DR CONGO’S INCREDIBLE BIODIVERSITY
The DR Congo (DRC) is a vast country in terms of area and natural reserves, with incredible biodiversity. The DRC has large forests, almost 10% of the world’s reserve, 35% of Africa’s reserve, and several species of very interesting animals. So it will be the focus of this article based on the video from the Congotalks243 YouTube channel to give you a taste of the incredible biodiversity of the DRC. Let’s find out together. Congolese National Parks The Salonga National Park The Salonga National Park was created on November 30, 1925. It has an area of 36,000 km² and is the largest rainforest reserve in Africa. It is located in the western part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is a park that especially describes Congolese biodiversity as a whole, from rainforests, rare grasses, rivers, and beaches, Salonga has something to make you dream for a memorable visit. It holds various animal species: the most famous are elephants and 40% of the world’s Bonobo apes are housed there. Also the Congolese peafowls, a magnificent bird belonging exclusively to the DRC, leopards, antelopes, fish and more can be found there. The Okapi wildlife reserve Located in the Ituri forest in the northeastern part of the DRC, the Okapi Wildlife Reserve covers an area of 14,000 square kilometers and was established in 1992. This magnificent forest is filled with Okapi animals, around 10,000 individuals, which is what earned it the name of Okapi Wildlife Reserve. It protects in addition to the Okapi, several forest elephants, like the Salonga Park, and more than 100 other species of mammals, magnificent birds, forests, waterfalls, etc. It will be useful to remember that Okapi is the animal symbol of the DRC, it is half giraffe and half zebra. The Upemba National Park If you want to visit the Haut-Katanga and the Haut-Lomami, the Upemba National Park will warmly welcome you to discover and observe the splendor of its fabulous wildlife, its flying birds and their pleasant sounds. It was established in 1939 and it protects baboons, herds of zebras, lions, elephants, reptiles, antelopes, buffaloes, Ourebis, and many other magnificent species on an area of more than 11,000 Km². You will also find tropical woodland vegetation, rainforest, lakes such as the Upemba and Kisale etc. The Maïko National Park With an area of over 10,000 Km², the Maiko National Park is located in the southeastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Orientale province and South Kivu. It has wonderful biodiversity characterized by an exceptional fauna that includes animals endemic to the DRC such as the Okapi, the lowland gorillas, the Congolese peafowls, forest elephants, pangolins, and Chimpanzees. The Virunga National Park The Virunga National Park was established in 1925 covering an area of more than 8000 km². The park holds savannahs, dense forests, snow, and active volcanoes such as the Nyamulagira and Nyiragongo. The park attracts several tourists each year. The Virunga National Park is the park that has the greatest variety of fauna and flora in the DRC. In fact, it is the richest in biodiversity in the whole of Africa. Not only does it protect the mountain gorillas of the eastern plains, it also protects hippos, elephants, reptiles, chimpanzees, amphibians, lions and the famous Okapi animal totems of the DRC, and many other different mammals, emblematic birds, sublime waters like the warm river of Rwindi. The Kundelungu National Park The Kundelungu National Park was established in 1970 and is located in the southern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, 180 km from the city of Lubumbashi in Haut-Katanga. The park is a joy to explore in an area of 7000 Km². It has wonderful wildlife that includes zebras, antelopes, buffalos, leopards, cheetahs, lions, baboons and much more. Kundelungu National Park also has a wonderful view of its highlands, for example, the Kundelungu plateau from which it takes its name, its rivers and the fabulous waterfalls, the highest in Central Africa: the Lofoï falls, which is a tributary of the Lufira which in turn is a tributary of the Congo River. The Kahuzi Biega National Park The Kahuzi-Biega National Park is located near the city of Bukavu in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, it was established in 1970, taking its name from two large mountains: Mount Biega and Mount Kahuzi. Apart from its diversity of wildlife and flora, the park is home to very exceptional animals such as Mountain Gorillas, a species endemic to the DRC, and several elephants. It covers an area of 6000 Km². The Garamba National Park On an Area of about 5000 Km², in the North-Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo at the border with South Sudan, the park was established in 1938. The Garamba National Park is a great place to visit. Grassy savannas, dense dry forests, gallery forests, and magnificent vegetation in general make its biodiversity more unique and more attractive. Its wildlife is of incomparable wonder, it is so adorable to watch white rhinos, hundreds of elephants crossing its forest, giraffes tasting green grass, lions in its dry forest, and many other superb species. The Lomami National Park The Lomami National Park was established in 2016 and is located in the north-central part of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the middle of the Lomami River. It covers an area of over 8,000 km². It has great landscapes including beautiful savannahs, tropical forests and hills. The park also has a variety of species endemic to the DRC, such as the Congolese peafowls, the Bonobos, the Okapi, and a species of primate freshly discovered in the DRC the Lesula that you might like to visit as we highly recommend. Facts to know about the Congolese Biodiversity Okapi, Oriental lowland gorillas, and elephants are endangered species. Most of the species listed above are threatened by deforestation, meat trade, and poaching in general. The Virunga Park, Kundelungu, Salonga, Okapi Wildlife Reserve, Kahuzi-biega etc… are world heritage sites. The DRC also
THE MOVING STORY OF CONGOLESE PROPHET SIMON KIMBANGU
The prophet Simon Kimbangu is one of the greatest African figures and Congolese nationalism, a religious leader and founder of the Kimbangu movement. His spiritual life was transformed into a political change, because of his miracles of healing the sick and raising the dead, but much more because of his prophecy and his protest against Belgian colonial oppression. Let’s find out his life as a prophet, his movement, and his impact without forgetting his famous prophecy. Who was the Congolese prophet Simon? The youth of the prophet Simon Kimbangu The prophet Simon Kimbangu was born to a Protestant family on 12 September 1887 in Nkamba (considered to be the new Jerusalem, or the Holy Spirit living in Africa) a locality of Mbanza ngunugu in present-day Central Kongo province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and died on 12 September 1921 in Elisabethville, now Lubumbashi (DRC). His father Kuyela and his mother Luezi died just when the man who should be called a prophet was still a child. He was brought up by his aunt, Kinzembo, who was one of the first people to tell about Kimbangu’s youth. His name means “the one who reveals the hidden meaning of things” in Kikongo and he was the first black person to be baptized at the Baptist Mission Society. He was educated at the Baptist mission society in Ngombe Lutete directed by Cameron Nzangamene, where he later became a catechist in 1918, after being baptized on 4 July 1915 in the Tombe River with his wife Marie Muilu with whom he had three children Charles Kisolokele (1914), Paule Salomon Dialungana (1916) and Joseph Diangenda (1918). The first vision of the prophet Simon Kimbangu In 1918 he heard a strong voice speaking to him, telling him that he should go and make disciples, spread the word of God, and deliver his people from oppression. This was the first vision of the prophet Simon Kimbangu, that he was to lead his flock by proclaiming the word of God, prophesying, and delivering. Simon Kimbangu felt inferior to be able to fulfill this purpose, so he left for Leopoldville now Kinshasa, to try to escape the mission that had been entrusted to him in the dream. He worked there as a laborer, with a tough white boss and he tried other things, such as trading, but ended up losing his money. He started to become skeptical and thought that it was because he had left without the approval of the elders, whereas it was just the fact that he was to start his ministry as a prophet and preacher and that everything he could undertake was not working at all according to what God had made him understand in a vision. He decided to go back to his native village of Nkamba and to meet with the assembly of elders. There he worked for some time but to no avail. It is there that he begins his career as a prophet by performing his first miracle, traveling, preaching, and prophecies. The life journey of the Congolese prophet Simon Kimbangu The Simon Kimbangu miracles Simon Kimbangu’s first miracle was the healing of Kintondo on 6 April 1921, this date became known as the beginning of the prophet’s spiritual journey. He passed through many villages where he healed the sick and raised the dead. He went from village to village preaching to all. He had many cases of healings and resurrections and this made many people want to follow him and listen to his preaching, his prowess was known everywhere. The Protestant and Catholic missionaries were scared by the power of that man and began to try to put obstacles in his way. The Simon Kimbangu Prophecy On September 10, 1921, Simon Kimbangu predicted his arrest, the beginning of great tribulation on himself and his people, the liberation of the black race starting with the Congo and the whole of Africa. One of the most famous phrases is: “The white man will become black and the black man will become white”. The prophecy of Simon Kimbangu was very successful, it mentioned that there would be two liberations, one less difficult than the other. The first one will be the liberation of the Congo, which would be less difficult and the second one will be the liberation of Africa or of the black race which had been living for decades under oppression and humiliation. The black men will leave Africa and go to the West, they will be attached to the greed of the whites and many of them will die. Simon Kimbangu’s prophecy had indeed contributed to his arrest and death, not only the prophecy but also his movement which is so well documented. The movement of Kimbangism The movement of Kimbanguism is the movement that the Congolese prophet Simon Kimbangu initiated in 1921, together with his wife Marie Muilu. The preaching of the word found in the Bible, as well as the liberation of the black man, constituted the foundation of this movement. The important values of Kimbangism were and still are, the fight against fetishism or witchcraft, polygamy, persecution or ill-treatment of the black man, violence, alcohol, and dances. It gave a unique understanding of the Bible and a clear interpretation. It should be noted that the Bible was one of the great instruments used to dominate blacks by whites, relying on a myth according to which Noah had cursed one of his three sons Ham, who was black, that he would always and forever be unable to do anything in his life. The black man was forced to collaborate to be dominated because of this myth with an inferiority complex, all the shepherds or missionary pastors were white. Kimbanguism as a movement was the beginning of the liberation of the black Congolese race on the spiritual level. Colonial authorities’ reaction to Simon Kimbangu’s movement The Catholic missionaries and some of the Protestant missionaries were against his movement. The white colonists wanted to keep the political,