Assessing the impacts of poaching pressure and law enforcement on conservation of the Garamba National Park wildlife resources, North - Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

Conservation biology has two main goals: first, to understand the effects of human activities on species, communities and ecosystems, and second, to develop practical approaches to preventing extinction of species. The development of practical approaches to conservation is needed to prevent species extinctions. Law Enforcement Monitoring is one such technique where findings are used as management tool for improving conservation strategies and research oriented management actions. Poaching has been identified as the most important factor contributing to the decline of large mammal numbers and changes in their distribution in Garamba National Park. The protection effort put into the anti-poaching in Garamba National Park has not been, so far, able to stop the increasing poaching pressure on wild mammals. Because the effectiveness of anti-poaching patrol is judged by its ability to detect and stop illegal activities within the protected area, the detectability of indicators of illegal activities occurring in the park was worth assessing. The aim of this study was to establish the distribution of poaching activities In Garamba National Park and devise means and methods of improving law enforcement systems applicable to the Park. The-stratified sampling method was used and data . were collected within proportionate transects set",liPwithin each stratum. Information on poaching indicators was collected within transects along patrol routes followed by ". ~ rangers. The Conventional Distance sampling method (Buckland et al., 1993) was used to estimates the abundance and the detection ranges of illegal activities in the park. Historical records on poaching intensity and anti-poaching patrols were also used to assess the trend ofthe Catch-per-Unit Effort of the anti-poaching systems during the last decade in the park. Results showed- that poaching activities occurred in the park through out the study period. The detection rates of indicators of poaching activities differed significantly between seasons (to.05 (I), 125 = 3.97; p < 0.05). The detection rates also varied significantly within strata during the. period of study (F2, 125 = 7.10; P < 0.05). Gunshots and carcasses were abundant in stratum 3 during the dry season, while detection of vultures linked to fresh carcasses increased in stratum 1 during the wet season. This suggested that poachers moved from northern to the southern sector of the park killing animals of whose carcasses attracted flocks of vultures in the area. The occurrence of poaching indicators were independent of habitat types during the dry season (G = 30.9; d.f. = 35) and the wet season (G = 76.8; d.f= 35). There was a positive but not significant correlation between vegetation types and the occurrence of poaching indicators in both seasons during the period of study (r = 0.14; p > 0.05). The rate of detection of poaching indicators increased with the increased patrol distance from fixed patrol bases compared to the rate detected by patrol near bases both during the dry season (to as (1), 66 = 66.0; P < 0.05) and wet season (to.os (1), 61 = 61.0; p <0.05). There were also significant differences between patrol methods used in detecting illegal activities in the park (F3, 4 = 34.25; p < 0.05). Foot patrol method was more effective than other patrol methods because of its ability to detect all types of illegal activities and to carry out active deterrent actions to poaching invasions. There was a strong correlation between the patrol effort and the killing of elephants between 1996 and 2004 in the park (r = 0.39; p < 0.01). The effectiveness of the antipoaching system used in Garamba National Park within the past decade declined remarkably as well resulting in the decline in large mammalian population numbers. Elephants and rhinos were the most targeted species especially for trophies. Some recommendations were formulated for the improvement of the protection effort through the increased cover and deterrent actiens. Other conservation approaches involving active anti-poaching strategies, local corrnnunity-based conservation may be put into practice to detect and deter poaching invasions from the planning stage