African Parks: DRC's Garamba National Park Hails Hopeful Turning Point at 80th Year Anniversary Commemoration

JOHANNESBURG, June 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The Democratic Republic of Congo's Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) and African Parks commemorated the 80^th year anniversary of Garamba, one of Africa's oldest national parks, on June 13^th. First proclaimed in 1938, Garamba is an extremely diverse, critically important World Heritage Site, which has been the decades-long target of militant poaching groups, including the Lord's Resistance Army. Although once home to 22,000 elephants, the Northern white rhino, and herds of Kordofan giraffe, today there are fewer than 1,200 elephants, the rhino has been extirpated, and only 48 giraffe remain.

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African Parks assumed management of Garamba in partnership with the ICCN in 2005, beginning a decade of efforts to curtail illegal activity in what is often referred to as ground zero in Africa's poaching wars. Progress was made in 2016, when African Parks overhauled law enforcement and implemented systems to match the threat. With vital support from the European Union, USAID, USFWS, the Wildcat Foundation, World Bank, Randgold Resources, and the Walton Foundation, Garamba's rangers are gaining ground. In just 18 months, illegal activity has been dramatically reduced, elephant poaching is down by fifty percent, and so far in 2018 only two elephants have been lost.

The Director General of the ICCN Cosma Wilungula Balongelwa said at the anniversary, during which a symbolic quantity of the park's ivory stockpile was burned, "Seeing the emerging role a secure Garamba plays in the stability of the region, we are committed more than ever to combatting poaching and to our partnership with African Parks, which is creating a safer landscape and a brighter future for countless people and wildlife in the region."

Sustainable development and community involvement have pivotal roles in the long-term protection of Garamba, now one of the largest employers in the area with 2,500 staff. African Parks, with support from its partners and particularly the EU, is working with local communities to realize socio-economic benefits from conservation. In 2017 alone they provided educational outreach to over 1,500 students and health services to 10,000 people.

"Garamba is one of Africa's most challenging landscapes to protect, where both people and wildlife have borne tremendous costs inflicted by heavily-incentivized militant groups and regional instability," said Peter Fearnhead, CEO of African Parks. "But the tide is turning. What we're demonstrating here with the ICCN and our partners is that with a shared vision, political will, donor support and engagement with local communities, we can shift the trajectory of this region and are now offering a safe place for biodiversity and people in even the most extraordinary circumstances."

Media assets available here

Full online press release in French and English