pack. Thus, my mushasino was huge and a source of great amusement.

Suited up and striking a pose at Katopa Camp

During the rainy season, suiting up for a motorbike ride means long sleeves and long pants, a hat and sunglasses with a raincoat easily accessible. It is best to have water, sunscreen, a headlamp and possibly a camera in close reach, for which the mushasino is perfect. The motorbike ride is rough. The trail is narrow and muddy, there is always the possibility that you will get stuck in a rainstorm, or that the bike will fall out of a dugout or off a bridge during a river crossing. Thus, it is critical to properly pack your gear in two heavy-duty plastic bags.

Mom and I cross the Kasuku River with Mom’s driver Gilain balancing her motorbike in front.

Mama, Baba, Dino and I pulled out of Kindu in the afternoon. For the first half of the trip the weather was fine, but after we crossed the Kasuku River the rain began. Forks of lightening lit up the purple sky as we moved across the savannas, followed closely by booms of thunder. Despite my raincoat I was soon drenched and cold. The uneven dirt path was streaming with runoff, and several times we had to get off the bikes to push them over slick, eroded sections of hill.

We arrived after dark, wet and cold at Tshombe Kilima– two hours later than expected – and were dismayed to find no fires or food at the project compound. But using headlamps from our mushasinos, within an hour a chicken was killed and plucked for dinner and a blazing fire was built. We huddled around it close to midnight, eating rice and chicken floating in palm oil.

November 1: I had my first lesson in GPS before leaving Tshombe Kilima. Over a breakfast of Quaker’s quick oats with powdered milk and sugar, Baba explained elements of geography, using a lumpy lemon as our planet Earth.

I had many lessons from Baba on this trip. Here, how to download my GPS and check the trail we cut on a map. He really wasn’t as worried as he looks.

By early afternoon I was well suited up for the walk to Katopa– long pants tucked into long socks (to keep ants from crawling up my legs), a hat and a long-sleeved shirt for crossing the savannas and a raincoat around my waist. In the mushasino was sunscreen, camera, peanuts and requisite headlamp.

On this walk I began to see important transitions in our surroundings. The Lomami park boasts an exceptionally varied landscape: dry forest and flooded forest, swamp and savanna. I learned to pay attention to the soil – Is it sandy or clay like? – Also, the height of the water table, the color of the running water, the size of trees and type of understory, and the number of termite mounds and ants present.

Orchids along the trail to Katopa

November 2: Breakfast is tea with lemon, steamed plantains and peanut butter. It is beautiful here. The Katopa base camp is built on the bank of the Lomami River and Baba has planted a big garden. There are tomatoes, manioc, amaranth, several other local greens, pineapple and papaya, with local eggplant and cabbage on the way.

I had my first forest session cutting transects. We work as a two-person team. One person in front with a machete cuts the path while someone behind (me) guides the cutter, using a GPS and compass to keep the transect on course. Today I worked with Martin, pointing out landmarks in the distance for him to cut towards. Describing different trees and undergrowth is excellent Swahili practice.

This evening I made a map in my field notebook of the region where I will be cutting transects.

Fungus in forest

Nov 3,4: More transect work with Martin – still based at our Katopa camp. We move slowly as we cut transects, which gives me a lot of time to just watch the forest. Today we walked through a field of yellow, flame-like mushrooms that grow out of the fallen fruit of a specific tree, and my attention is always drawn to the lianas. They are distinguishable by their shape and the color of their wood and sap. Some lianas have alternating red and pink wood, others have florescent yellow sap that leaks only out of the center, while others bleed a bright red along the rim.

Liana art of the forest

Nov 5: I am writing by candlelight from one of two barazzas (leaf-roof shelter) at Camp Bonobo where I will spend my first overnight in the forest. Nearby there is a white-water stream, which is good for drinking, and a black-water stream, which is full of tannins and good for washing. I love spending time in the cooking barazza where there is always a fire going and I can talk with the men who are my work companions. In the eating barazza (here) the interior design leaves something to be desired… The table is too high and too far away from either of the benches –all fixed in the ground. The table is finished with an uneven flattened wood bark, rendering it precarious for mugs of hot tea. Twice, my milky sweet tea tipped over!

Dino is the Katopa camp manager and was a huge help.

Alas – today as we were getting ready to leave Katopa camp I learned the importance of the mushasino. I took a last trip to the outhouse, a squat-down, hole in the ground affair with a view over the Lomami River, and as I stood up the GPS slipped out of my shirt pocket and down the hole! Baba and Dino responded to my utter dismay and confusion by fashioning a long stick with a hook-like branch on the end. I was able to snag the GPS, using my headlamp to illuminate the hole. Then Baba, Dino and I spent a good twenty minutes on the bank of the Lomami thoroughly cleaning it with tiny twigs, then wet cloths and finally hankies doused in alcohol. The GPS still works, thank goodness, but when it is not in the mushasino it is securely tied with ribbon to a button-hole on my shirt.

After the outhouse affair it was a bit of a subdued departure for the field. I am clutching the GPS, Martin is waiting in the pirogue.

Martin, Jean, and Bonnie waited patiently. It was late morning when we crossed the Lomami, back to the study area.

Martin is average height and strong and usually wears a fantastic sky-blue, floppy, felt hat. Bonnie is a tall, lanky young man from Katanga province who recently moved to Katopa. His young wife is due to have a baby in a few months! He is a brilliant naturalist and very familiar with the bonobo-rich southern region of the Lomami Park. Jean is small and nimble, visiting his mother, one of the Katopa chief’s four wives.

Bonnie (left), Martin and Jean in camp at the end of the day.

Martin and I cut more transect this afternoon while Bonnie and Jean walked over 18 km along transects and paths looking for bonobos or signs of bonobos. As Martin and I cut transects we also look for signs of bonobos. So far we have seen old nests, bonobo trails and fresh brutage or signs of eating. Today he and I had our first real conversation as we walked back to Camp Bonobo on the new transect. I asked most of the questions, but his answers were always long and detailed. Martin is in his late 20s. After his first wife left him with five young children he went looking for another wife in a nearby village. Once he paid the bride price (goats, oil, hat and watch to the dad and shoes to the mom), she moved in with him. He says he is now saving up money so that she can go to secondary school. Martin was the oldest son in his family and never had the chance to finish secondary school because it was his responsibility to provide for the family after his father died.

Martin and I walk to one of our study area camps.

Martin is also an extremely hard and determined worker. Cutting through the forest understory is grueling, but he rarely wants a break, and once we get back to camp he immediately swings into gear cooking dinner. Amazing.

I took a bath in the black-water stream near Camp Bonobo tonight. There are crayfish in the stream that pinch you if you bathe after dark. I know it’s silly, but I am scared of the crayfish, which is a great source of amusement to Martin, Jean and Bonnie. Jean caught a few and we ate them with our dinner of rice and dried fish.

Nov 6: This morning Martin and I continued work on the transect that we started yesterday while Bonnie and Jean walked 30 km (!) looking for bonobos or signs of bonobos.

Checking equipment with Andrew

It was dusk when we got back to Katopa; Andrew was also back from his final foray into the savannas! It was so good to see him. We stayed up until midnight catching up – we had many stories to exchange.

Nov 8: Back at Camp Bonobo, this time with Andrew, Dino and the cook Brazzos, and two young fellows I do not yet know – Amigo and Michele. We have three transect cutting crews. It turns out my first transects veered a little too far to the West, so Martin and I corrected them today, finishing at the correct coordinates.

This evening everyone sat in the kitchen barazza together around the fire and I had a long discussion with Bonnie and Martin about the bible and evolution. Explaining evolution is a bit of a stretch for my Swahili, but I did my best.

Nov 9: More transect work out of Camp Bonobo. Martin and I work really well as a team, and have a rhythm down. We were able to cut 2km of transect today, the most yet, because the forest was relatively open. We ate a lunch of rice and greens and milky tea by a stream on our way back to camp. Retracing one’s steps on a newly cleared transect is a little unnerving, especially if you are moving fast, because it is easy to trip on a low liana and land on a pointed tree stump. Yikes.

Nov 10: Walked East to Camp Mpaka today, which was recently burned by poachers angry about the new park. The men quickly swung into gear repairing the two barazzas. With a machete as their only tool they replaced the entire foundation with new tree trunks, lodging the treelets by thrusting them into the ground. They replaced the roofs with fresh leaves, using lianas to attach all the components together. Andrew and I helped as we could.

Repairing the kitchen baraza at Camp Mpaka and getting supper underway at the same time.

Camp Mpaka is a beautiful spot at the top of a small rise. At the bottom of the hill is a winding black-water stream and there is a savanna a ten-minute walk away. It is my favorite camp yet.

After dinner I talked about marriage with the men around the fire. They were shocked to hear that bride price is non-existent in the United States and that women can, for the most part, marry without their parent’s permission. I was appalled to hear them all talk about beating their wives as if it were as normal as going to the grocery store. Soon Papa Dino, Andrew and I were debating with the rest of the men about whether beating one’s wife is acceptable.

Nov 12: At around 4:00 this morning I woke to the sound of people moving around outside my tent. All the fellows were awake hauling packs and gear inside tents or under the kitchen barazza (the second barazza did not have a completed roof). The air felt heavy with rain and the wind was picking up. By 4:30 the downpour began, accompanied by thunder and lightning. I was too excited about the storm to fall asleep again.

A rainy day in camp. Dino thinks he sees a leak. Brazzos is making more tea. An endless game of cards…

The rain continued until noon. Brazzos had to dig a trench around the kitchen barazza to keep the rain from flooding the floor. Dino, Andrew and I drank tea and played gin rummy, using a sleeping mat as our table. Eventually two of the young men, Amigo and Jean, began to dance in the rain. Stomping out a rhythm, they swayed and turned. Eventually I asked if they would teach me one of the dances.

I am being taught the dance.

So, among my Katopa lessons are not only the value of suiting up and the need to always have the mushasino slung at my hip, but also an appreciation of a strange new beauty, new friends and a better understanding of life and work in the Lomami Park.

And to see a bit of the rainy-day dance here it is on You Tube:

NOTE FROM TERESE HART : The next post will be about transects — the why, where and how.

By Terese Hart | Posted in About the project, Guides and how to | Comments (2)

TL2′s Birds : 255 and Counting in Central Congo

December 4, 2011 – 7:08 pm

A storm moves over the savanna and the small patch of forest where Andrew and his crew have taken shelter.

Andrew Bernard, recent graduate from Bates College, came to Congo as a volunteer in September 2011. As he put it, “I couldn’t dabble in everything….” So, he surmounted a nearly irresistible desire to look at all the wildlife – and “primarily considered TL2’s birds.” Below is Andrew’s report:

My journey into TL2 began in mid-September with the 6-hour motorbike ride from Kindu, capital of Maniema Province, on the Congo River. After two hours of pushing because of a broken chain and capsizing into the Kasuku river (my introduction to 2 months of never being completely dry), my motorbike and I both made it relatively unscathed to the village of Chombe Kilima. After a short rest and a lesson in GPS navigation from John, we began the 36 km trek on foot through forest, across savannas, and over rivers towards the Katopa field camp.

Andrew measures a bird’s wing with Ramazani poised to write down the dimensions.

Over the next week, John introduced me to the Katopa crew, some of whom would be accompanying me on my excursions, and he instructed me on mist-net technique. Mist nets are a common avian surveying tool, popular because they allow close observations of a bird-in-the-hand as well as trapping more secretive and skulking species. He also informed me of my major goal over the next two months: to add to the current bird list for the park and surrounding region, currently at 212 species with a focus on the forests and savannas of the Katopa sector. In addition to the mist nets, I’d be observing with binoculars and a spotting scope (photographing individuals when possible), and recording calls with a digital recorder and parabolic microphone.

Dino, a TL2 field-leader, removes a fire-crested alethe from a mist net.

After learning the ropes on the birds and a couple failed attempts at reeling in a tigerfish on the Lomami River, we left Katopa down a trail into the future Lomami National Park. We stopped after about a 6-hour trek to establish a camp near Falanga savanna, one of two large savannas the trail crosses. This region of the proposed park is interesting for birding with both dense forest and savanna- island habitats—along with transition ecotone. Such a diverse range of niches makes for an impressive resident and migratory avifauna. We hoped to explore all three environments thoroughly.

Map of the southern TL2 region and the southern part of the Lomami National Park (green) showing Andrew’s study sites.

Now the sole muzungu (foreigner) and English speaker, I was accompanied by two assistants, a cook, and a few porters; it was time to start rolling. I had taken four weeks of Swahili classes during my junior-year study-abroad to Zanzibar, and in addition studied French during middle and high school. Congolese Swahili, however, is a different dialect than Zanzibari Swahili, and my French was very rusty; needless to say, communication often proved a drawn-out and exhausting affair. Nevertheless, I was able to develop a mutually-understood daily routine with my field team: We opened our 10 mist nets around 5:30 in the morning, checking them 4 or 5 times throughout the day until furling them around 6:00 in the evening. During the day, weather depending, we’d wander the area around our camp, hoping to observe and record as many species as possible.

Grey ground thrush removed from the mist net; one of our big range extensions.

Devout optimist that I am, I expected every aspect of my work to run smoothly. I was quickly exposed to the contrary. For example, sometimes mist nets trap birds too well, and it takes much finagling to remove them. Once, when we did not reach a netted bird soon enough, I was reminded that a struggling animal does not go unnoticed for long in the jungle: safari ants had gotten there first.

Birds will also tend towards areas very inaccessible to humans; while the swampiest of grasslands and the tallest of canopies may be great places for a bird, for humans they are quite tiring on the legs and neck, respectively. One tiring aspect of the work was the constant expectation of finding something: birds don’t have a 9 to 5 workday, and all but the most extreme conditions are conducive for a particular species to be active. Some of the Cisticolas called in the hottest part of the day, owls called, briefly and always unexpectedly, at night and any number of crakes skulk around the flooded grasslands after a big rain. In addition to all the field work, I had the assumed task of learning my main field guide, Birds of Africa: South of the Sahara by Sinclair and Ryan, backwards and forwards, with occasional referrals to John’s two volume set of the Birds of West Central and Western Africa by Mackworth-Praed and Grant.

A tiny yellow-footed flycatcher caught along a stream near Camp Bonobo.

Poring over the accounts and maps in field guides, I narrowed down the list of species possible to find in TL2 and surroundings to around 725, of which roughly 600 I had never heard of before. Needless to say, I went through a few sets of AAA batteries in my headlamp trying to master this list. My short stints at Camp Katopa in between field sorties, in addition to finally catching a small tigerfish, did allow me the chance to recharge my batteries..

During the first circuit, which lasted two and a half weeks, I surveyed from four different camps along the trail for about 3 days each—adding a day or two for days lost to rain. Over the next month-and-a-half, I would take two more trips away from Katopa, one into the future Park, and a longer one further south into the savannas. South of Katopa, larger savannas open up; these are no longer the savanna “islands” enclosed by forest characterizing the region I had been in, but they form a corridor which connects to the wide-open stretches of grassland resembling the big game country of East Africa.

JP hands equipment to Brazzos across a deep swale of the southern savannas.

It was around that time that I really started dreading my bugali (a mush they make from cassava root flour that looks, and kind of tastes, like play-doh minus salt) and dried fish, which was our daily fare in the camps. But that was what we had available. I’ll never forget how happy I was to eat that first package of Glucose Biscuits one of the team leaders, Dino, brought from Kindu at the end of that last trip. Still, I appreciate going through that period of nutritional declination, mostly because then I felt like I was really living in Congo. I was there, in the thick of it, lowered down from any hierarchical social platform normally elevating visitors above their native hosts. Sure, the cook, Brazzos, always let me dish out my lunch and dinner first, but sharing that connection living in such un-pampered conditions—and (mostly) enjoying it—epitomized two months in the Congo bush for me.

The red-backed shrike, a migratory species generally limited to large savannas; its presence suggests a closer connection to the great savannas of southern Congo than previously thought.

On November 6th, the last day of my bird work, we ended up with 255 species on the TL2 list. That means we’ve boosted a list that’s been accumulating for 4 years by about 20% in 6 solid weeks of sampling. I will always think I should have been doing more, but overall it’s not a bad result. Plus, I’ll be spending a lot of December sifting through the hundreds of unclassified recordings I have, trying to identify species. Even without finishing the master list, however, we have some exciting finds: there are at least 10 significant species range extensions we’ve identified, notably Weyns’s Weaver (Ploceus weynsi) and the Grey Ground-thrush (Zoothera princei). Even the pictures I took and recordings I made of well-known species are valuable as a contribution to a growing database for the Lomami National Park. In the end, every observation in the isolated and un-sampled TL2 region is a valuable record.

This African dwarf-kingfisher was one of six species of kingfisher caught by Andrew and his team in the mist nets during their 6 weeks of observation.

The Central Congo is a fascinating place if you are interesting in anything natural and unspoiled: the flora, the fauna, the people, the paradigm. These do come in conflict: people will sometimes cut too many trees or hunt too many animals, but in the TL2 at least, everything interacts with a temperament less biased by consumerism, and more slated towards self-subsistence. Here, it seems, is a place “progress” forgot, where the circular and communal goal one day is often just to be able to begin the following day. It may not sound like an ideal relaxing vacation get-away…. Congo is just different: getting around is a nightmare, corrupt officials expecting bribes are left and right, and I never felt very secure when I was by myself. But when you finally get to TL2, and see how the TL2 project has integrated with the land and people, you cannot help but leave with aspirations of returning and continuing to make the country more aware of everything it has worth protecting, and helping the people protect it.

And I want to catch a bigger tigerfish.

Highlights for Birders

We have identified some species in TL2 that, according to distributions found in the seven-volume The Birds of Africa would be noteworthy range extensions. I mention the specific text, as there is considerable variation in ranges among other sources. Whether I note a range extension as major or minor is rather subjective, but I take into account the extent of their documented distribution as well as its proximity to the TL2 region; for example, Weyns’s Weaver is documented to live in north Congo, but since its distribution was pretty restricted I call that a major range extension. I also note if the species is migratory.

Major Range Extensions:

Agelastes niger (Black Guineafowl): captured by Julian Kerbis of the Chicago Field Museum. This bird has never previously been recorded from Congo’s Central Basin.
Gyps africanus (White-backed Vulture): One bird seen soaring over savanna. Probably ranging from the larger savannas to the south
Larus fuscus (Lesser Black-backed Gull): Palearctic migrant. Seen at the Kindu airport on the Congo River.
Chroicocephalus ridibundus (Black-headed Gull): Palearctic migrant seen near Kindu on the Congo River.
Bycanistes subcylindiricus (Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill) Uncommon in the savanna ecotone. First seen was a bird killed by a local hunter, but then later living birds.
Zoothera princei (Grey Ground-thrush). Four caught at two different forest sites in the Katopa Sector
Ploceus weynsi (Weyns’s Weaver). Seen in a forest gallery on savanna.
Euplectes albonnotatus (White-winged Widowbird) Seen on the savannas
Parmoptila jamesoni (Jameson’s Antpecker) Caught in mist net in forest .

Lesser Range Extensions and other highlights :

Mesophoyx intermedia (Yellow-billed Egret)
Terathopius ecaudatus (Bateleur) One seen, incongruously, soaring over the city of Kindu
Circus ranivorus (African Marsh Harrier) Seen on the savannas
Circus macrourus (Pallid Harrier): Palearctic migrant
Buteo buteo (Common Buzzard) Migrant, seen once on savannas
Hieraaetus ayersii (Ayer’s Hawk-eagle) Good view of a pair over forest-savanna ecotone.
Neotis denhami (Denham’s Buzzard): Pair seen once on large savanna
Afroapvo congensis. (Congo Peafowl) Uncommon but widespread in forest; nocturnal crowing call recorded.
Glareola cinerea (Grey Pratincole). Large flocks seasonally on sand bars in the Congo River below Kindu
Aplopelia larvata (Lemon Dove) Uncommon but widespread in forest.
Cercococcyx olivinus (Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo). Regularly heard
Raphidura sabini (Sabine’s Spinetail). Common over forest and ecotone.
Merops breweri (Black-headed Bee-eater): intra-African migrant Most frequently seen in September-October. Resident population likely as well.
Phedina brazzae (Brazza’s Martin). One bird seen well on a sand bar in the Lomami River
Hirundo lucida (Red-chested Swallow) Migratory flocks in the savannas
Pterodelichon rufigula (Red-throated Cliff Swallow) Migratory flocks savannas, september-october.
Macronyx fuellebornii (Fulleborn’s Longclaw) Uncommon but occurring widely on savannas
Phyllastrephus cabanisi (Cabanis’s Greenbul) Caught in the mist nets, Katopa forest
Schoenicola brevirostris (Fan-tailed Grassbird) One seen in marshy savanna
Prinia subflava (Tawny-flanked Prinia) Common
Apalis goslingi (Gosling’s Apalis) Regular in small flocks along the Lomami in riverine forest.
Anthreptes aurantium. (Violet-tailed Sunbird) . Common in riverine forest along the Lomami. Nesting pair at Katopa camp.
Anthreptes seimundi (Little-green Sunbird) caught in mist net forest savanna edge
Chalcomitra amethystina (Amethyst Sunbird) forest edge in savanna
Cyanomitra verticalis (Green-headed Sunbird) Caught in mist nets, forest island in savanna
Malimbus cassini (Cassin’s Malimbe) caught in mist nets
Euplectes capensis (Yellow Bishop) marshy savannas
Euplectes hartlaubi (Marsh Widowbird) localized in wet savannas
Euplectes axillaris (Fan-tailed Widowbird) savannas
Spermphaga ruficapilla (Red-headed Bluebill) caught in mist net
Spermphaga haematina (Western Bluebill) caught in mist net
Spermphaga poliogenys (Grant’s Bluebill) caught in mist nets

There are also many generally uncommon residents and migrants that occur in the TL2, for example Pitta reichenowi (the Green-breasted Pitta), Vanellus lugubris (the Senegal Lapwing), and Accipiter toussenelii (the Red-chested Goshawk).

This red-chested goshawk had a larger patch of bare yellow skin than recorded in the bird guides.

Some of our photos reveal field characters that have not been highlighted in the field guides. For example, A. toussenelii, we noted, had a major patch of bare yellow skin on the face. The field guides just mention the yellow cere.

We will post our full list to date shortly after we finish our review of the bird recordings.

andrew.b.bernard@gmail.com

By Terese Hart | Posted in About the project, Natural History of TL2 | Comments (9)

Down the Congo River: from Ritual Sacrifice to Governor’s Desk

November 16, 2011 – 11:20 pm

The imperturbable ancestor sat in front of the plantains at the opening of the ceremony.

Our last tambiko took place in the village of Masiri, a 6km walk inland from the port village of Lowa on the Congo-Lualaba River. This was a ceremony of the Mituku peoples and the Lengola peoples. Their ancestors know this forest. Basic tenet: the understanding of the dead is deeper than the experience of the living. The question put before the ancestors: … a national park? Their word came through the ceremony.

We came in dugouts. I came south with a delegation from Kisangani. John came north with a delegation from Kindu. On this map tambiko sites are red squares.

This was the last tambiko consultation before pushing the park proposal from the village up into the highest offices of the provinces – two provinces are involved: Orientale and Maniema. At this last ceremony, along the Congo River, key people came from both provinces and all ethnic groups.

A small fishing dugout comes up to our much larger dugout to sell fish for our overnight bivouac on the banks of the Congo. Two days in motorized dugout whether coming from Kisangani or Kindu.

Included was a technical group from the cabinets of both governors, the cabinets of both environmental ministers, and the land tenure bureaus. They met to hash out details, harmonize approaches and finalize a text for national park creation.

The delegations from Kindu and Kisangani in all day session to finalize one version of the park proposal.

Our reunion on the banks of the Congo River was at the old (now decrepit) catholic mission of Lowa. After a day of discussion and rewriting, we were called to the village of Masiri by elders from both Lengola and Mituku ethnic groups.

We were greeted in the village, but told to keep walking.

From Masiri we were called into the forest, another two kilometers to a cleared site for the tambiko. There were confusing barriers along the way….

The whole procession of us waited, uncertain how to proceed at four different barriers. Political figures and “foreign” chiefs, alike, were all made to understand that the local people made the rules.

After we finally arrived, the tambiko became several hours of intoxicating singing and dancing.

Both young….

and old were part of the dance and music.

Every traditional authority had a chance to speak, harangue, dance and admonish…

The elders’passion spoke through music more than oration as the ancestor watched from its small bamboo shelter.

But it was the goat that spoke for the ancestor

The elders awaited a sign from the goat.

Apparently the goat turned the right way at the right moment as it was led through the clearing. The park was approved.

The goat was duly strung up and sacrificed.

With words and saliva the chiefs bless the blood, we are all anointed, the ceremony ends.

It was a couple weeks later that we met in Kisangani. The traditional ceremonies were over. They had been held by all the peoples living around the perimeter of the Park, who have ancestral forest within the Park: the Ngengele, the Langa, the Mbole, the Mituku and the Lengola. Now we were taking their agreement along with our information to present to the governor of Orientale Province – would he sign?? He did – with much fanfare. And now the governor of Maniema has signed as well.

The governor of Orientale signs before a packed room of government and provincial witnesses.

Yesterday, the file was on the desk of the national environmental minister. He will move it to the president. As soon as I hear whether or not DR Congo gets a new Lomami National Park – it will be posted here.

The governors of both provinces have agreed to the Lomami National Park — now the president!

By Terese Hart | Posted in Indigenous peoples, Kisangani | Comments (5)

Celebration and Mourning in Kinshasa

October 19, 2011 – 2:57 pm

The ceremony is about to begin. The American Ambassador at the far end of the dais, followed by Antonia Abraham, the Minister of Plan and the Director General of the Parks Service, ICCN.

Preparing the Abraham Ceremony this year was often too sad to bear. Last year we gave awards to the widows of eight park guards who died defending Congo’s parks; this year there were 10 deaths and it didn’t stop there. Rebels killed three more guards as we prepared the ceremony. Why in Virunga, the most exquisite and varied park in Africa? Why are there still gangs of rebels? When will this war end?

The park guards, Muhindo (above) and Mastaki (lower right), were killed in an attack by FDLR rebels in Virunga National Park on 31 January 2011.

Even more incomprehensible: Two guards were ambushed and killed as they questioned elephant poachers in the Okapi Reserve; some of those poachers were Congolese military. Those military were never accused, never brought to justice.

The park guards, Kambale (left) and James (above right), were killed by military poachers just before Christmas 2010.

This is a double mourning. We are not only mourning the deaths, but also mourning the tragic failure of the rule of law. How much longer will the guards put their lives at risk to protect what their fellow Congolese armed forces are plundering? It is too sad to bear.

These are the guards honored in memoriam and the date of each attack:
Augustin Kirikiyehigha, Patrice Bateterana and Vincent Kimbumbu — 24 January 2011 in Virunga National Park;
Muhindo Mburungani, Mastaki Rumama – 31 January 2011 in Virunga National Park;
Katchupa Changwi – 20 February 2011 in Virunga National Park;
Paluku Mayani – 6 March 2011 in Virunga National Park;
Magayane Bazirushaka – 8 April 2011 in Virunga National Park;
James Biangbale and Kambale Bemu – 23 December 2010 in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve.

It is not only park guards who stand up against armed men; it is unarmed citizens as well.

On the borders of the Bili Uele Reserve: Chief Kpilimbalo refused to cooperate with undisciplined elements of the Congolese armed forces who were intent on poaching elephants in his village’s forest. After reporting them to the authorities, he received death threats and fled with his entire village into the forest.

Remote Bili Uele recieves no 4 wheel traffic. Even the most essential goods come in two wheel caravans.

Chief Kpilimbalo’s courage gives hope. In fact all the remaining Abraham prizes show the grit and village level commitment that continues to hold-out for nature in DR Congo. The Abraham ceremony gathered eight of these heroes together in Kinshasa, together with diplomats, politicians, and conservationists. Thus their determination was honored and we, the audience, were reminded of what our priorities must be.

The German Ambassador and the wife of the American Ambassador are attentive.

It is a full-house at the Abraham Ceremony 2011.

Along with Chief Kpilimbalo, there were two other traditional leaders who did what ICCN (Congolese parks authority) and international conservation organizations cannot do; they rallied a doubtful and divided population to the cause of conservation.
Mwami Saambili – worked with his people and Virunga Park staff, in an area of high incsecurity, to clarify park borders;
Ramazani Okota –convinced all the village chiefs in a critical zone to support the future Lomami National Park.

The American Ambassador gives Chief Ramazani his award.

Particularly reassuring was the officer from the Congolese Armed Forces, who reminds us that even where institutions are weak, individual responsibility can make a huge difference. Major Guy Kolongo was honored not only for arresting poachers and for disciplining far-flung troops, but also for working close to the ground. He snuffed out the rogue ambitions of those who commandeered the environment for individual profit: a politicking “prophet”, an army lieutenant and an escaped convict.

Major Guy is unequivocal about right and wrong.

Although the Abraham Foundation recognizes the courage of people who, otherwise, have no voice, in the case of the Minister of Agriculture, Norbert Kantitima, an important exception was made. He is now in President Joseph Kabila’s cabinet and pushing for fundamental development of his country, but he was involved in one incident, little talked about and that is only now finding resolution. It was during the war, in the year 2000, when Norbert was governor of South Kivu. Motivated by his childhood love for Kahuzi Biega National Park, he cancelled all war-time concessions in the narrow, but critical Nindja connecting corridor. He sent a mixed group of villagers and ICCN to mark the park limits. They were attacked pre-dawn; ten people were killed. Now, as the ICCN is again reclaiming the corridor, the Minister called the Nindja chief, who had been present at the massacre, to receive the prize by his side.

Minister Kantitima shared the trauma of the war in Kahuzi Biega National Park, calling up local chiefs as witnesses and solidarity for the future.

There were also three ICCN park guards, one of whom is a Park Director, who are recognized this year for exceptional and on-going commitment and courage:
Radar Nishuli is the director in Kahuzi Biega National Park. His background in community conservation allows him to mend together a war-torn and divided park;
Agare Kunguru is the leader of shock troops in Garamba. During one of many successful missions, he managed to recover a little girl kidnapped by the LRA;
Boketshi Bunda is a park guard in Salonga National park valued for the quickness and accuracy with which he mastered research skills. Despite this he has insisted on maintaining his basic patrol role even after spending several months in jail, wrongfully accused by poachers.

Park guards from Virunga National Park with the large-mammal snare lines brought back from a patrol.