By John Lukas | Presdent, White Oak Conservation Center, Inc.
The ICCN rangers have been engaged in several successful anti-poaching efforts in recent months with three poachers arrested and sent to Bunia for prosecution. Serious challenges persist as incursions by miners and loggers into the Reserve continue, the demand for bush meat remains a pressing concern. Poachers not only engage in snaring smaller game, but recently uncovered evidence indicates increased pressure on okapi and forest elephants.
So far this year the rangers have removed over 430 snares from the forest and arrested several poachers, confiscated 21 pieces of ivory and several guns and evicted hundreds of illegal miners from the Reserve. Many trackers and trap makers were taken into custody and released outside of the boundaries of the OWR. These law enforcement actions are significant by themselves but set against a backdrop of the danger of encountering roving bands of armed militias bent on destroying anyone aligned with authority is truly an amazing achievement.
Your support for the rangers of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve helps to protect species and habitat at a critical time for conservation of wildlife in central Africa. Share this with your friends on social media and help us work towards the survival of the many rare and endangered animals that live in the Ituri Forest.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
