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Environmental Externalities of War on the Eastern Lowland Gorilla
There has been increasing amounts of food insecurity along with mining and militia camps has lead to people poaching and eating illegal bushmeat from animals such as the Eastern gorilla which is also known as the Grauer’s gorilla. Since then, the Grauer’s gorilla has been classified as critically endangered by the IUCN and is on the IUCN’s Red List. It is since been very difficult to find out how many of this species are left in the wild in their natural habitat. Studies have shown that the Eastern Gorillas numbers have declined by over 80%. Researchers have developed a novel method to analyzing the impacts of the civil war had on gorilla occupancy. This is done by enabling a rigorous assessment of ranger collected data and local community data. There was an estimated 16,900 gorillas prior to the war. Results show that the decline in the number of gorillas in their stronghold in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park has declined by 87% as there are only an estimated 3500 Grauer's gorillas left in the world. The area in which the gorillas are present has decreased from estimates in the 1950's of 15,879 km^2 to only 9,005 km^2 in 2016. This was computed with a 95% confidence interval for the probability of presence of the Grauer's gorilla. Collecting this data is very difficult but is getting easier as time progresses due to the advancement of technology. More research needs to be done on this elusive, critically endangered ape to further review the population and density to help restore the numbers back to pre-war times.

To find an accurate number of gorilla beringei population of this species, three different types of available data was used that recorded signs of gorillas with the respective georeferenced locations. 1. Data was transected from surveys performed in the lowland sector from 2011-2015 in Kahuzi-Beiga National Park. 2. Data from reconnaissance walks which surveyed presence of gorillas from 2011-2015. 3. Data collected by patrolling rangers and community ecoguards from 2011-2015 using a free spatial monitoring and reporting tool for conservation

The occupancy analysis which incorporates spatial autocorrelation using the three methods (see methods & materials) showed that the Kahuzi-Beiga National Park, the Reserves des Gorilles de Punia and the Usula forests are critical sites for conservation of the Eastern gorilla. Although, the size of this area has also decreased from estimates of 15,870 km^2 in 1959 to 9,005 km^2 today which is a 43% loss of habitat land which is also due to deforestation and war. As shown in table 1, the nest encounter rates showed significant decline in six of the 10 sites which data was collected from.

Declines were still shown at the remaining four sites, they were just showing declines of a lesser extent. The Kasese sector of Kahuzi-Beiga National Park, the Eastern sector of the Reserves des Gorilles de Puniashowed 5-10% declines in encounter rates; however, one site did increase in encounter rates. The highland Tshivanga sector of Kahuzi-Beiga National Park. The same site lost half of its population in 1990s due to food insecurity but conservation efforts have restored the numbers and are increasing now. This is attributed by imposing high-targeted protection areas which are enforced by the authorities in the area which is called the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature also known as the ICCN. Declined Since this is a highland region, this makes it difficult for poachers to access this area which also could’ve been a reason for decline along with decreasing food insecurity. In the occupancy analysis, three significant variables which are distance to active deforestation, elevation, and tree cover shows that these gorillas are in hard to reach areas with lots of elevation and tree cover.¹ Collecting data on the Grauer’s gorilla is extremely difficult as insecurity has cost the lives of 150 ICCN rangers. These quantitative surveys are also expensive and very time consuming due to involving line transects and the measurement of decay rates of nests being surveyed in the region. As suspected, the large decline of the gorillas is most likely due to the extensive insecurity and evidence of poaching by militia and rebel groups. As the data shows, there has been at least a 77% decline in the Grauer’s gorilla in one one generation which is cause for serious concern for the well-being of the species and thus the reason they have qualified as critically endangered. To restore healthy numbers of this species, artisanal mining in the area must be regulated and the militia groups guarding them must be disarmed and also this will require more funding than is currently available.

Policy Changes
A multitude of things can be done to help the Grauer’s gorilla population grow back to sustainable numbers. These numerous action and policy change include improving the effectiveness of protected areas through greater enforcement from rangers. Reclamation of parts in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park is very crucial as many parts are still outside of ICCN control which puts gorillas at risk of being poached for bushmeat. Also, maintain an ecological corridor between montane and lowland populations in Kahuzi-Biega National Park. Rehabilitation of Maiko National Park will also provide new habitat locations that the gorillas have been forced out of due to the civil war in the DRC. There also is not enough being done to strengthen the existing laws to protect Grauer’s Gorillas populations as they are quite weak and not much repercussion for violating these laws which not much enforcement taking place. Increasing the strength of economy and local infrastructure neighboring DRC national parks is important as well as it diminishes the likelihood of people harvesting bushmeat from this critically endangered species as they have other means of food resources. It is difficult to evaluate policy proposals to help the Grauer’s gorillas because the gorillas live in the mountainous region of Central Africa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where instability is high with very little priority of help from the government to help protect populations. The DRC has endured decades of poor policies economically and a major civil war hindering the country from a course of action to help fix these issues and it appears that policies are being put in place to help pave the way for better economic stability which helps fight the complex issue of food insecurity in the region. Greater enforcement of poaching in the area is a policy that law makers will definitely consider the efficacy of doing so. The Eastern DRC has some of the highest human densities in central Africa which means considerably large areas of forest were cleared for things such as fuel and cattle. This complicates many of the policies because the government has the obligation to fulfill the peoples needs first which is not helping improve gorilla population numbers. With that being said, there is still a lot that can be done to help Grauer’s gorilla restore healthy population numbers. The government can afford the extra cost to attribute more rangers into helping prevent poaching and preserving the numbers of the Eastern gorilla in the area which is why it should be considered. Preventing a new civil war is also something that should be accounted for because people who seized control of the parts of the KBNP will not give it up freely and preventing a new war is important to maintain and restoring gorilla population. It is a delicate balance, and every policy must be carefully and thoroughly reviewed to make sure it has a positive impact on not only the gorillas but the citizens of the country. An advantage of having more widespread and greater enforcement of poaching in the DRC is that it will help reduce the amount of poaching in the area while the obvious disadvantage is the cost the is required to pay the extra rangers who will be enforcing the laws. The advantage of reclaiming the parts the ICCN doesn’t have control would be the protection of gorillas in the area but the disadvantage is that it will create more conflict in the area as the miners and militias in the area won’t be so easy in giving up the land, they are residing in. The advantage of restoring the Maiko National Park is that it will provide greater areas of habitat that the gorillas can roam and help population growth in new areas that they were once forced out of due mining, war, and other means of habitation degradation and loss. An advantage of ecological corridors would be beneficial and advantageous in terms of allowing gorillas to not stay isolated and allowing them to reach other Eastern Gorilla populations which would be good for the population of the species. The disadvantage of this is that often wildlife corridors can be quite expensive which would unlikely make it a priority for the Congo government. Strengthening the laws has advantages because it may decrease the likelihood of someone attempting to poach a gorilla due to harsher consequences and it also informs local people that the species is on the cusp of extinction which may eliminate some poaching. The disadvantage of this is that the government would need to enforce these strengthened laws which is not easy to do in mountainous regions especially over hundreds of thousands of acres of land as the DRC is the second largest country in sub-Saharan Africa.