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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 or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...
near Bukavu town in eastern
Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
. 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 Rwandan border.


History

The earliest reserve, the 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 when it was established in 1970 by the Belgian photographer and conservationist Adrien Deschryver. Five years later, the park was extended to cover . 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 eastern lowland gorillas. In 1997 the park was put 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

With an area of , Kahuzi-Biega is one of the biggest
national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...
s in the country. Set in both mountainous and lowland terrain, the park lies west of the town of Bukavu in South Kivu Province. The smaller, eastern part of the park lies in the
Mitumba Mountains The Mitumba Mountains stretch along the Western Rift Valley in Eastern Congo (DRC), west of Lake Tanganyika and Lake Kivu. The two main peaks, Mount Kahuzi (3,308 m) and Mount Biéga (2,790 m) are dormant volcanoes. The northern po ...
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 depressions, approximately 6,000 or in total length, the definition varying between sources, that runs from the southern Turkish Hatay Province in Asia, through the Red Sea, to Moz ...
. The larger, western part is mainly lowland terrain stretching from Bukavu to
Kisangani Kisangani (), formerly Stanleyville (), is the capital of Tshopo, Tshopo Province, located on the Congo River in the eastern part of the central Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the country's fifth-most populous urban a ...
. It is drained by the Luka and Lugulu rivers which flow into the
Lualaba River The Lualaba River (, , ) flows entirely within the eastern part of Democratic Republic of the Congo. It provides the greatest streamflow to the Congo River, while the River source, source of the Congo is recognized as the Chambeshi River, Chambeshi ...
. A wide corridor connects the two parts. Two dormant volcanoes are set within the park's limits and lend their names to it: Kahuzi () and Biéga ().


Climate

The park receives an average annual precipitation of . The average maximum temperature in the area is while the minimum is .


Environment

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 global 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) non-governmental organization, headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, with a mission to save "wildlife and wild places across the globe". Founded in ...
, 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 for plants and
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...
vertebrates.


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 (geography), sink, or reservoir. Due to the broad nature of the definitio ...
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 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 muske ...
, swamp forest, high-altitude rainforest, mountain rainforest, bamboo forest 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 ( French: ''Forêts montagnardes du Rift Albertin'') 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 dis ...
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 savanna, and grasslands, as well as an endemic subspecies of '' Dendrosenecio erici-rosenii'' (''D. e. erici-rosenii'').


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 ...
. Among the 136 species of mammals identified in the park, the eastern lowland gorilla is the most prominent. According to a 2008 status report of the DR of Congo, the park had 125 lowland gorillas, a marked reduction from the figure of 600 gorillas of the pre-1990s conflict period, and consequently the species has been inscribed on the endangered list. The park is the last refuge of this rare primate. According to the census survey of eastern lowland gorillas reported by the
Wildlife Conservation Society The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a global 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) non-governmental organization, headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, with a mission to save "wildlife and wild places across the globe". Founded in ...
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 ...
, several species of '' Cercopithecinae'' (including the
olive baboon The olive baboon (''Papio anubis''), also called the Anubis baboon, is a member of the family Cercopithecidae Old World monkeys. The species is the most wide-ranging of all baboons, being native to 25 countries throughout Africa, extending from ...
) and ''
Colobinae The Colobinae or leaf-eating monkeys are a family (biology), subfamily of the Old World monkey family that includes 61 species in 11 genus, genera, including the black-and-white colobus, the large-nosed proboscis monkey, and the gray langurs. So ...
'', as well as Hamlyn's monkey. Some of the other mammals include the forest elephant, forest buffalo,
hippopotamus The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Sahar ...
,
leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...
,
giant forest hog The giant forest hog (''Hylochoerus meinertzhageni''), the only member of its genus (''Hylochoerus''), is native to wooded habitats in Africa and is one of the largest wild members of the pig family, Suidae, along with a few subspecies of the wi ...
, bongo, needle-clawed bushbaby, Maclaud's horseshoe bat, Ruwenzori otter shrew,
Mount Kahuzi climbing mouse The Mount Kahuzi climbing mouse (''Dendromus kahuziensis'') is a rodent found only in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is listed as a critically endangered species due to illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, ...
and Alexander's bush squirrel. Two species of genet that live within the park are
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...
to the Congo Basin: the
aquatic genet The aquatic genet (''Genetta piscivora''), also known as the fishing genet, is a Genetta, 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'' Aquat ...
and the giant forest genet. 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 only 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 foun ...
to the region, including the threatened Albertine owlet. Other native bird species include the yellow-crested helmet shrike,
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 na ...
, African green broadbill, and Rockefeller's sunbird. The park has been designated an
Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
(IBA) by
BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...
because it supports significant populations of many bird species. 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, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barbs and barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family, and t ...
was by far the largest family represented.


Conservation and management

The park, under the management of the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature, 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. Illegal
artisanal mining Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is a blanket term for a type of subsistence mining involving a miner who may or may not be officially employed by a List of mining companies, mining company but works independently, mining minerals using the ...
of
Coltan Coltan (short for columbite–tantalites and known industrially as tantalite) is a dull black metallic ore from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted. The niobium-dominant mineral in coltan is columbite (after niobium's original A ...
happens in the park, thus damaging the deep forest cover.Diaz-Struck and Poliszuk 2012 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.


Human rights abuses

In 2019, national park rangers allegedly engaged in violence against Batwa who returned to the park in 2018. This included the alleged killing of a number of residents, the burning of villages, as well as the use of sexual violence against indigenous residents. In 2022, the
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** List ...
ruled that the
Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
violated the human rights of Batwa people according to the African Charter, including by evicting them from ancestral territories without prior consent when the Kahuzi-Biega National Park was created. The case was filed in 2015 but the decision was made public in June 2024.


See also

* World Heritage Sites in Danger


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 Important Bird Areas 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