The Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) is warning about the situation of the mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park, in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The M23 rebel group has set up its rear base in the area of the park occupied by the mountain gorillas, making it impossible to monitor the primates.
Toute l'actu sur la protection de l'environnement
The Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) is warning about the situation of the mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park, in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The M23 rebel group has set up its rear base in the area of the park occupied by the mountain gorillas, making it impossible to monitor the primates.
In the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), insecurity is negatively affecting the survival of mountain gorillas in the Virunga National Park. In a statement issued on 20 December 2022 by the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN), which manages the park, the M23 rebels are presented as the main threat currently facing the mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park.
« Currently, the mountain gorilla area (below Mount Mikeno in the south of the park, where 234 mountain gorillas live, i.e. a third of the world population of the species, editor’s note) is occupied by the rebels and this delicate security situation does not allow our teams to deploy there », worries Bienvenu Bwende, the Virunga National Park spokesman. For nearly six months, the Virunga National Park rangers have not had access to these rare species. « In August 2022 we lost a silverback gorilla at Gikeri, because the monitoring of the gorillas was interrupted because of the war. There were no guards following the gorilla to see how it was doing in the field, » said Didi Mwanaki, a ranger with ICCN.
The M23, a predominantly Tutsi armed group (an ethnic group from neighbouring Rwanda) defeated in 2013, took up arms again in late 2021 and stepped up its offensive in October 2022, seizing large swathes of territory north of Goma, the capital of North Kivu.
Created in 1925, Virunga, the oldest natural park on the African continent, has thus become a collateral victim of the war and violence in North Kivu, even though it is a jewel in the crown of Congolese, African and world heritage. The site has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. It is a rich ecosystem. According to the park management, more than 50% of Africa’s terrestrial species are represented there.
Fanta Mabo
Plusieurs enquêtes forestières, menées entre novembre et décembre 2022 dans la ville de Bitam au nord du Gabon, ont permis d’identifier quatre sites de coupe illégale de bois. Les concernés ont été entendus par l’administration déconcentrée des Eaux et Forêts pour établir leurs responsabilités au regard des différentes violations du code forestier constatées.
L’équipe conjointe des agents du ministère gabonais des Eaux et Forêts et les membres de l’organisation de protection de la nature Conservation Justice vient de confirmer l’existence de quatre sites de coupe illégale de bois dans plusieurs villages du département du Ntem. Équipés de divers outils de sciage, les auteurs et leurs complices ne disposaient d’aucune autorisation préalable de l’administration, ce qui a amené à la saisie des machines et du bois coupé. Les concernés ont été entendus à Bitam par l’administration déconcentrée des Eaux et Forêts pour établir leurs responsabilités au regard des différentes violations du code forestier constatées.
C’est sur l’axe Melen-Effack- Bibeigne que l’équipe mixte fera une première descente de terrain sur un site exploité par le dénommé Bekono, de nationalité camerounaise et en situation irrégulière au Gabon. Au cours de son audition au cantonnement des Eaux et Forêts, ce dernier a déclaré qu’il était l’auteur des coupes sur deux des quatre sites identifiés et travaillerait au compte d’un capitaine de police affecté au commissariat de police de Bitam. Sur le site, ont également été découverts 4 arbres coupés mais non encore travaillés ainsi qu’un tas de 203 lattes et chevrons. Interrogé, le suspect interpellé fera savoir aux agents que l’exploitation date d’il y a un mois sur ce site. Une descente à son domicile sis au village Effack-Bibeigne, permettra de saisir une tronçonneuse comme pièce à conviction. Le capitaine de police serait connu pour les mêmes faits au niveau de Bitam. Il sera donc convoqué par le cantonnement des Eaux et Forêts pour être entendu sur Procès-verbal, accompagné de son scieur.
Le capitaine va reconnaître les faits qui lui sont reprochés, et dédouaner le scieur. Il affirmera que le mis en cause agissait sur ses instructions.
On note qu’après la première saisie du cantonnement, les habitants confirment avoir vu un camion transportant nuitamment le bois litigieux hors du site. Selon une source policière qui a requis l’anonymat, ces faits constituent un grand manquement aux règles déontologiques de la police qui précise que chaque policier doit agir en parfaite conformité avec les lois, être irréprochable en montrant l’exemple à la population.
Deux autres suspects interpelés
En ce qui concerne les deux derniers sites, il s’agirait d’une coupe illégale depuis le village Essatop où un ressortissant bénéficiaire d’une autorisation de sciage de long, exploite un site non autorisé. Au village Okoralene, deux autres personnes ont encore été entendues conformément à la procédure et des sanctions prévues par les dispositions du code forestier ont été données par le cantonnement des Eaux et Forêts de Bitam.
Les essences retrouvées sur les différents sites sont essentiellement le Padouk, le Belinga et le Dabema. Comme toutes les essences de bois, leur exploitation requiert le respect de la légalité, en accord avec la gestion durable de forêts qui fait l’objet d’une politique stratégique nationale pour l’économie gabonaise en cohérence avec le leadership du Gabon en tant que modèle vert au niveau international. Rappelons que la gestion durable des forêts intègre les aspects économiques, sociaux et écologiques des forêts. Le non-respect des lois dans ce cadre, serait de nature à compromettre cette ambition affichée du Gabon et à menacer une ressource naturelle indispensable pour les générations futures.
Boris Ngounou
GABON : quatre sites de coupe illégale de bois découverts à Bitam, au nord du pays
Plusieurs enquêtes forestières, menées entre novembre et décembre 2022 dans la ville de Bitam au nord du Gabon, ont permis d’identifier quatre sites de coupe illégale de bois. Les concernés ont été entendus par l’administration déconcentrée des Eaux et Forêts pour établir leurs responsabilités au regard des différentes violations du code forestier constatées.
In Cameroon, pollution from petroleum products fell from 1.28% in 2021 to 0.94% on 30 September 2022, a reduction of 0.34% in one year. According to the Cameroonian Ministry of Water and Energy, this reduction in oil pollution is one of the benefits of the Chemical Marking of Petroleum Products Programme.
Implemented in Cameroon since 2012, the Chemical Marking Programme for petroleum products continues to delight the Cameroonian authorities. In a recent release, the Cameroonian Ministry of Water and Energy (MINEE) states that « the Chemical Marking Programme for petroleum products has made it possible to reduce the pollution rate from 1.28% in 2021 to 0.94% on 30 September 2022 », a reduction of 0.34% in one year.
According to the Cameroonian company Hydrocarbures, analyses et contrôles (HYDRAC), a subsidiary of the Société nationale des hydrocarbures (SNH), the chemical marking of petroleum products consists of introducing minute quantities of markers or tracers into petroleum products, depending on their taxation and destination. Repeated spot checks are then carried out in the field using appropriate equipment, enabling all forms of fraud to be detected almost instantly. Mixing petroleum products with water or other incompatible substances.
The counterfeiting of petroleum products, in the field of fuels for example, increases the toxicity and the volumes of escaping gases in vehicles. These gases attack not only the ozone layer, but also the respiratory system of humans and other aerobic organisms (which can only thrive in the presence of air or oxygen).
61 million a year in benefits
In addition to the environmental benefits, chemical marking of petroleum products also contributes to the Cameroonian economy.
The Minee indicates that this programme has contributed to the fight against oil product fraud through the intensification of controls throughout the national territory and more specifically along the roads. More than 1.25 million litres of fraudulent products were seized in the first half of 2022.
« Fraud in petroleum products has fallen from 36% to less than 2% and the increase in fiscal gains for the state in this sector amounts to 40 billion CFA francs, or about 61 million euros per year. There is also the preservation of vehicle engines and other production tools, » says David Ekoume, the director general of Hydrac.
Fanta Mabo
CAMEROON: Oil pollution falls by 0.3% in one year, thanks to chemical marking
In Cameroon, pollution from petroleum products fell from 1.28% in 2021 to 0.94% on 30 September 2022, a reduction of 0.34% in one year. According to the Cameroonian Ministry of Water and Energy, this reduction in oil pollution is one of the benefits of the Chemical Marking of Petroleum Products Programme.
Morocco’s 2020-2030 reforestation strategy is one of three projects for which Canada has just granted an additional $255 million in funding. The announcement was made on 16 December 2022 during the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15).
The Canadian government recently announced in Montreal an additional $255 million in funding to protect biodiversity in several countries, including Morocco. The Moroccan share of these funds is earmarked for the Forêts du Maroc 2020-2030 reforestation strategy.
The Moroccan forestry development strategy, « Forêts du Maroc 2020-2030 », aims to curb the degradation of forest ecosystems and establish a balance between conservation and development of the forest and its resources.
With a current rate of 50,000 hectares of trees planted per year, for a reforestation objective of 500,000 hectares by 2030, this strategy aims to make up for 30 years of degradation of national forest areas, to strengthen the competitiveness of the sector and ensure its modernization, to reconcile Moroccans with the forest and to develop a forest heritage for all generations and social groups, according to a sustainable management model, inclusive and wealth generating.
Canadian funds to be administered by the GEF
The funding announced by Canada will be allocated through the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a funding system for international environmental action.
In addition to Morocco’s 2020-2030 reforestation strategy, two other projects will benefit from Canadian funding, namely the United Nations Development Programme’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN), and climate action initiatives in West Africa.
The $255 million in funding is in addition to the $350 million announced three days earlier by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The funds place Canada in seventh place among GEF contributors. Over the past year, the North American country has allocated $1.5 billion to the GEF.
Fanta Mabo
MOROCCO: Canada to support the Forests 2020-2030 strategy
Morocco’s 2020-2030 reforestation strategy is one of three projects for which Canada has just granted an additional $255 million in funding. The announcement was made on 16 December 2022 during the 15th United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP15).
In Pointe-Noire, the economic capital of the Republic of Congo, located in the extreme south of the country, 35,000 children were made aware of environmental protection in 2022. This is the result of the annual assessment of the partnership between the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Renatura and Terminal Congo, the operator of the Pointe-Noire container terminal. The two entities have trained more than 300,000 children since the beginning of their operation in 2005.
In 2022, the operator of the container terminal in Pointe-Noire, a port city in the far south of the Republic of Congo, renewed its support for the nature conservation organisation Renatura. « The more people know about the dangers of pollution and what to do about it, the better chance we have of preserving our ecosystem, » says Anthony Samzun, managing director of Congo Terminal, a Bolloré Ports concession.
On 13 December 2022, during the presentation of the annual report of the Congo Terminal and Renatura partnership, the two actors noted with satisfaction the environmental awareness of 35,000 children during the year 2022. « For a city with a population of about 1 million, we are happy to have raised awareness among about one in three people. At the beginning our efforts were not significant, but the support of Congo Terminal has been an accelerator. We intend to continue this momentum so that each family increases its commitment to preserving the environment, » explains Nathalie Mianseko, the director of Renatura Congo. This annual report brings the number of children who have been made aware of environmental protection to 300,000 since the operation began in 2005.
In addition to raising environmental awareness, Renatura and its partner are working to teach eco-responsible behaviour and knowledge of endangered species, particularly marine turtles. These activities are aimed at schoolchildren in Pointe-Noire and the surrounding area, as well as the families of Terminal Congo’s nearly 900 employees. In August 2022, during the review of their partnership, the two partners agreed to extend their awareness-raising activities to the population by broadcasting messages and television documentaries highlighting the good practices of companies in favour of biodiversity preservation.
Fanta Mabo
CONGO: 35,000 children educated about environmental protection in Pointe-Noire
In Pointe-Noire, the economic capital of the Republic of Congo, located in the extreme south of the country, 35,000 children were made aware of environmental protection in 2022. This is the result of the annual assessment of the partnership between the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Renatura and Terminal Congo, the operator of the Pointe-Noire container terminal. The two entities have trained more than 300,000 children since the beginning of their operation in 2005.