What Drives Poaching? A Comparative Analysis in Kahuzi-Biega (2014-2018)

A comparative analysis of poaching reveals that over 70% of illegal activities in Kahuzi-Biega National Park stem from poverty and conflict. This critical study uncovers the urgent need for enhanced law enforcement and community engagement to safeguard biodiversity and promote sustainable conservation efforts.

Views on how illegal activities are now in Kahuzi-Biega National Park

The local communities living around Kahuzi-Biega National Park, especially the Pygmy Indigenous Peoples in association with the Bantu (Bashi), are heavily reliant on the park’s resources these days and continue to destroy it from day to day for sustenance, trade and other. All in all, the ICCN authorities through KBNP are constantly finding ways to remedy this, but it is a slow and lengthy process.

Identification of illegal activities in KBNP

In Kahuzi-Biega National Park, illegal activities are numerous and some of them are not randomly distributed. Poachers know where to find any product they need and in different places. For example, where to find bamboo is not where you can get minerals, even if there are some, even tree cutting that you can find anywhere in the High altitude of the park. Kahuzi-Biega National Park is subdivided into seven sectors including: Kasese Sector, Nzovu Sector, Lulingu Sector, Itebero Sector, Mumbili Sector, Nkuku Sector and

lastly Sector of Tshivanga, covered by seven patrol posts, but that does not prevent that it suffers from the terrible tragedy of nasty destruction of a large extent of the park, and where is also the headquarters.

Analysis of the cause of illegal activities

Historically became, as rural poverty prevalent in the 1700s, many people turned to poaching just to survive². Commoners protected poachers as an act of rebellion, because food was so scarce. Though poachers did provide food to the poor, they were also violent and often greedy, poaching to feed the black market more so than hungry peasants².

However, Community views differently the causes of illegal activities in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, thus they see that the local communities are them who have a big role in the destruction of Kahuzi-Biega National Park, especially the Pygmies and Bantu in the high altitude part. Therefore, different respondents’ views were provided during data collection.

Perceptions of respondents to the causes of illegal activities in KBNP

Table 9. Perceptions of respondents to the causes of illegal activities in KBNP

Source: Field data, 2019

According to the respondent’s perceptions of illegal activities occurring in Kahuzi-Biega National park, 41(48.8%) of respondents mentioned that people surrounding the park are poor, 5(5.9%) of respondents talked about ignorance, 8(9.5%) of respondents mentioned the presence of pygmies inside the park, 30(35.7%) of respondents mentioned the lack of involvement of key stakeholders. Many animals and plants are threatened by people who are poor and that the main cause that is pushing members of the communities around the park into poaching and illegal mining, the people who want to survive by using the protected area go to do the illegal hunting, doing the illegal trees cutting,…….

Felling of trees for the manufacture of charcoal, wake boards, cutting bamboo, collecting firewood, ore digging and so on, are done commercially for money but also ignorance.

On the other hand, encroachment on the boundaries of this area, take up agriculture and others create pastures for their animals, such as the ecological corridor connecting high altitude, at low altitude which has long been occupied by the big farmers but some of which has been liberated by the valiant park rangers and the other part is still occupied by other farmers. The illegal activities that are observed in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park are sponsored by some people of bad will who send Pygmies and Bantu in the nasty destruction of the park and on the other hand according to the opinions respondents, there is low involvement of stakeholders such as government, partners, park managers and others.

Respondent’s perceptions on the impacts of illegal activities to KBNP

Table 10. Respondent’s perceptions on the impacts of illegal activities to KBNP

Source: Field data 2019

Kahuzi-Biega National Park has faced many human pressures since its creation for many reasons. People enter the park to illegally carry out their activities, killing animals, cutting down trees and making shreds, planks, others massively cut bamboo, others apply agriculture, livestock, and other. All this, without realizing the effects that all these activities could have, not only on the fauna and flora diversity of the park, but also on human life.

When collecting data from respondents through questionnaire, according to the impacts of illegal activities on biodiversity, 9(10.7%) of respondents mentioned wildfire, 25(29.7%) of respondents mentioned the reduction of animal population, 5(5.9%) of respondents mentioned the extinction of some animal and plant species, 7(8.3%) of respondents mentioned the transmission of disease from animal to human or from animal and vice versa, 20(23.8%) of respondents mentioned the reduction of the protected area, 8(9.5%) of respondents talked about the reduction of tourists and revenue income, 10(11.9%) of respondents mentioned the loss of life of staff members of the protected area.

• When they burn the forest some invertebrate be burned by that fire then some of them die, mean that they reduced in number
• The reduction of animal population, decrease of animal species: The poaching activities lead to the reduction of animal populations in the wild and possible extinction of those wild animals when it’s on high level
• The extinct of animals
• Transmission of zoonotic disease: When poachers enter into the protected areas they can be contaminated by the transmission of disease from animals or them to transmit their diseases to animals.
• Reduction of protected area: A variety of human activities have detrimental impacts on populations of species in the park is designed to protect, these impacts range from direct hunting for trophy or subsistence needs, through vehicular collisions, to the direct loss of habitat due to forestry and agricultural activity and these impacts reduce the effective size of the parks and require changes in management policy that deal both with the direct cause of the problem and the underlying social conflicts that the presence of parks can place on humans in the surrounding communities. Also The effective size of protected areas is reduced as poachers use the edges of these areas while encroach the protected areas and disturb the animal population live there, and for today, the Kahuzi-Biega National Park has already lost more than 300 hectares of its area, and all this remains empty without fauna or flora because of human pressures,
• Reduction of tourist and revenue income: The poaching activities affect wildlife tourism, destinations face a negative publicity. Those holding a permit for wildlife-based land uses, tourism-based tour and lodging operators lose income; employment opportunities are reduced due to the poaching activities when they destroy they areas where tourists like to visit and they stop coming for the reason of missing their attraction product and the revenue income reduced for those who are the protected managers some of them lose their jobs.
• The loss of life of the staff of protected areas: When the poachers go to hunt for searching their trophy in the protected areas the meet with the rangers who are in charge of protection of some protected areas and they fight for doing their job, because those poachers are armed in that cases some rangers lost their life during the duties. In this regard, let us note here that during this year 2019, two rangers were slaughtered within the KBNP by the pygmies in the same circumstances; saying that they want to protect the park from illegal intervention, they lost their lives.

Respondent’s proposed solutions to conserve KBNP

Table 11. Respondent’s proposed solutions to conserve KBNP

Source: field data 2019

The conservation of Kahuzi-Biega National is not the appendage of one individual but all key stakeholders must put their effort, so that the biodiversity can be conserved sustainably. Some respondents stated that poaching cannot be stopped. This can be attributed to the high level of poaching they noticed around the park irrespective of series of anti poaching campaigns in the communities bordering the park.

It can also be ascribed to the prevailing perception or mindsets of community members concerning poaching. Even if arrested poachers are being penalized, they hardly show any sign of remorse, when arrested, and their relations always believe that they would still be released. Many respondents however believe that poaching could be stopped if the demands of host communities are provided by the management of the park.

The fact that provision of employment tops the list of suggested strategies to check poaching reveals the high level of dependency on the park. It is also a reflection of the continuously increasing rate of unemployment. The others, especially the staff members and the rangers, mentioned the fact of increasing the number of men on the ground, the more the rangers by the fact that the patrol posts each have a reduced staff and yet each post patrol had to have at least 12 guards

at a minimum, given the conflict situation in and around the park. However, to achieve this, it will also be necessary to have a trained and qualified intelligence and intelligence personnel in all corners of the park and to motivate them as much as necessary to detect any form of poaching outside the patrol.

Here, are some proposed solutions and strategies according to the respondent’s vues to achieve the conservation of KBNP according to the percentage: 20(23.8%) of respondents mentioned the use of Anti-poaching campaigns in communities bordering KBNP, 14(16.6%) of respondents mentioned the high punishment for arrested poachers, 22(26.1%) of respondents mentioned the involvement of key stakeholders, 9(10.7%) talked about increasing the number of park rangers, 12(14.2%) of respondents talked about the motivation of intelligence personnel around the park, the last group of the total number of respondents 7(8.3%) mentioned the motivation of park rangers.

To achieve this, it will also be necessary to have a trained and qualified intelligence and intelligence personnel in all corners of the park and to motivate them as much as necessary to detect any form of poaching outside the patrol.

Here, are some proposed solutions and strategies according to the respondents’ views to achieve the conservation of KBNP according to the percentage: 20(23.8%) of respondents mentioned the use of Anti-poaching campaigns in communities bordering KBNP, 14(16.6%) of respondents mentioned the high punishment for arrested poachers, 22(26.1%) of respondents mentioned the involvement of key stakeholders, 9(10.7%) talked about increasing the number of park rangers, 12(14.2%) of respondents talked about the motivation of intelligence personnel around the park, the last group of the total number of respondents 7(8.3%) mentioned the motivation of park rangers.

To achieve this, it will also be necessary to have a trained and qualified intelligence personnel in all corners of the park and to motivate them as much as necessary to detect any form of poaching outside the patrol.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main causes of poaching in Kahuzi-Biega National Park?

The main causes of poaching in Kahuzi-Biega National Park include poverty, ignorance, and the lack of involvement of key stakeholders.

How do local communities contribute to illegal activities in Kahuzi-Biega National Park?

Local communities, particularly the Pygmy Indigenous Peoples and Bantu, rely on the park’s resources for sustenance and trade, which leads to illegal activities such as poaching and tree cutting.

What recommendations are made to combat poaching in Kahuzi-Biega National Park?

Recommendations to combat poaching include enhancing law enforcement and promoting community engagement to support conservation efforts.