Wildlife crime and issues in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park( PNKB)

This book analyses the worrying rise in wildlife crime in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park (PNKB), Democratic Republic of Congo, highlighting its main forms, actors and impacts. Excessive exploitation of natural resources, including poaching, artisanal mining, deforestation and illegal land occupation, has led to significant ecosystem degradation and the disappearance of emblematic species. These practices are encouraged by poverty, high demand for bushmeat, persistent insecurity and weak environmental governance. Transnational commercial poaching is a major threat to Grauer's gorillas, elephants and chimpanzees, while armed conflict fuels the illegal exploitation of wildlife and minerals. The exclusion of pygmy communities accentuates social tensions and complicates park management.