BWANGA

The situation in terms of hunting has changed dramatically since the introduction of armed ‘Eco-guards'. Commercial logging opens roads into the forest and makes it easier for commercial hunters and poachers to access formerly inaccessible parts of the forest. To confront this in the late 1990s, international conservationists and the Congolese Ministry of Water and Forests set up anti-poaching squads called Eco-guards to patrol forest areas and enforce hunting law. Certain animals are now protected from hunting (elephant, gorilla, chimpanzee, crocodile, buffalo, wild boar and certain large antelopes). While in theory a sensible protective measure, in practice some members of the local elite organise commercial poaching activity of protected species and use their power to protect themselves from prosecution. Thus it is very difficult for Eco-guards to control the most damaging activities, since they know that the patrons of hunting can punish them for doing so, or they are bribed.....

Registration numbers: NL:857964860 (W)