A day and a half. I had a day and a half to interview a whole village. There is so much going on at the Tayna Nature Reserve in the DR Congo that I could spend an eternity discovering all the different ways each individual helped out. In essence, the reserve was created by the coming together of people dedicated to the success of the project; therefore, not one person could be overlooked when talking about its creation and expansion.
Guillaume Kambale Kioma, Program Director for Research at Tayna Nature Reserve (TNR), worked alongside the TNR Program Coordinator Pierre Kakule Vwirisihikya at the Virunga National Park many years ago. For ten years, Guillaume and Pierre worked through dangerous circumstances. The Park is a battle ground between rebel groups, charcoal dealers and poachers. Despite constant threat, Guillaume and Pierre stayed on often without pay. When Pierre began the Tayna Nature Reserve Project with DFGFI, Guillaume immediately joined in. “It is better to do community reserves because the population benefits,” he says, “People are less likely to attack the community based reserves because they have a vested interest in it.” In contrast to his previous job, his post as Program Director of Research would require no guns. Because the DR Congo is such a mountainous place, the Tayna Reserve survives largely undisturbed by the civil war waging to the south. Tayna has grown so much in the past years that it now encompasses 90,000 hectares with four stations around the park for the trackers.
While all the villages are committed to helping to making the reserve work, funds are always the main problem. The trackers need brick houses because the current ones are made of mud and they do not have any electricity or potable water at all the stations. They are also in need of more technical staff and more men in the field.
The feeling of community is overwhelming. Everyone is dedicated to the success of the reserve. I know that this month everyone is going to be working extra hard… the road needs to be repaired!
An account from an intern for Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International 