Kahuzi-Biéga National Park
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The Kahuzi-Biega National Park is a
protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
near
Bukavu Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lying at the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda, and separated from it by the outlet of the Ruzizi River. It is the capital of the South Kivu pr ...
town in 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 ...
. It is situated near the western bank of
Lake Kivu Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, which ...
and the
Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
n border. Established in 1970 by the Belgian photographer and conservationist Adrien Deschryver, the park is named after two dormant volcanoes,
Mount Kahuzi Mount Kahuzi is an extinct volcano in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is within the Kahuzi-Biéga National Park, a World Heritage Site. Location Mount Kahuzi was last active at the end of the Pleistocene. At it is the highest peak in th ...
and Mount Biega, which are within its limits. With an area of , Kahuzi-Biega is one of the biggest
national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
s in the country. Set in both mountainous and lowland terrain, it is one of the last refuges of the rare species of
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 t ...
(''Gorilla beringei graueri''), an endangered category under the
IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...
. The park is a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
, inscribed in 1980 for its unique biodiversity of rainforest habitat and its eastern lowland gorillas. In 1997, it was listed on the
List of World Heritage in Danger The List of World Heritage in Danger is compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) through the World Heritage Committee according to Article 11.4 of the World Heritage Convention,Full title: ''Conv ...
because of the political instability of the region, an influx of refugees, and increasing wildlife exploitation.


Geography

The park lies west of the Bukavu town in
South Kivu Province South Kivu (''Jimbo la Kivu Kusini'' in Swahili), (french: Sud-Kivu) is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Bukavu. History South Kivu Province was created from Sud-Kivu District in 1989, when the exi ...
, covering an area of . A small part of the park is in Mitumba Mountain range of the
Albertine Rift The Albertine Rift is the western branch of the East African Rift, covering parts of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. It extends from the northern end of Lake Albert to the southern end of Lake Tan ...
in the
Great Rift Valley The Great Rift Valley is a series of contiguous geographic trenches, approximately in total length, that runs from Lebanon in Asia to Mozambique in Southeast Africa. While the name continues in some usages, it is rarely used in geology as it i ...
, and the larger part is in lowland terrain. A corridor of width joins the mountainous and lowland terrain. The eastern part of the park is the smaller mountainous region measuring ; the larger part measures and consists mainly of lowland stretching from
Bukavu Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lying at the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda, and separated from it by the outlet of the Ruzizi River. It is the capital of the South Kivu pr ...
to
Kisangani Kisangani (formerly Stanleyville or Stanleystad) is the capital of Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the fifth most populous urban area in the country, with an estimated population of 1,312,000 in 2021, and the larg ...
, drained by the
Luka Luka may refer to: People * Luka (given name), a South Slavic masculine given name cognate of Luke, and a Japanese given name * Luka (singer), stage name of Brazilian singer and songwriter Luciana Karina Santos de Lima (born 1979) * Luka Keʻelik ...
and
Lugulu Lugulu is a settlement in Busia County, Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates ...
rivers which flow into the
Lualaba River The Lualaba River flows entirely within the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It provides the greatest streamflow to the Congo River, while the source of the Congo is recognized as the Chambeshi. The Lualaba is long. Its headwaters are in ...
. Two dormant volcanoes are set within the park's limits and lend their names to it:
Kahuzi Mount Kahuzi is an extinct volcano in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is within the Kahuzi-Biéga National Park, a World Heritage Site. Location Mount Kahuzi was last active at the end of the Pleistocene. At it is the highest peak in th ...
() and Biéga (). The park receives an average annual precipitation of . The maximum temperature recorded in the area is while the minimum is .


Legal status

The earliest reserve, Zoological and Forest Reserve of Mount Kahuzi, was created on 27 July 1937 by the then Governor General of the Belgian Colonial administration. That reserve has been part of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park since November 1970. Five years later, the park was extended to cover 6000 km2. The park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980, under Criterion (x) for its unique habitat of rainforest and diversity of the mammal species, particularly the eastern lowland gorillas, ''
Gorilla beringei graueri 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 t ...
''.


Biodiversity

The park has a rich diversity of flora and fauna. As of a survey conducted in 2003 by the
Wildlife Conservation Society The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a non-governmental organization headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, that aims to conserve the world's largest wild places in 14 priority regions. Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological ...
, it protects roughly 349 species of birds and 136 species of mammals. Over 1,178 plant species have been observed in the highland regions of the park alone. Because of its varied topography and habitat types, Kahuzi-Biega National Park is also a hotspot of plants and vertebrate
endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
for.


Flora

The park's swamps, bogs, marshland and
riparian forest A riparian forest or riparian woodland is a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal, sink or reservoir. Etymology The term riparian comes from the Latin word '' ...
s on hydromorphic ground at all altitudes are rare worldwide. The western lowland sector of the park is dominated by dense Guineo-Congolian wet equatorial rainforest, part of the
Northeastern Congolian lowland forests The Northeastern Congolian lowland forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion that spans the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic. Geography The Northeastern Congolian lowland forests lie in the northeast ...
ecoregion,"Kahuzi-Biega National Park". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 22 March 2022

/ref> with an area of transition forest between and . The eastern mountainous sector includes continuous forest vegetation from to over , and is one of the rare sites in Sub-Saharan Africa which demonstrates all stages of the low to highland transition, including six distinguishable primary vegetation types: swamp and
peat bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
,
swamp forest Freshwater swamp forests, or flooded forests, are forests which are inundated with freshwater, either permanently or seasonally. They normally occur along the lower reaches of rivers and around freshwater lakes. Freshwater swamp forests are found ...
, high-altitude rainforest, mountain rainforest,
bamboo forest Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin ...
and
subalpine Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...
heather. The montane rain forests are part of the
Albertine Rift montane forests The Albertine Rift montane forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in east-central Africa. The ecoregion covers the mountains of the northern Albertine Rift, and is home to distinct Afromontane forests with high biodiversity. Geo ...
ecoregion. Mountain and swamp forest grows between and , bamboo forest grows between and , and the summits of Mounts Kahuzi and Biéga above have subalpine heather, dry savannah, and grasslands, as well as the endemic plant '' Senecio kahuzicus''.


Fauna

The national park protects a greater diversity of mammal species than any other national park in the
Albertine Rift The Albertine Rift is the western branch of the East African Rift, covering parts of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. It extends from the northern end of Lake Albert to the southern end of Lake Tan ...
.Wildlife Conservation Society The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a non-governmental organization headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, that aims to conserve the world's largest wild places in 14 priority regions. Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological ...
in April 2011, at least 181 gorillas were recorded in the park. Other primates include the
eastern chimpanzee The eastern chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii'') is a subspecies of the common chimpanzee. It is native to the Central African Republic, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania. Taxono ...
, and several ''
Cercopithecinae The Cercopithecinae are a subfamily of the Old World monkeys, which comprises roughly 71 species, including the baboons, the macaques, and the vervet monkeys. Most cercopithecine monkeys are limited to sub-Saharan Africa, although the macaques ra ...
'', ''
Colobinae The Colobinae or leaf-eating monkeys are a subfamily of the Old World monkey family that includes 61 species in 11 genera, including the black-and-white colobus, the large-nosed proboscis monkey, and the gray langurs. Some classifications spli ...
'' and
owl-faced monkey The Hamlyn's monkey (''Cercopithecus hamlyni''), also known as the owl-faced monkey, is a species of Old World monkey that inhabits the bamboo and primary rainforests of the Congo. This species is exceedingly rare and known only from a few speci ...
. Some of the mammals include the bush elephant, bush buffalo, hylochere and bongo, eastern needle-clawed galago,
Maclaud's horseshoe bat Maclaud's horseshoe bat (''Rhinolophus maclaudi'') is a species of bat in the family Rhinolophidae. It is endemic to Guinea. Its natural habitats are moist savanna, caves and other subterranean habitats. It is one of five African microbat species ...
, Ruwenzori least otter shrew, and
Alexander's bush squirrel Alexander's bush squirrel (''Paraxerus alexandri'') is a species of squirrel native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. It is arboreal and lives in tropical moist forests, especially undisturbed mature forests. It is a common sp ...
. Two species of
genet (animal) A genet (pronounced or ) is a member of the genus ''Genetta'', which consists of 17 species of small African carnivorans. The common genet is the only genet present in Europe and occurs in the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and France. Genet fossils ...
that live within the park are
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to the Congo Basin: the
aquatic genet The aquatic genet (''Genetta piscivora'') is a genet that has only been recorded in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Van Rompaey, H. and Colyn, M. (2013). ''Genetta piscivora'' Aquatic Genet. In: J. Kingdon and M. Hoffmann ( ...
and the
giant forest genet The giant forest genet (''Genetta victoriae''), also known as the giant genet, is a genet species endemic to the Congo Basin. As it is considered as widely distributed and common, it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List The Inte ...
. Of the 349 bird species identified within the park, at least 42 of them are
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to the region, including the threatened Albertine owlet. Other native bird species include the Yellow-crested Helmet-shrike (''Prionops alberti''), the
Congo peafowl The Congo peafowl (''Afropavo congensis''), also known as the African peafowl or ''mbulu'' by the Bakôngo, is a species of peafowl native to the Congo Basin. It is one of three peafowl species and the only member of the subfamily Pavoninae nati ...
(''Afropavo congensis''), the African green broadbill (''Pseudocalyptomena graueri''), and the
Rockefeller's sunbird Rockefeller's sunbird (''Cinnyris rockefelleri'') is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. Taxonomy This species is part of a larger radiation of sunbirds within the genus ''Cinnyris''. Like other members of this genus, it was formerly c ...
(''Nectarinia rockefelleri''). The species of fauna listed under the IUCN Red List as threatened include: The species of fauna listed under the IUCN Red List as least concern or near threatened include: A 2020 survey of the freshwater fish in the park and its three drainage basins identified 147 species, 11 of which were found to be endemic to the Lowa River basin, and 7 of which were previously undescribed.
Cyprinidae Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest verte ...
was by far the largest family represented.


Conservation

The park, under the management of the
Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature The ''Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature'' (English; "Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation") is a Congolese governmental partner tasked with the protection and conservation of the Virunga National Park and Kahuzi-Biega Na ...
, has a basic management and surveillance structure. However, the park's 1975 expansion, which included inhabited lowland areas, resulted in forced evacuations with about 13,000 people of the tribal community of Shi, Tembo and Rega affected and refusing to leave. Cooperation by the communities living around the park and employment of the Twa people to enforce park protection was pursued by the park authorities. In 1999 a plan was developed to protect the people and the resources of the park. In a survey conducted between 2015 and 2016, the national park rangers reported a low level of satisfaction with the job, highlighting low salaries, lack of support from the authorities, and poor living conditions.


See also

*
World Heritage Sites in Danger The List of World Heritage in Danger is compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) through the World Heritage Committee according to Article 11.4 of the World Heritage Convention,Full title: ''Conv ...


References


Further reading

* *


External links

* *
Kahuzi Biega National Park Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahuzi-Biega National Park National parks of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Protected areas established in 1970 South Kivu World Heritage Sites in Danger World Heritage Sites in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 1970 establishments in Africa Northeastern Congolian lowland forests Albertine Rift montane forests