Ecoclub Focus™ - Tourism & Geopolitics from an ecosocialist perspective

The 100 page report "To Purge the Forest by Force" prepared by NGO Minority Rights Group makes serious allegations that at least 20 members of the local Batwa tribe have been murdered, 15 women have been gang raped by rangers and soldiers who also burnt down seven villages in the course of three-large scale operations between 2019-2021. The NGO blames the 'fortress model of conservation' and accuses international donors of turning a blind eye. Following the publication of the report, the German government demanded "swift clarification" from the Congolese government. The 6,000 km2 Kahuzi-Biega National Park was established in 1970 near Congo's border with Rwanda at the initiative of a Belgian conservationist and so as to protect the endangered Eastern lowland gorilla. Its 1975 extension resulted in the further displacement of the indigenous population. Since 1997 it is listed in UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger due to deforestation, hunting, war and civil strife.