DRC: Overcoming Community-Conservation Conflict: Q&A with Dominique Bikaba

Jul 8, 2021 | Rhett A. Butler, Mongabay
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Kahuzi-Biega National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is renowned for its biodiversity, including Grauer’s gorilla — an endemic subspecies — and around 350 bird species. The area is also home to the Batwa people, who are highly dependent on its forests for their livelihoods and cultural traditions. But forests in this region are embattled by long-running civil strife, poverty, and market demand for materials from minerals to charcoal. Efforts to protect these forests are challenged by conservation’s mixed record: Kahuzi-Biega’s expansion in the 1970s forced the displacement of thousands of local people, turning them into conservation refugees and sowing distrust in conservation initiatives, especially those led by “outsiders”, whether the central government or foreign NGOs. Mining companies and other extractive industries further complicate the situation by exacerbating pressure on community forests.