How the M23 advance threatens DR Congo’s endangered gorilla population

Alain Mukiranya treads carefully on the ground made slippery by overnight rain, making his way through a bamboo grove as discreetly as possible – pushing aside stalks carefully not to make any noise. 

This is the land of the magnificent mountain gorilla, a critically endangered herbivore struggling to survive in one of the most biologically diverse areas on the planet that is also one of the most volatile conflict zones in the world.

About 1,000 of them roam the forest-cloaked volcanoes and misty mountains of the Western Rift Valley where Rwanda, Congo and Uganda meet to form what is known as the Virunga National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site.

Established in 1925 when Congo was still a Belgian colony, Virunga was the setting for American conservationist Dian Fossey’s 1984 book ‘Gorillas in the Mist’, which was later adapted to a hit Hollywood movie of the same name.

The last census in 2021 showed an estimated 350 mountain gorillas on Congolese territory.

But on that day, there were none nearby as Mukiranya made his round of a section of the 7,800-sq km game reserve – five times the size of London.

“Exactly like humans, gorillas run toward seemingly peaceful places, away from gunfire,” said Mukiranya, director of the Gorilla Ambassador Program, as he looked around in all directions.

The threat to mountain gorillas is not new. Over 120 armed groups are said to be active in eastern DRC, most of them using the forests of Virunga as a cover for their shoot-and-scoot operations. Disputes over resources and territory have led local militias to invade and exploit the area, leading to deforestation, poaching and illicit farming.

And over the years, hundreds of the gorillas have been killed in the park and beyond – many caught in the crossfire, some by poachers and some by rebels.

But none, perhaps, posed as much threat to the gorilla troops as the relentless march of the M23 rebel group which has overrun vast swathes of land in eastern DRC, including the town of Rumangabo, where the park’s headquarters is located.

Last week, a park spokesperson said growing M23 rebel activity has left the endangered species vulnerable to poachers as conservationists and forest guards no longer have access to some of the areas inhabited by the great apes.

Weighing up to 485 pounds and standing at almost six feet, the mountain gorillas present an imposing and fearful sight. “But they are not always able to defend themselves against armed poachers,” Mukiranya tells TRT World.

In August, one silverback gorilla – the term used for apes above 12 years that develop a silver section of hair over their back and hips – was found dead by villagers, who pointed fingers at M23 rebels.

Dial M for mayhem

Predominantly composed of Congolese Tutsis, rebels of the March 23 movement – M23 – had resumed their armed offensive in late 2021, claiming dissatisfaction with the government over reported human rights abuses inflicted on the ethnic group and a lack of progress in the implementation of a previously negotiated agreement in Nairobi.

As the rebels advanced, Mukiranya said, patrol posts located at Bukima, Gikeri and Mikeno –  where hundreds of mountain gorillas reside – were destroyed. Some of the park’s vehicles and equipment have been stolen and are now used by M23 rebels to conduct assaults on military targets and civilian populations.

In the southern sector of Virunga, no patrols were conducted for about seven months and the park staff had to be evacuated from the park headquarters.

Since the war resumed, the rebels have also not allowed the park’s director Emmanuel de Merode to fly his small plane, necessary for coordinating conservation efforts in remote areas of the park. A few guards remain to take care of the gorilla sanctuary located near a park lodge, which has long since stopped receiving tourists.

With M23’s territorial gains causing panic, the Congolese people have become highly susceptible to conspiracy theories, as the group fast approaches Goma, the region’s capital at the southern tip of Virunga.

During street protests, people have repeatedly demanded accountability, questioning the origin of weapons used by rebels against the DRC’s armed forces FARDC, and the UN peacekeeping force MONUSCO.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres only added to their doubts, proclaiming in an interview that “the M23 is a modern army” and that their “heavy weapons [are] more advanced than MONUSCO’s equipment”.

Amid the turmoil, the opposition – with an eye on this year’s elections – has demanded the immediate exit of all foreign forces, including the UN.

Opposition leader Muhindo Nzangi blamed park director de Merode, a Belgian national, for the failures of the FARDC and even wrote in a public post that “he is supplying weapons to the rebels”. Most Virunga staff deem it “a populist move” while acknowledging his work. De Merode was even shot in an ambush while on patrol.

Similarly, Rwanda’s ambassador Vincent Karenga was forced to leave Kinshasa at the end of October after a leaked UN internal paper claimed that Kigali had been supporting the M23 rebels with equipment and boots on the ground.

Haven under threat

Over the past two decades, international efforts and rare cooperation between DRC, Rwanda and Uganda had seen the number of mountain gorillas rise significantly – from about 680 in 2008 to 1,000 plus at present.

Mukiranya said that for the past ten years, Virunga has been implementing broad conservation and anti-poaching policies. “The lions and elephants had even returned to Ishasha, an area of the park close to the border with Uganda.”

However, “all our efforts risk being wiped out,” he adds. Sensitising local populations on the need to conserve nature has become a cumbersome task - impoverished due to recurring wars, people seek to make ends meet, often falling back on the forest’s resources.

The clashes around Tongo, southwest of the reserve, are also endangering chimpanzee populations. “The destruction of the natural environment is getting worse every day,” said Bienvenue Boende, the park spokesperson.

The violent competition plays out not just between M23 and FARDC, but also between other groups. Nyatura, composed of Congolese Hutus, has been fighting with FARDC against the Tutsi-dominated M23.

Another rebel group is the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), originally formed by former Rwandan Hutus in 1994. The group is hostile to Kigali, which has sought to vanquish them for nearly 30 years.

Today, 14 percent of the park’s total area is exploited illegally, mainly for agriculture or charcoal making. The famous Makala charcoal is sold at a high price on Congolese markets since it is the main cooking fuel available in the east of the country.

FDLR controls this lucrative charcoal trade, putting a strain on one of Africa’s most diverse ecosystems. As a result, the military rivalries between the M23 and the FDLR with its partners complicate the management of the park, rendering some areas completely inaccessible.

At the expense of the gorillas’ habitat, local people have been converting swaths of Virunga forests into charcoal production hubs. The noise of logging and wood burning repel many other species, that cannot tolerate incursions into their paradise.

On average, forty trucks – each loaded with 150 bags of wild charcoal –  enter the city of Goma daily, bringing in revenues estimated at nearly $1.7 million per month.

In a way, Virunga is not only financing the rebels but also bankrolling its own slow demise. And the mountain gorillas are caught in the crossfire of a war they will never understand.