The Itombwe Nature Reserve is a protected area in the

Itombwe Mountains The Itombwe Mountains (or Itombwe Massif, Plateau) are a range of mountains in the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). They run along the west shore of the northern part of Lake Tanganyika. They contain a vast area o ...

of the eastern

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. The reserve covers . It is part of a Lion Conservation Unit. The reserve is home to the critically endangered

eastern lowland gorilla The eastern lowland gorilla (''Gorilla beringei graueri'') or Grauer's gorilla is a Critically Endangered subspecies of eastern gorilla endemic to the mountainous forests of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Important populations of ...

(''Gorilla beringei graueri''). The national government declared the reserve in 2006, but its boundaries and the uses permitted within the park were not defined in the declaration. After consultations with local people, the boundaries and use zones within the park were formalized in June 2016. The park is divided into three zones: a conservation zone for wildlife with no human use; a multiple-use zone which allows limited human use and sustainable resource extraction; and a development zone which includes villages where sustainable development projects are encouraged.D. Kujirakwinja, et al (2019) "Establishing the Itombwe Natural Reserve: science, participatory consultations and zoning". ''Oryx'', Volume 53, Issue 1 January 2019, pp. 49-57.

References

Albertine Rift montane forests Protected areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo South Kivu {{DRC-geo-stub