Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
the Congo's greatest pop stars and the self-titled
Roi de la Forêt
, “King of the Forest.” Werrason's
influence can be compared only to that of Michael Jackson in the eighties. The Congolese memor-
ize his songs and dance moves, and, along with other musicians, he sets cultural standards, incit-
ing youths to dress in new, innovative ways. When he agreed to record a radio spot that explained
the importance of bonobos, BCI became famous overnight in Mbandaka. The concrete result of
the broadcast was that people watched for orphan bonobos for sale in the markets. Until then, the
people and even the police hadn't known that it was against the law to hunt or sell bonobos. When
BCI was starting, virtually no one in the government knew anything about bonobos—the ambassad-
or, the minister of the interior, the president; even Mwanza, years before, as a young man working
in a zoo in Kinshasa, couldn't distinguish them from chimpanzees. BCI began airing the Werrason
broadcasts in 2005, and suddenly the people they met in Équateur Province would approach them
enthusiastically, wanting to share information or discuss bonobos. The broadcasts also strengthened
BCI's relationship with the provincial police.
To create change in Équateur, BCI engaged on a deep level with the local cultures, and the vil-
lage songs echoed this, with references to Albert, Sally, and Michael, to bonobos and conservation.
BCI's vision has always been to invest in the Congolese people, and the social capital that has fueled
their projects has grown in many ways from their concern for their partners, as was apparent in the
story Michael told me in Mbandaka, of Miracle Bonobo, the young boatman struck by a motorcycle
and airlifted to Kinshasa, or of others they helped.
Such successes, however, are fragile. BCI's greatest struggle occurred after Kokolopori became
an official reserve in 2009. The people believed that benefits would increase dramatically, but BCI
received less funding that year. They struggled to maintain the programs that were in place, and to
pay trackers and ecoguards. Conservation efforts springing up in other areas faced the same chal-
lenges. Cosmas Bofangi, a local conservationist, has successfully habituated bonobos in the Lin-
gomo region, several hours from Djolu. He explained to me that his people first volunteered and
now are paid six months of the year. He is able to keep morale up and is himself doing a degree in
conservation at ISDR, the technical college that BCI and Vie Sauvage built in Djolu. But sporadic
funding erodes trust. As conservation expands, it is difficult to keep pace with local expectation.
If BCI, Vie Sauvage, and others like Cosmas have survived this difficult period, it is because
they've realized that small NGOs can compensate for limited funding with the loyalty and particip-
ation of the local people. The Congolese do not want to be eternal foot soldiers of conservationists
who come from outside, whether from Kinshasa or foreign countries. BCI and Vie Sauvage have
addressed this, first by sending promising employees to get diplomas in conservation at the Tayna
Gorilla Reserve's school, the Tayna Center for Conservation Biology, in the eastern Congo, and
then, more importantly, by creating ISDR. It is this college that the local people speak of with the
most hope, mentioning its information technology courses, which are open to the community, as
well as the longer programs in conservation and sustainable agriculture. They are also proud that it
was conceived and implemented by Congolese to achieve a goal that the community shared. One of
Albert's campaign promises was to expand it and get it national accreditation, which he has recently
done. At a glance, its two buildings of rough brick seem only a little better than the rest in Djolu.
Inside the main classroom, wooden chairs are scattered about and a single chalkboard lashed to two
bamboo poles leans against the wall. But many young women and men in the area see it as the
best way to establish themselves, to earn respect in their communities and gain opportunities, and
it is a lesson in how a small amount of funding can create dramatic change. One of its first female
