People and Wildlife are Both Casualties of Illicit Mining

May 24, 2017 | Richard Ruggiero
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Despite its vast size and relative intactness, Congo’s forest area and wildlife are under severe threat. Between 2002 and 2011, forest elephants experienced a devastating 62 percent population decline and a 30-percent loss of range. The Grauer’s gorilla — the world’s largest primate — which is only found in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), suffered staggering declines. In the span of one generation, their numbers dropped by 77 percent across their range. Rangewide, they are now considered critically endangered. These losses are often associated with areas of uncontrolled, illegal mineral extraction.

Illegal mining sites create an influx of people into sensitive, remote habitats. These people have cash on hand and a need, desire, and willingness to pay for animal protein. This is a deadly combination for local wildlife, with these sites quickly turning into commercial markets for bushmeat, or wild-sourced meat, surrounded by an overhunted landscape, devoid of wildlife. In such environments, large mammals are the initial prime targets and the first to disappear. Hunting activity rapidly cascades to smaller mammals and freshwater fishes, emptying forests and rivers.