What future for Kahuzi-Biega National Park and its gorillas?

In the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kahuzi-Biega National Park, the emblematic refuge of the last eastern lowland gorillas, is now caught between human war and the survival of the living world. The conflict between armed groups reaches beyond the combat zones: its roots stretch deep into the forests of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Under repeated gunfire and looting, the gorillas flee, stressed, disoriented, sometimes separated from their family groups.

But the threat does not come only from weapons. Taking advantage of the gap left by reduced ICCN patrols, woodcutters have poured into the park, felling trees to make charcoal. This illegal trade, which has become a vital resource for many families displaced or impoverished by the war, is silently devastating the ecosystem. Every tree that falls takes with it a fragment of the gorillas' habitat. The defenceless forest is disappearing day after day.

We are helplessly witnessing the collapse of one of Africa's most precious ecological treasures.

In Kahuzi-Biega, it is no longer only the wildlife that is threatened: it is an ancient balance between people, nature and the memory of a world still alive.

© David Kalinga, freelance journalist