Fortress Conservation and Displament of Indigenous People in Congol

James Peng

Professor Joseph Feldblum

Fortress Conservation and the Displacement of Indigenous People

The eastern lowland gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri) also known as Grauer's gorillas are the largest living primates. For decades, the relationship between the indigenous Batwa people and the critically endangered Grauer’s gorillas in DRC’s Kahuzi-Biega National Park has been debated. A recent study published in the journal World Development showed that armed conflicts and civil unrest in the region rather than the activities of the indigenous Batwa people have negatively impacted the population of the gorillas in the park. 

Gorillas are a tourist attraction at the Kahuzi-Biega National Park

In the 1970s, 6,000 Batwa people were forcibly evicted from the park as part of a government-led conservation plan. This left many impoverished, marginalized, and even forced to live in roadside squatter camps. This action has been justified under the logic of fortress conservation, which is the belief that protected areas must be preserved by keeping out human activity, including Indigenous communities. Notably, many of these evictions can be traced with funding from Western conservation groups.

In July 2024, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights ruled that parts of Kahuzi-Biega National Park should be returned to the Batwa. The ruling acknowledges the Batwa’s rights to their ancestral lands and calls for legal mechanisms to restore them. However, the Congolese government has yet to announce a clear plan for the implementation of financial compensation, stop the persecution, or issue a public apology.

A park ranger burns the homes of Batwa in Kahuzi-Biega National Park in 2019

Since the expulsion the Batwa, the park, and the gorillas were still in trouble. According to the field data, after the displacement of the Batwa people, gorilla numbers remained relatively stable, but the estimated gorilla numbers soon declined due to the influx of Hutu refugees from the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda and militias hiding in the national park during the two Congol civil wars. Once the Second Congo War ended in 2003, the gorilla population began to increase. This was because the civil unrest and use of the national park as a base has led to widespread illegal coltan mining and poaching, demonstrating that armed group activities have played a far greater role in environmental degradation than the Batwa’s presence.

Congolese Army Soldiers, 2008

This study reminds me of our discussion of the role of indigenous populations in conservation. Rather than leveraging Indigenous experience and observations to help with conservation, fortress conservation is a strategy that disregards people’s land rights and displacement without much consideration. Additionally, it is essential to recognize the structural drivers of deforestation and to address the economic needs of the Batwa people to prevent illegal commercial activities and better conserve the park and the Gorilla population.

Citation:

O’Leary Simpson, Fergus, et al. “Indigenous Forest Destroyers or Guardians? The Indigenous Batwa and Their Ancestral Forests in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, DRC.” World Development, vol. 186, Elsevier BV, Feb. 2025, p. 106818. Crossref, doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2024.106818.

Pearce, Fred. “Fortress Conservation: Can a Congo Tribe Return to Its Forest?” Yale Environment 360, 14 September 2024, https://e360.yale.edu/features/batwa-kahuzi-biega-national-park-drc. Accessed 13 February 2025.

Abulu, Aimable Twahirwa, Latoya. “Armed conflict, not Batwa people, at heart of Grauer’s gorillas’ past decline in DRC park.” Mongabay, 14 December 2024, https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/armed-conflict-not-batwa-people-biggest-factor-in-decline-of-grauers-gorillas-in-drc-park/. Accessed 13 February 2025.