By John Lukas | President
As a result of the support of so many individuals and institutions internationally, the number of wildlife rangers working in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve is being increased with the training of fifty new recruits. These new rangers are beginning to go on patrol into more remote areas of the Reserve, working with existing ICCN (Institute in Congo for the Conservation of Nature) rangers to expand protection of the forest resources that forest elephants, chimpanzees, and okapi depend on to survive.
With an 80% decline in the population of forest elephants in DRC over the last 10 years, and the remaining stronghold found in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the northeast part of the country, protection of the entire Reserve is critical for their survival. Okapi were recently relisted as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List and the Reserve is home to the largest population of this rare, unique creature, in the world.
Rangers are tasked with not only tracking down wildlife poachers, but also with closing down illegal mines within the Reserve. As these mines are closed, the need for bush meat to supply the miners that have immigrated into this area for this exploitative opportunity is greatly reduced. You need to be strong and dedicated to work as a wildlife ranger. Long days spent pushing deeper into the forest tracking poachers and miners in the Reserve, requires lots of stamina and teamwork. The newly recruited rangers include the first women graduates of an intense training program aimed at tackling the challenges of protection in this pristine rainforest environment, which has been plagued in recent years with an increase in exploitive human activities. These determined young men and women are up to the task!
We are able to support these newest recruits only because of the many people around the world that care. The wildlife and people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are a long way from where our donors live but we are all in this world together and through your support of the efforts of OCP staff and ICCN rangers we are making a real difference in the survival of elephants, okapi and the myriad of threatened wildlife in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve.
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