Great Lakes region: Our natural resources bleeding under the weight of cross-border trafficking

By Egide Kitumaini/Journalist and Consultant Trainer in Agribusiness, Conservation, and Agroecology

The situation is critical. While we advocate for the sustainable management of our ecosystems, the figures emerging for the 2024-2025 period paint a brutal reality: the African Great Lakes region has become the epicenter of organized looting—a massive hub for the illegal trafficking of agroforestry and wildlife products.

Ivory and blood: the agony of our giants

In 2024, the outlook for our elephants remains grim. Despite conservation efforts, cross-border poaching is stripping away 2% to 3% of the remaining population in the DRC every year, particularly within the Garamba-Virunga complex. This crime is not the work of simple villagers seeking survival, but of structured mafia networks. Approximately 15 to 20 tons of ivory have transited through the ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, driven by a surge in black market prices. Raw ivory is now trading between $500 and $800 per kg at intermediary levels in hubs such as Kampala and Bujumbura.

Green looting: a forestry and fiscal disaster

Timber trafficking is arguably the most devastating threat to our regional governance. In 2024, more than 50,000 cubic meters of illegal timber (Rosewood, Afrormosia) crossed the borders toward Uganda. Beyond the ecological crime, this is an economic catastrophe: the DRC alone has lost an estimated $150 million in uncollected taxes over the 2024-2025 period. Even more tragic is the charcoal trade (Makala) in Virunga National Park, which generates $30 to $35 million annually, directly financing instability and the armed groups that bring mourning to our region.

An increasingly sophisticated shadow trade

Poaching is not limited to large mammals. The pangolin, a discreet creature, is under record pressure with over 3 tons of scales seized in Uganda this year. This traffic is now boosted by online trade via social media, making the work of our park rangers and border police increasingly complex.

Summary of criminal flows (2024 estimates)

Why does the hemorrhage persist?

Two primary factors fuel this chaos. On one hand, armed conflicts use our resources as « blood minerals » to fund their activities. On the other hand, cross-border corruption and a glaring lack of coordination between the customs services of our respective countries remain major hurdles.

As actors in agroecology and conservation, we cannot remain silent. Protecting the environment is not just about planting trees or counting gorillas at the PNKB; it is about demanding radical transparency, cross-border justice, and a clean break from the war economy. If we do not close the valves of this trafficking today, the sustainable agribusiness and natural resource protection we teach will soon be nothing more than distant memories on a land stripped of its substance.

It is time to move from denunciation to the integrated security of our common heritage.

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