The impact of human encroachment on Virunga National Park in Virunga District, North Kivu Province Democratic Republic of Congo
Loading...
Date
2015-07
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kampala International University, School of Engineering and Applied Science
Abstract
Like many other national parks, Virunga National Park is faced by the problem of human encroachment in spite of heavy conservation methods, there are some obvious loopholes in the process undertaken of wildlife and ecology conservation in Virunga National Park for example the poaching of Rhinocerous for its horn has been a serious problem at Kaziranga. The overall research objective was to assess the impact of human encroachment on Virunga National Park. The specific objectives were to examine the causes of human encroachment on Virunga National Park, to identify the effects of human encroachment on Virunga National Park and to find out the possible strategies to enhance and protect Virunga National Park against human encroachment. The sampling method used in this research ~~as simple random sampling technique. 1 he samples size ~as 50 respondents: the instruments for data collection were questionnaires and observation. The findings of the study on the causes of human encroachment were: the availability of wild animals, the availability of many tree species. and availability of land as the major causes of human encroachment on Virunga National Park. The effects of human encroachment on Virunga National Park are; loss of wild animals, loss of vegetation cover and resource exhaustion. The existing measures to protect Virunga National Park against human encroachment included provision of game rangers for security, sensitization of the community on the importance of protecting ecosystem against human activities and reallocation of settlers was done to reduce population pressure on the wild animals. The suggested measures by the respondents to improve the protection of wild animals and Virunga National Park against human encroachment were that the government should increase its funding in terms of non—financial and financial funding. It can be concluded that the greatest cause of human encroachment on Virunga National Park is the availability of wild animals and the least ~~as reported as availability of vast land for human settlement which forces the people in Virunga district to encroach on Virunga National Park. The greatest effect of human encroachment on Virunga National Park includes loss of biodiversity and loss vegetation cover. The study recommended that there is need to provide strong security to wild animals to avoid on going poaching, enforcement of legal measures to prevent illegal grazing, paying compensation to the villagers, and ensure maintenance of existing and construction of new poaching camps.
Description
A dissertation submitted to the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Award of Degree of Bachelor of Science in Environmental Management of Kampala International university
Keywords
Human Encroachment, Virunga National Park in Virunga District, North Kivu Province Democratic Republic of Congo