Aframomum ngamikkense

In the recent past, no major threats were identified in this area, as this part of the Albertine Rift had much lower human population densities compared with further north. The Marungu highlands were extensively farmed for cattle prior to the civil war in DRC but since then most cattle have been stolen or killed. However, much of the region’s natural habitat was lost more than 50 years ago, but the miombo woodland west of Kalemie and the Ngamikka forest remains pretty intact. Artisanal mining for gold affects some of the streams and rivers in the forest but it is not too extensive because the yield is very poor. This forest was the hideout of Laurent Kabila when he was fighting president Mobutu between 1960 and 1980 and subsequently has been insecure so that few people settled in the region. Between 1980–present, remnants of various rebel groups have continued to prevent settlement until the past five years. More recently mining exploration concessions have been established in the area which may pose a threat if any significant mineral deposits are found (WCS 2019).

On the other hand, during the past few years, migrants have begun to arrive in the region, drawn by perceptions of abundant grazing land and an absence of conflict. The corresponding increase in local population, and the migrants’ livelihood choices, threaten to have a significant impact on the ecosystem (Crawford and Kujirakwinja 2016).

The ecosystem and its surroundings were sparsely populated in 2007 when WCS first began looking into the conservation potential of the Kabogo Massif, in part due to regional insecurity and the presence of rebels. As the region became more secure in the years following WCS’s initial 2008 surveys of the area, human population densities have increased, primarily as a result of migration into the region by a number of different social groups. Precise figures on migration to the Kabogo massif region are not available due to the lack of demographic data at the provincial level. It is however a widely held belief among the local population that a significant number of migrants have arrived in the region over the past 5 to 10 years. Most migrants are believed to have come to the region on a permanent basis, with very few planning to return to their areas of origins following the next harvest. Pastoralists from the Banyamulenge ethnic group have come from South Kivu province, bringing with them thousands of cattle in a search for pasture (Crawford and Kujirakwinja 2016).

The Kabogo Massif, which has also been called the Misotshi-Kabogo Massif and Ngamikka, has been identified as an area of high endemism. The ecosystem is of great importance to the survival of local species—including 1,500 chimpanzees—due to the fact that forests in the ecosystem’s altitude range are increasingly rare in the DRC (Plumptre et al. 2008, Greenbaum and Chifundera 2012). It also contains three endemic mammals, Willard’s Horeshoe Bat (Rhinolophus willardi Kerbis Peterhans and Fahr), Misotshi-Kabogo Myosorex (Myosorex kabogoensis Kerbis Peterhans & Hutterer), Lwiro Shrew (Crocidura lwiroensis Kerbis Peterhans & Hutterer) as well as the endemic Kabobo Apalis (Apalis kaboboensis Prigogine).

Two Provincial Reserves have been established to protect the Kabobo Massif. Kabobo Reserve in Tanganyika Province conserves the southern end of the forest and both known locations of Aframomum ngamikkense and Ngandja Reserve conserves the northern end in South Kivu Province where the species likely occurs but surveys have only been partial. Both Reserves were established in 2016. The plan is to have these two reserves recognised as national reserves but the political situation in Kinshasa made this impossible until recent elections brought in a new President. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has been engaging the local community around both provincial reserves to work to protect the sites and this has been partially successful in reducing settlement in the two reserves as people have migrated to the region. There is an urgent need for conservation financing to help establish these reserves fully and support integrated community development activities so that the people from this region see tangible benefits from the conservation of the site.