Vendors trade at the charcoal market in Murhesa, as improved access to markets drives up supply, raising alarm over environmental degradation and the growing threat to Kahuzi-Biega National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site home to endangered Grauer’s gorillas, in the Bukavu, South Kivu Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, May 16, 2025. REUTERS/Victoire Mukenge
KABARE, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -Tropical forests in eastern Congo that fell into rebel hands this year have seen a spike in illegal logging to produce charcoal and timber, residents and environmentalists said, raising fears of large-scale degradation.
The Kahuzi-Biega National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site west of Bukavu, the second-largest city in eastern Congo, which was seized by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in February. It is home to hundreds of species of birds and one of the last groups of eastern lowland gorillas, also known as Grauer's gorillas.
