Upemba National Park, DR.Congo

Upemba National Park is one of the oldest national parks of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was first established in May 1939 on the basis of a Belgian royal decree with an area of 17,730 square kilometers. It was the largest park in Africa. In July 1975, the limits were revised and today the integral park has an area of 10,000 sq. km with an annex of a further 3,000 sq. km. Upemba National Park was home to some 1.800 different species, including lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo, and the Katanga impala which is endemic to the park. Upemba is the only national park in DRC with wild zebra populations. The habitat of the park varies from grassland at higher altitudes, through forests, woodlands, to lakes and wetlands at lowest altitudes. In 2017, its valley of the Lufira, from the fall of Kyubo to the junction with the Congo River at Kitembo, has been designated a Ramsar wetland site, one of the four sites with Ramsar site status in the DRC.

The Upemba National Park is confronted with many threats ranging from poaching, illegal settlements and the presence of illegal permits to mining interests. While the park is lacking technical and financial resources to minimize the threats, rangers are risking their lives to save the last remaining pure savanna elephant population of Katanga and DRC. Parts of Upemba have also been taken over by the Mai Mai groups – a local armed group that has been active in this area for more than 20 years. In December 2012, Atamato Madrandele, Chief Warden of Upemba National Park, was ambushed and killed by Mai-Mai militia. Since the assassination of Atamato, the Park saw poaching gain momentum.

On July 7, 2017, Forgotten Parks Foundation (FPF) signed a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with the Congolese government through the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) to rehabilitate and manage the Upemba national park under the Upemba & Kundelungu national parks complex. In 2020, the agreement was revised for FPF to focus on the ecological restoration and development of Upemba National Park and its landscape, while providing limited support to Kundelungu National Park and the Reserve Ornithologique de Tshangalele.

Upemba National Park acquired its status of protected areas due to its outstanding biodiversity. It was home to some thousands of unique species that testified of the unadulterated beauty of our planet and its natural processes. It was an important space for the region, the country, Africa, and the planet.

Additionally, we can speak of several ecosystemic services Upemba provides for the region, country, continent, and the world. The Lualaba is one of the most important rivers that takes its source in Upemba. Thanks to the Lualaba, that converts into the Congo River, the Congo rainforest is supplied in water. This forest is one of the main assets we possess to mitigate the impact of climate change. As a park in a predominantly mining region, Upemba also counterbalances the impact of mining activities on the environment. Its hydrography still supplies fresh water to millions of individuals around the park. These are just a few reasons to conserve Upemba and restore its biodiversity.

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