A 2022 University of Antwerp analysis and policy brief documented 18 active gold and diamond sites with 15,000-25,0000 artisanal miners along the Ituri and other rivers in the reserve. Sources familiar with Okapi Wildlife Reserve say that miners are driven by poverty, from distant population centers like Kisangani or Bunia, digging with rudimentary tools like pans and shovels. They risk eviction and possibly arrest by the park authorities, and theft from armed groups is a constant danger. Destruction from artisanal mining — along with ongoing conflict on infrastructure and elephant poaching — prompted UNESCO to add the reserve to the World Heritage Sites in Danger list in 1997.
Recently larger, more intensive semi-industrial mining operations with dredges and excavators have moved in. Most prominent is the Chinese-owned Kimia Mining Investment operation at the Muchacha mining site in the southwestern portion of Okapi. In a 2021 report, UNESCO warned that the Muchacha site was “transforming into a permanent settlement.” There are also more than 40 Congolese-owned semi-industrial mining operations within or near the borders of the reserve. (source: University of Antwerp). Local residents of the region have also reported traffic of barges, men and machines, inside the reserve during night…
