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Field Report from the Salonga-Lukenie-Sankuru Landscape by Saturnin Régis Ibata

None of us think that rural people are ignorant of the gradual destruction of their environment or that it’s necessary for others to tell them how to solve their problems.

Far from doing that, our research and filming in the Salonga-Lukenie-Sankuru Landscape has provided clear evidence that, despite their fragile socio-economic status, they are indeed conscious of the environmental problems in their communities and are engaged on a daily basis in resolving them.

The issue of poaching is frequently thought of as a taboo subject but people are now expressing their concerns in public because the matter has become more than a local problem. Aware of the degree to which poaching in the Lokolama sector of Bandundu province has contributed, not only to the increasing rarity of many animal species, but the complete disappearance of elephants, people have been speaking out publicly and condemning the practice. The creation of an anti-poaching organization by the youth of Lokolama is the most dramatic example.

Anxious to reduce this phenomenon, which doesn’t benefit the people and is not supported by the authorities, the young people, through engagement and dialogue, try to persuade the poachers peacefully to put away their guns.

This approach is in addition to other actions taken to discourage poaching activities in the region by asking the people:

• Not to sell manioc to poachers
• Not to provide housing or lodging to them
• Not to let their daughters marry them
• Not to have any interaction with them

Residents feel that the presence of military-style arms in the area not only contributes to the demise of wild animals, but also constitutes a danger to the security of the human population.

During our stay there, we saw that these tactics elicited nearly 17 military weapons which were transferred to the military authority at Oshwe.

Over the last 14 years of law enforcement and national park management it’s been dangerous to take on the sensitive subject of poaching and there have been very few local initiatives for that reason.

But it’s clear that the people of Lokolama are being successful and are on the right track.

This type of proven local initiative is just the kind of activity that deserves to be supported and reinforced by public officials and institutions responsible for the lasting management of our valuable natural resources.