Garamba National Park
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Garamba National Park is a nearly national park in north-eastern
Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
. It is among Africa's oldest parks, and was designated a
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
by
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
in 1980 for its protection of critical habitat for
northern white rhinoceros The northern white rhinoceros or northern white rhino (''Ceratotherium simum cottoni'') is one of two subspecies of the white rhinoceros (the other being the southern white rhinoceros). Formerly found in several countries in East and Central Afr ...
es,
elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...
s,
hippopotamus The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
es, and giraffes. Garamba has been managed by African Parks in partnership with the
Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature The ''Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature'' (English; "Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation") is a Congolese governmental partner tasked with the protection and conservation of the Virunga National Park and Kahuzi-Biega Na ...
(ICCN), since 2005.


Overview

Garamba National Park was established in 1938 and covers an area of a in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is bounded by
Gangala-na-Bodio Hunting Reserve The Gangala-na-Bodio Hunting Reserve is a hunting reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The reserve was established in 1974, and covers an area of . The reserve adjoins Garamba National Park Garamba National Park is a nearly nati ...
on the west, south, and east, and borders
South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...
on the north and northeast. It is part of the Sudano– Guinean savanna zone. The park is one of Africa's oldest protected areas. It lies in the transition zone between two centres of
endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
: Guinea-Congolian and Guinean-Sudanese savanna. These two biogeographic zones support a variety of wildlife, which have experienced population declines in recent decades because of
poaching Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...
. Garamba National Park has been managed by the nonprofit conservation organization African Parks as part of a partnership with the
Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature The ''Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature'' (English; "Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation") is a Congolese governmental partner tasked with the protection and conservation of the Virunga National Park and Kahuzi-Biega Na ...
(ICCN), since 2005. ICCN rangers and augmented with soldiers of the
Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: Forces armées de la république démocratique du Congo ARDC is the state organisation responsible for defending the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FARDC was rebuilt pat ...
work to protect Garamba from poachers and rebel groups.


History

The national park was established in 1938. The park was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980, and was included on the
specialized agency United Nations Specialized Agencies are autonomous organizations working with the United Nations and each other through the co-ordinating machinery of the United Nations Economic and Social Council at the intergovernmental level, and through th ...
's List of World Heritage in Danger from 1984–1992. Between 1991 and 1993, 50,000 Sudanese refugees settled outside Garamba after being displaced by the Sudan People's Liberation Army, resulting in increased poaching. There were reportedly 121 conflicts between poachers and park rangers between 1993 and 1995, and more than 900 weapons recovered by rangers during 1991–1996. The
International Rhino Foundation The International Rhino Foundation (IRF) is a Texas-based charity focused on the conservation of the five species of rhinoceros: the White Rhinoceros and Black Rhinoceros in Africa, and the Indian Rhinoceros, Javan Rhinoceros and Sumatran Rhinoc ...
provided funding for patrol vehicles in 1994, and ranger salaries in 1995. In February 1996, two rhinos—one male, Bawesi, and Juliet, a pregnant female—were killed. Garamba was added back to the danger list in 1996 because of northern white rhinoceros poaching. Following a number of defeats during the First Congo War and
Second Sudanese Civil War The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated ...
, most importantly Operation Thunderbolt, the
Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...
n insurgents of WNBF and UNRF (II) took refuge in Garamba National Park in 1997. Organizations like the
Frankfurt Zoological Society Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) is an international conservation organization founded in 1858 with headquarters in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. FZS focuses on maintaining biodiversity and conserving wildlife and ecosystems in protected areas an ...
,
International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...
, and
World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wo ...
have also worked with local authorities to rehabilitate Garamba. Garamba has been managed by African Parks as part of a partnership with ICCN, since 2005. African Parks' anti-poaching efforts have reportedly been successful at reducing animal deaths. According to
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, Garamba's management has been financed by the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
and private donors. Other contributors have included the
United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 b ...
,
United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...
, Wildcat Foundation, and
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
, according to African Parks. Since 2005, the protected area is considered a Lion Conservation Unit together with Domaine Chasse Bili Uere. Poachers have killed at least 21 park rangers in the last decade, as of 2017, and security concerns have contributed to Garamba's struggle to establish itself as a tourist destination.
Joseph Kony Joseph Rao Kony (likely born 1961) is a Ugandan militant who founded the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Christian fundamentalist organization, designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Peacekeepers, the European Union and variou ...
's
Lord's Resistance Army The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), also known as the Lord's Resistance Movement, is a rebel group and heterodox Christian group which operates in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the ...
have used the park for sanctuary. In 2009, the guerrilla group attacked Garamba's Nagero station, killing at least eight people, including two park rangers, and wounding an additional thirteen. Rebels also stole food and fuel, and destroyed several of the park's buildings. Poachers killed five rangers and three members of the Congolese armed forces in three conflicts in 2015, and more were killed in October. In April 2016, poachers shot and killed three rangers, and wounded others (including Garamba's manager at the time), and two park rangers were killed by elephant poachers in April 2017. According to photojournalist Kate Brooks, who filmed in Garamba for her documentary ''The Last Animals'', thirteen park rangers and military personnel were killed defending Garamba between January 2015 and April 2017. In 2017, National Geographic Documentary Films released ''The Protectors: Walk in the Rangers' Shoes'', a short
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...
documentary directed by
Kathryn Bigelow Kathryn Ann Bigelow (; born November 27, 1951) is an American filmmaker. Covering a wide range of genres, her films include '' Near Dark'' (1987), '' Point Break'' (1991), '' Strange Days'' (1995), '' K-19: The Widowmaker'' (2002), ''The Hurt Loc ...
about the park's rangers and their efforts to protect Garamba's wildlife. The
Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...
posthumously awarded the Disruptor Award to rangers killed protecting Garamba "for their work and bravery in defending elephants", in April 2017.


Flora and fauna

The park's savannah grasslands support a low density of acacias. Some of the Garamba's grasses can grow as high as . Garamba is home to a variety of mammal species, including various species of antelope, as well as buffalo,
elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...
s, hyenas,
giant forest hog The giant forest hog (''Hylochoerus meinertzhageni''), the only member of its genus (''Hylochoerus''), is native to wooded habitats in Africa and is generally considered the largest wild member of the pig family, Suidae; however, a few subspecie ...
s, giraffes,
hippopotamus The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
, and lions. The park hosts the Democratic Republic of Congo's only remaining population of giraffes, the
Kordofan Kordofan ( ar, كردفان ') is a former province of central Sudan. In 1994 it was divided into three new federal states: North Kordofan, South Kordofan and West Kordofan. In August 2005, West Kordofan State was abolished and its territory ...
subspecies, which numbers less than 60 individuals; and one of the country's largest remaining populations of elephants. Garamba's elephants are considered a hybrid of the African savanna and African forest subspecies. Poaching has reduced the park's elephant population in recent decades. There were around 2,800 elephants in 2011. In 2017, there were estimated to be fewer than 2,000 elephants in Garamba, a significant decline from the approximately 20,000 reported in the 1960s and 1970s. 22 elephants were killed in 2012, and in 2014 poachers killed 68 of Garamba's elephants within two months. Reported giraffe population sizes have varied, but show a general decline. According to ''
Mongabay Mongabay (mongabay.com) is a conservation news web portal that reports on environmental science, energy, and green design, and features extensive information on tropical rainforests, including pictures and deforestation statistics for countries ...
'', the population's recorded peak was 300 in 1976, and more than 100 were reported in 2008. ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' said there were 356 giraffes in 1993, and only 86 by 2007. ''
The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...
'' said there were 86 in 2003 and only 38 in 2016. There are 55 giraffes in the park, as of 2020. Poaching is the greatest threat to Garamba's giraffe population. The park once had the last wild population of the
northern white rhinoceros The northern white rhinoceros or northern white rhino (''Ceratotherium simum cottoni'') is one of two subspecies of the white rhinoceros (the other being the southern white rhinoceros). Formerly found in several countries in East and Central Afr ...
. Only fifteen northern white rhinos were reported in Garamba in the mid 1980s, prompting the park's inclusion on
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
's
List of World Heritage in Danger The List of World Heritage in Danger is compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) through the World Heritage Committee according to Article 11.4 of the World Heritage Convention,Full title: ''Conv ...
. In 2003–2004, there were reportedly between 20 and 25 white rhinos in the park. 138 mammal species and 286 bird species, including the
secretarybird The secretarybird or secretary bird (''Sagittarius serpentarius'') is a large, mostly terrestrial bird of prey. Endemic to Africa, it is usually found in the open grasslands and savanna of the sub-Saharan region. John Frederick Miller describe ...
, have been recorded in the park. Interactions between people and wild animals in and around the park has resulted in
human–wildlife conflict Human–wildlife conflict (HWC) refers to the negative interactions between human and wild animals, with undesirable consequences both for people and their resources, on the one hand, and wildlife and their habitats on the other ( IUCN 2020). HW ...
. Local and South Sudanese poachers hunt for elephants, often in search of
ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...
. Garamba's wildlife are also impacted by groups such as the Huda and
Wodaabe The Wodaabe ( ff, Woɗaaɓe, Adlam: ), also known as the Mbororo or Bororo (Adlam: , ), or Pullo, have a name that is designated to those of the Fula ethnic group who are traditionally nomadic and considered to be "ignorant of Islam." For this ...
(or "Mbororo") seeking
pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or sw ...
.


See also

*
List of largest protected areas The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is compiled and managed by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, an executive agency of the United Nations Environment Programme. It uses the IUCN and CBD definitions of protected areas to determ ...
*
List of national parks in Africa This is a list of national parks in Africa. The nature of the parks varies considerably not only between countries but also within some nations - the degree of protection, accessibility and type of environment for which it is intended to deliver ...
*
List of World Heritage in Danger The List of World Heritage in Danger is compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) through the World Heritage Committee according to Article 11.4 of the World Heritage Convention,Full title: ''Conv ...
*
List of World Heritage Sites in Africa The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has designated 147 World Heritage Sites in Africa. These sites are located in 46 countries (also called " state parties"). Selection of World Heritage Sites South Af ...
*
Wildlife of the Democratic Republic of the Congo The wildlife of the Democratic Republic of the Congo includes its flora and fauna, comprising a large biodiversity in rainforests, seasonally flooded forests and grasslands. The country is considered one of the 17 megadiverse nations, and is o ...


References


Works cited

*


Further reading

* Note: Published online 25 November 2010. * *


External links

* * * * {{authority control 1938 establishments in the Belgian Congo African Parks (organisation) National parks of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Protected areas established in 1938 World Heritage Sites in Danger World Heritage Sites in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Northern Congolian forest–savanna mosaic