itombwe-description : Protected Areas in the Congo Basin: Failing both people and biodiversity?

Country: Democratic Republic of Congo

Type and IUCN Category: Nature Reserve (IUCN category: VI)

Size (hectares): 760,000. The reserve originally delineated an area of 1,500,000 hectares within which all human activity was forbidden but these boundaries were later reviewed in consultation with local communities.

Date of creation: 11 October 2006 (decree No. 038/CAB/MIN/ECN-EF/2006)

CARPE landscape: Maiko-Tayna-Kahuzi-Biega

Management plan: Under development

Local communities: The reserve and surrounding areas are heavily populated. Around 60,000 indigenous Mbuti people live in the Itombwe forest (Gauthier and Pravetonni, 2016).

Administration: The reserve is managed by the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) with technical and financial support from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

Biodiversity information: The central massif of the Itombwe Nature Reserve covers several forest habitats. There are some important populations of birds and chimpanzees, including the endangered Grauer’s gorilla. Itombwe is also home to a wide variety of plant species (WWF and TEREA, 2014).

Neighbouring and overlapping extractive industries (Mapping for Rights):

20 mining permits have been granted in and around the Itombwe Nature Reserve, especially in the north and the south

(1) permit no. 6293, managed by Kashama Muteba between 2007 and 2012;
(2) permit no. 5771, managed by Broadtec Congo between 2006 and 2011;
(3-5) permits nos. 41, 42 and 43, managed by Twangiza Mining between 1998 and 2016;
(6) permit no. 7728, managed by Genesis SPRL since 2007;
(7) permit no. 6465, managed by Group N’Doba S since 2006;
(8-10) permits nos. 1576, 3872 and 3874, managed by Banro Congo Mining between 2007 and 2012;
(11-15) permits nos. 3873, 3875, 3876, 3877 and 3878, managed by Banro Congo Mining since 2005;
(16) permit no. 7764, managed by Heat Melto Smelt since 2007;
(17-18) permits nos. 6059 and 6060, managed by Greendale Invest between 2007 and 2012;
(19) permit no. 7750, managed by Elite Erath Prod since 2007; and
(20) permit no. 7752, managed by Efasto Logistics since 2007.

Information available on funding:

(Please note that some of these grants may be covering several protected areas or landscapes.)

CARPE Phase III: “Central Africa Forest Ecosystems Conservation (CAFEC)”, Maiko-Tayna-Kahuzi Biega landscape, 2013-2018
Funder: USAID
Objective: To maintain the ecological integrity of the humid forest ecosystems of the Congo Basin through sustainable management of forests and reduction of threats to biodiversity
Grant manager: Conservation International
Project area: Maiko-Tayna-Kahuzi Biega landscape
Funds: $13,600,000. Specific amount dedicated to Itombwe unknown (USAID 2013).

Participatory gazettement and forest management of the Itombwe Massif (2007-2011)
Funders: Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) with WWF-Norway
Objective: Establishing Itombwe as a protected area through a forest gazettement process
Grant manager: WWF Eastern Africa Regional Programme Office (EARPO), in close cooperation with ICCN and WCS.
Project area: Itombwe Massif
Funds: $415,751 (NOK 3 560 000)

Grauer’s Gorillas and Chimpanzees in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo – Conservation Action Plan 2012-2022
Funders: The Arcus Foundation, The World We Want Foundation
Objective: “To identify critical threats to gorillas, chimpanzees and their habitats in the landscape, and to develop conservation strategies to address these threats.” (Maldonado et al. 2012: 2)
Grant manager: Jane Goodall Institute
Project area: Kahuzi-Biega, Maiko, Tayna and Itombwe Landscape
Funds: Unknown

Promoting Community Conservation Resilience, 2015-2019
Funder: Global Forest Coalition (Paraguay)
Objective: Policy advice on effective and adequate support to community-based nature conservation as a contribution to the implementation of the CBD Strategic Plan (2010-2020) and the Aichi objectives. A support campaign broadly disseminates the findings and flows into the CBD negotiations and involves international political processes. Expected outcome: significantly increased and adequate legal, political and financial support for community-based and indigenous protection initiatives based on their own recommendations.
Funds: $2,158,960 across 21 countries (Specific amount dedicated to the DRC unknown).