Dismantling poaching networks in Nouabale-Ndoki National Park

The forests of Nouabalé-Ndoki Park in the Republic of Congo are an important refuge for forest elephants. Funding from the ECF helped the Wildlife Conservation Society establish an elite rapid-response mobile ranger unit, informant and intelligence networks, and a law enforcement advisor. Fifty-seven eco-guards were trained and evaluated and between May and June of 2016, 53 patrols were conducted covering a total of 2,175 miles. Twenty-one arrests were made of which 13 cases have been transferred to court. In January 2016 the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park launched a Wildlife Crime Unit (WCU) and a Rapid Response Unit (RRU) of specialized eco-guards who were reinforced and supplied with a Toyota Land Cruiser. A control room was established in the Bomassa headquarters. In late July the newly trained rangers recovered six pairs of elephant tusks, an AK-47, and captured a main player in one of the most notorious ivory-trafficking groups in northern Congo, a man known as 2Pac.