Batwa return to their Eden? Intricacies of violence and resistance in eastern DRCongo’s Kahuzi-Biega National Park

ABSTRACT

This article builds on debates about conflicts surrounding territorialisation for conservation. It elaborates on how slow violence can generate covert resistance which in turn transitions toward forms of overt resistance and sudden violence. Taking eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's Kahuzi-Biega National Park as an example, it argues that the violent reoccupation of the park by indigenous Batwa communities can be explained by three factors: (i) the failure of peaceful strategies of rightful resistance; (ii) an increase in the level of threats to the Batwa; and (iii) the arrival of opportunities for the Batwa to forge alliances with different stakeholder groups.

KEYWORDS:

• Conservation
• territorialisation
• resistance
• violence
• DRCongo

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the team of local researchers without whom this research would not have been possible. This included at various points Michel Bazika, Papy Mulume and John Tombola. We would also like to thank three anonymous reviewers whose comments and suggestions have greatly improved this article.

Notes

1 We use the terms ‘Batwa’ (plural) and ‘Mutwa’ (singular) to refer to the indigenous people living in and around KBNP. When reporting direct quotations or referenced work, we use the term used by the interviewee or in the text: ‘Twa’, ‘Pygmy’ or ‘Bambuti’.

2 Interview with representative of Batwa, Bukavu, 26 August 2019.

3 Interview with director of local conservation NGO, Bukavu, 08 November 2019.

4 During the course of research, the first author was quoted figures ranging from 400 to 500 hectares of deforestation between October 2018 and January 2020.

5 Some additional data were collected after this date through a field visit from April to June 2021.

6 These languages ranged from Kihavu, Kilega, Kiswahili, Kitembo, Kitwa and Mashi.

7 Barume (2000, 80) estimate 6,000 Batwa were displaced. This is roughly consistent with the NGO PIDP-Kivu’s estimate that a total of 580 families were impacted. The German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) quote a figure of around 1,000. Our interviews with a retired employee of GTZ suggests that the figure could be as low as 300 individuals.

8 At the time, the Congolese conservation agency was known as the Institut Zaïrois pour la Conservation de la Nature. The name was changed to Institute Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) in 1997.

9 Interview with Mutwa chief, Katana, 10 September 2019.

10 Interview with director of local conservation NGO, Bukavu, 12 January 2020.

11 Interview with Mutwa chief, Kalehe, 08 January 2020.

12 Focus group with Batwa, Kalehe, 08 January 2020.

13 Interview with former employee of GTZ, Bukavu, 06 January 2020.

14 Interview with Mutwa chief, Bitale, 28 August 2019.

15 Interview with Mutwa chief, Kalehe, 11 September 2019.

16 Interview with Mutwa chief, Kalehe, 09 January 2020.

17 Observation based on the first author’s own assessment.

18 Interview with Mutwa chief, Kalehe, 09 January 2020.

19 Interview with director of local conservation NGO, Bukavu, 07 January 2020.

20 Interview with Mutwa man, Kalehe, 09 January 2020.

21 Interview with Mutwa chief, Kalehe, 12 January 2020.

22 Interview with Mutwa chief, Kalehe, 09 January 2020.

23 Interview with Mutwa chief, Kabare, 11 October 2019.

24 Interview with representative of Batwa, Bukavu, 26 August 2020.

25 Interview with Mutwa chief, Kalehe, 11 September 2019.

26 Interview with Mutwa chief, Kabare, 13 January 2020.

27 Interview with Mutwa chief, Kalehe, 07 January 2020.

28 This was reported in local media and corroborated during field research.

29 Interview with mineral trader, Bukavu, 15 September 2019.

30 Interview with Chance Mihonya, Bukavu Central Prison, 01 June 2021.

31 Interview with village chief, Kabare, 19 October 2019.

32 Interview with Mutwa chief, Kalehe, 13 January 2020.

Additional information

Funding

The research upon which this article is based was funded by grants from FWO (ID V432519N) and VLIR-UOS (CD2019JOI013A102).

Notes on contributors

Fergus O'Leary Simpson

Fergus O'Leary Simpson is a Joint-PhD student funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) at the University of Antwerp’s Institute of Development Policy, Belgium, and the Erasmus University Rotterdam’s International Institute of Social Studies, the Netherlands. He is a member of the Centre d’Expertise en Gestion Minière (CEGEMI) at the Université Catholique de Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). His research focusses on the intricacies between environmental conservation, natural resource conflicts and armed mobilisation in eastern DRC’s South Kivu Province.

Sara Geenen

Sara Geenen is assistant professor in International Development, Globalization and Poverty at the Institute of Development Policy (IOB), University of Antwerp, Belgium. She is co-director of the Centre d’Expertise en Gestion Minière (CEGEMI) at the Université Catholique de Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Her current research interests lie in the global and local development dimensions of extractivist projects, addressing questions about more socially responsible and inclusive forms of globalisation.