Gold mining threatens protected UN heritage site in Congo

A UN heritage-protected wildlife reserve in Congo is under threat from gold miners.

For eight years, Kimia Mining, a Chinese mining company, has been vastly expanding inside an endangered World Heritage Site, and is being accused by locals and conservationists of decimating the environment.

The Okapi Wildlife Reserve became a protected site in 1996. The original boundaries of the reserve were established three decades ago by Congo’s government and encompassed the area where the Chinese company now mines.

But over the years under opaque circumstances, the boundaries shrunk, allowing the company to operate inside the plush forest.

Spanning more than 13,000 square kilometers (5,000 square miles), the reserve became a protected site due to its unique biodiversity and large number of threatened species, including its namesake, the okapi. The okapi is a forest giraffe of which the Okapi Wildlife Reserve holds some 15% of the world’s remaining 30,000.

It's part of the Congo Basin rainforest, a vital carbon sink that helps mitigate climate change. It also has vast mineral wealth such as gold and diamonds.

Despite being a protected forest, people mined there until authorities cracked down, largely after the Chinese arrived. Kimia Mining grants limited access to locals to mine areas for leftovers, but for a fee that many can't afford, say locals.

Muvunga Kakule used to do artisanal mining in the reserve while also selling food from his farm to other miners. The 44-year-old said he's now unable to mine or sell produce as the Chinese don't buy locally. He's lost 95% of his earnings and can no longer send his children to private school.

“Our life has not been the same since the Chinese came and chased us out of the bush. We can no longer work or send our children to school,” he said.

Conservation groups are trying to protect the reserve, but say it's hard to enforce when there's ambiguity on the legalities.

Kimia Mining recently renewed its permits until 2048, according to government records.

Congo's mining registry said the map they’re using came from files from the ICCN, the body responsible for managing Congo's protected areas. They said they are currently working with the ICCN on updating the boundaries and protecting the park.

An internal government memo from August, seen by The Associated Press, said all companies in the Reserve will be closed down, including Kimia Mining. However, it was unclear when that would happen or how.

Aime Vusike Kiruzi, Director General for Epulu Radio which operates from inside the reserve, said that he wants Congolese authorities to protect the park so that future generations can see the animals that he saw growing up. "We are no longer seeing some species that used to be well protected here,” he said.

"In our time, we've seen protected species such as okapi, elephants, antelopes. We even saw monkeys. But it is no longer easy to see them.”