- On March 11th, 2025, Virunga National Park authorities discovered a young gorilla named Fazili caught in a poacher’s trap.
- The closure of Virunga National Park eco-guard patrol posts in areas under M23 occupation has prevented regular patrols and monitoring since April 2024, said researchers, and some locals are taking advantage of the security situation to benefit from the park’s resources, collaborate with armed groups for land, or take part in the wild meat trade.
- No species have completely disappeared from the park, and the population of gorillas continued to rise in 2024 but there has been a 50% decrease in wildlife since the M23 resurgence in 2021 and poaching is expanding, said park officials.
- About one hundred community trackers are working to protect wildlife during the security crisis.
The intensifying security crisis in parts of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the years is undermining wildlife protection in Virunga National Park, say officials and local residents. The growing clashes in early 2025 between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, local militias known as the Wazalendo, and the M23 (March 23 movement), which occupies large territory in the national park, is leading to poaching and illegal trade.
Some residents are taking advantage of the climate of insecurity to carry out illegal activities that are destroying habitats, often cooperating with armed groups, according to a 2023 report by the Centre for Education for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development (CEPED). On March 11, 2025, park authorities discovered a young gorilla caught in a poacher’s trap.
“Thanks to the rapid intervention of our monitoring team and veterinarians, Fazili [the young gorilla] received emergency care, including the removal of the trap and treatment for his injuries,” stated officials on the Virunga National Park’s X account (formerly Twitter).
A representative from CREDHO, an environmental and human rights research center in North Kivu, explained that since April 2024, eco-guards had to leave several strategic positions due to M23 threats. These include Rwindi in Rutshuru territory, in the heart of Virunga National Park at the crossroads between Kiwanja-Kanyabayonga on national road number two linking the territories of Rutshuru and Lubero, as well as the patrol posts of Vitshumbi and Nyamusengera in a lake area. According to CREDHO, they have also abandoned other patrol posts, notably in Mabenga, Kabasha, Katanda, and Ndekodéplore. However, the Rumangabo station remains operational under the surveillance of the M23.
“Most of the fighting took place in Virunga National Park, and several ecosystems are in decline. Eco-guards were chased away from their patrol posts by the M23 in occupied areas,” said the source from CREDHO, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons. “Animals don’t like to hear gunfire. Some gorillas from the Sarambwe reserve have migrated to Uganda, and in Bukima, there is no wildlife monitoring.”
In a press interview on Monday, March 31st, 2025, in the city of Beni, the provisional capital of North Kivu province, Virunga National Park external relations manager Méthode Uhoze explained that since the M23 war’s resurgence, eco-guards have no longer been able to patrol all areas due to the presence of armed groups. These areas have become strongholds for the illegal exploitation of natural resources, he said.
“No species have completely disappeared from the park. There has been a decrease in the number of animals, but that doesn’t mean that all species have been killed. Some animals are moving for safety reasons. A gorilla family (Gorilla beringei) from the DRC has taken refuge in Rwanda… Poaching is everywhere, which also contributes to the overall decrease in the number of animals,” he explained.
The Virunga National Park representative also denounced the persistent insecurity that has led to the killings of forest rangers since the park opened.
“Nearly 200 forest rangers have been killed by armed groups. ICCN staff [a national institute that conserves nature] are civilians armed for their conservation mission and are therefore neutral. The park has lost 13% of its surface area due to the political crisis, armed groups, and political interests,” he added.
Conservation efforts face ongoing threats
Despite this, Virunga National Park eco-guards continue to patrol some parts of the park. In 2024, park authorities announced on social media that they had monitored 8,461 kilometers (5,250 miles) of the park removing 46 traps from the forests.
“These surveillance efforts, combined with the use of aircraft and drones, have covered more than 180,000 kilometers [111,000 miles], with more than 25,000 kilometers [15,500 miles] of patrols,” Virunga National Park announced on March 1, 2025.
But some eco-guard patrol posts remain closed, affecting the monitoring of animal populations and their medical care, said sources. “Eco-guards are no longer able to patrol all areas of the park. Poachers continue to hunt for valuable items like ivory and meat,” said one Nyiragongo resident over the phone to Mongabay.
In response to the resurgence of hostilities in 2024, park authorities have established a network of 110 community trackers (community members living around the gorilla habitat who are involved in conservation) to help in wildlife conservation. Officials stated they continued to observe steady progress in the gorilla population during the same year thanks to the intervention of community trackers in collaboration with park authorities.
“In 2024, 10 gorilla births were recorded, bringing the population to over 1,000 individuals (compared to just over 350 in the 1980s), in which a third reside in the park,” states the Virunga National Park website.
However, they say it’s not enough. Mountain gorillas are still under threat from trapping, poaching, and human-transmitted diseases.
“Without regular ranger patrols, the threat to mountain gorillas has increased considerably,” Virunga National Park said in a statement on its website.
Complicity between civilians and armed men
The environmental organization CEPED’s 2023 monitoring report indicates that the biodiversity surrounding the Mabenga patrol post is on a decline. A record number of traps were found in Kanyabingo, Rukubura, Kigoma, and Kanyabusinini, endangering all animal species, including elephants and gorillas.
“To gain acceptance [among residents], the rebels and their accomplices distribute one hectare of land for $30. Poachers target all animal species in Sarambwe, Ngarubungo, and Bunyangaro. Gorillas and elephants are both in danger,” the report stated.
In several M23-controlled areas, residents are accused of facilitating poaching, often under the protection of armed men, sometimes in civilian clothes. Poaching cases have been reported in the Binza region in the northeastern section of Virunga National Park, which straddles Uganda and is separated by the Ishasha River. The wild meat trade and the destruction of electric wire fences at the edge of the park, which act as a barrier against wildlife, are exacerbating poaching.
“We’ve seen many women and young girls selling wild meat, often with the complicity of poachers from the park. They sometimes go door to door selling wild meat,” said a resident of the Binza region, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
On August 2024, during the fourteenth session of environmental protection networks in the DRC meeting to discuss protected areas, the ICCN director of parks sounded the alarm on the loss of 50% of species in the Virunga National Park since the resurgence of the M23 rebellion in 2022.
“Some people are taking advantage of this situation to benefit from the park’s resources illicitly. Some people have even sold off land in this heritage area, particularly in Nzulo in west Goma. We are in a weak position, and it is difficult to enforce the law. We are working on communications,” said Méthode Uhoze.
Laws on the table
Léonard Birere, a lawyer at the North Kivu Bar, said that international conventions, such as the 1907 Hague Convention and the 1949 Geneva Convention, include provisions to protect natural resources during armed conflicts. There are also national laws in place, he explained, and said the Law 14/003 on nature conservation, which aims to protect the country’s fragile ecosystems, should be respected.
“Article 42 of the Nature Conservation Act recognizes the non-belligerent status of personnel assigned to monitor protected areas. As for Article 44, all protected areas benefit, in times of peace as well as in times of conflict, from special protection against any act likely to violate their integrity,” he told Mongabay.
The fact that the DRC’s natural resources are in high demand is the main driver of this crisis, according to a study on the national park’s impasse in eastern DRC. The authors propose updating laws to adapt them to current realities.
“The Congolese authorities must demonstrate creativity, inventiveness, and innovation in order to develop a realistic environmental policy capable of objectively addressing the development, transmission, and promotion of our resources. It is clear that these parks no longer belong entirely to us, since they are now managed collectively within the framework of participatory management between the Congolese state and the rebel states,” the study concluded.
A 2024 global wildlife crime report also highlighted that wildlife trafficking is becoming increasingly complex, fueled by a variety of motives, including food consumption, medicine, jewelry, and pet sales.
“Between 2015 and 2021, approximately 4,000 wild species were affected by illegal trafficking,” the report stated.
This article was first published here in French on April 15, 2025.
Banner image: A chimpanzee of Mikeno Lodge in Virunga National Park, DRC. Image by Joseph King via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
The environmental toll of the M23 conflict in eastern DRC (Analysis)
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