Green Blog: Lowland Gorillas, Protected in a Green Abyss

The locals said it could not be done. It was 1999, and the hardheaded ecologist J. Michael Fay was determined to tromp across 2,000 miles of the Congo Basin. In a northeastern patch, he ran into a swampy tangle so thick that he struggled to advance by a single mile in under 12 hours.

?He later said it was one of the most difficult things he had ever attempted in his life,? said Paul Telfer, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society?s Congo program. When Dr. Fay, also a staff member at the conservation society, emerged from his journey 455 days later, he referred to that wild forested place as ?the green abyss.?

Now the government of the Republic of Congo has declared the area a national park, ensuring that the green abyss remains just that. Gorillas, it turns out, do not mind the forests? tangle.

In 2008, the Wildlife Conservation Society discovered that an estimated 15,000 western lowland gorillas were living there, which helped spur the government to make a decision to protect the forest. ?The density of gorillas in this area turned out to be surprisingly high,? Dr. Telfer said. ?As big as gorillas are, it?s surprising how nimble they are in these dense understories ? it?s their preferred habitat.?

With this new population taken into account, the northern Republic of Congo now supports an estimated 125,000 gorillas.

After several years of study, consultation and dialogue among various governmental bodies, a 1,765 square-mile patch of land became Ntokou-Pikounda National Park. ?We celebrate and acknowledge the efforts of the Congolese government to protect this extraordinary ecosystem,? said Cristi?n Samper, the president and chief executive of the Wildlife Conservation Society. ?There are three national parks established in this region now, so we?re really looking at a major piece of the Congo rain forest being preserved and managed in a sustainable way.?

Around 25,000 to 30,000 people live in towns and villages surrounding the new park. At meetings with local communities, Dr. Telfer said, many people seemed supportive, but then one village head voiced misgivings about the park limits. ?He stood up, and I thought, ?Oh my, here we go,?? Dr. Telfer recalled. ?But then he said his village had identified a significant population of hippopotamus and he was concerned because the park limits did not include these animals.?

After confirming the hippos? whereabouts, the park?s border was extended. The community hopes that the animals will attract some tourists, which could boost the local economy, Dr. Telfer said.

In addition to protecting gorillas, the park shelters the great apes? forest neighbors, including around 800 elephants and 940 chimpanzees. ?This park is a great victory not just for gorillas but for conservation,? said Jerome Mokoko, the associate director of the Congo program. ?What should not be overlooked is that this park supports wetlands with huge numbers of fish, crocodiles and Congo?s largest and most secure population of hippos.?

Ntokou-Pikounda National Park?s relative inhospitality to humans helps to protect wildlife dwelling by deterring poachers or at least making poaching more challenging. But pressures on great apes remain high on the forest?s eastern border, where some communities reportedly have a preference for gorilla meat.

The threat of the Ebola virus, which occasionally breaks out and decimates gorilla populations, also ranks among conservationists? concerns. ?Clearly, our work is just beginning and we have to continue protecting and studying gorillas and the many other species there,? Dr. Samper said.

For now, however, conservationists are focusing on the positive. ?I tell you, the first time you see a big male gorilla in a tropical forest like that, it?s more humbling and inspirational an experience than you?d ever imagine,? said Dr. Samper, who recently viewed Congolese gorillas in the wild for the first time.

?My first thought was, ?Oh, my god,? and then I was just so happy and proud to be there in their ecosystem and to know that we are working to preserve it,? he said.

Source: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/lowland-gorillas-protected-in-a-green-abyss/?partner=rss&emc=rss

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