Can a war-torn African park survive the relentless pressure of poaching and conflict?

Countries & Cities · Published 29 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Garamba National Park, one of Africa's oldest protected areas, faces a brutal reality. Despite its status as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the park has become a sanctuary for guerrilla groups and a target for poachers, forcing rangers into a dangerous, often fatal, struggle to defend its remaining wildlife.

Established in 1938, Garamba National Park covers nearly 5,200 square kilometers in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It sits within a vital transition zone between two distinct biogeographic regions, creating a unique habitat for 138 mammal species. However, the park's history is marked by instability. Since 1980, it has been a World Heritage site, yet it has frequently appeared on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to intense poaching and the spillover of regional conflicts, including the First Congo War and the Second Sudanese Civil War.

The park's wildlife has suffered catastrophic losses. Once home to the last wild population of northern white rhinoceroses, the park saw these animals decimated by poaching, leading to their local disappearance until a 2023 restoration effort brought 16 individuals back from South Africa. Elephant populations have also plummeted, dropping from approximately 20,000 in the 1960s and 1970s to fewer than 2,000 by 2017. Giraffe numbers have similarly fluctuated, with poaching identified as the primary threat to their survival.

The human cost of conservation at Garamba is severe. Rangers and Congolese soldiers frequently clash with armed groups, including the Lord's Resistance Army, who use the park for cover. Between 2015 and 2017 alone, at least thirteen rangers and military personnel were killed in the line of duty. Despite these immense challenges, management by African Parks, supported by international funding from organizations like the European Union and the World Bank, has implemented law enforcement strategies that have successfully reduced elephant poaching incidents from 98 in 2015 to just three in 2022.

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