Integrated gorilla conservation and promotion of a sustainable oil palm sector in the northern periphery of Kahuzi-Biega Park (PNKB)

The 4 forest concessions of local communities (CFCL, 120,200 ha) of the northern periphery of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park (PNKB, 6,000,000 ha, UNESCO World Heritage) located in the territory of Walikale in the North Province -Kivu, (300 km, 7h30 drive from Goma), home to Grauer’s gorillas, (Gorilla beringei graueri, CR), and chimpanzees, (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii, EN), but also panthers (Panthera pardus, VU), Cercopithèque d ‘Hamluyn (Cercopithecus hamlyni, VU), the Giant Pangolin (Manis gigantea, VU), as well as rodents and terrestrial reptiles among others: the Forest Cobra (Naja melanoleuca), the Gabon viper (Bitis gabonica), etc.

CFCL resources are threatened by timber exploitation and artisanal mining, shifting slash-and-burn agriculture, poisoning fishing but above all by significant poaching, both for local consumption of wild meat bush, but also for the sale of it at the local, provincial and national level, encouraged by a weak law enforcement and corruption.

The NGO Forêt pour le Développement Intégral (FODI), created in 2009, provides organizational, technical, legal and institutional support to local communities in the implementation of actions to develop and protect forest ecosystems. It is notably supported by Rainforest Foundation Norway and the Jane Goodall Institute. The objective of this project is to contribute to the sustainable protection of the last populations of Grauer’s gorillas living in the CFCLs of the northern periphery of the PNKB.