Saving Gorillas Starts With Understanding Their Human Neighbours

Saving Gorillas Starts With Understanding Their Human Neighbours

Understanding local human cultures is key to preserving gorillas, elephants and other wildlife in African parks and reserves, according to new research from Purdue University.

"Conservation efforts and the management of protected areas are often designed with the best intentions, but sometimes supporting scientific data is missing or incorrect assumptions are made about a local culture or even the outsiders or trade that plays a role in the area," said Melissa Remis, a professor of anthropology who studies gorillas.

"Conservation isn't just about protecting wildlife, you also need to consider the human dimension such as how local hunting technologies or even migration can change how land is used."

ESA - Observing the Earth - Congo receives help from space after volcano eruption - images

ESA - Observing the Earth - Congo receives help from space after volcano eruption


Congo receives help from space after volcano eruption

On 2 January, Mount Nyamulagira in the Democratic Republic of Congo erupted, spewing lava from its southern flank and raising concerns that the 100 000 people in the town of Sake could be under threat.

Fears were also triggered in Goma as rumours circulated that an eruption was imminent at the nearby Nyiragongo volcano, which devastated the city in 2002.

Following the eruption, scientists and local authorities have been using a long series of space images from ESA’s Envisat, together with seismic and helicopter data, to monitor the situation and calm fears of the local population.

Dr Nicolas d’Oreye of GORISK, which is in Congo assisting the Goma Volcano Observatory to collect and process satellite observations and field data, said the satellite images are very useful for managing the crisis.

"As well as helping to validate information from different datasets, the satellite images are providing invaluable information about the situation, such as the details about the lava flow and the fact that the Nyiragongo volcano is not showing any signs of abnormal activity.

	Path of lava flow

"This has been of great importance for the local authorities and the Goma Volcano Observatory, who are holding daily crisis meetings, to reassure the local population and humanitarian agencies that Nyiragongo will be unaffected by the eruption of Nyamulagira."

Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province, is situated along the southern margin of the lava fields from these volcanoes. Lava from the Nyamulagira (height 3058 m) eruption has been flowing in a direction south and southwest of the volcano, raising concerns that lava could cover the Goma and Sake road within weeks, causing widespread chaos and threatening the local economy.

"Lava flows from Nyamulagira are usually not a direct threat for the population and the infrastructure except when it develops southwards, as it is in this case," explained Dr d’Oreye, a senior scientist at the Geophysics/Astrophysics Department of the National Museum of Natural History in Luxembourg. "In this situation, it is crucial to monitor the flow size, direction and speed for the authorities to be able to make timely decisions."

Lava flows can be mapped by comparing satellite radar images acquired before and after the eruption. In the images, old lava appears bright white. If an area appears white in before images and black in after images, then the ground has changed between acquisitions by the flow of new lava.

Barbeque Mentality Threatens Rare Mountain Gorillas

The habitat of rare mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo is being threatened by charcoal production, officials said.

Thousands of kilns mounded from dirt within the 3,000-square-mile Virunga National Park produce charcoal for rebel forces. The park is home to about 200 endangered mountain gorillas.

The rebels fund their fighting by selling the charcoal to refugees who fled the violence of the region and now live near the city of Goma, park ranger Jean Bosco Bichamakara told The Times of London in a story reported Saturday.

To break the reliance on charcoal, villagers and refugees are being urged to use presses, paid for by the Rwandan wildlife service, that turn briquettes leaf mulch, rice husks and other organic waste into fuel briquettes, Bichamakara said. The rangers buy the villagers' surplus briquettes and sell them in Goma for a third the price of charcoal.

"There are 550 presses being used now," Bichamakara said. "Our objective is to have 1,000 by the end of the year and 6,000 by the end of 2011, all to diminish the threat to our environment."