I don't speak English. I start speaking English, learning English, about a year ago. I speak French and I grew up with French, so my English is Franglais. I'm born in the Western Congo, in an area around here, and then went to university in Kisangani. And after I finished, I went to this area, the Ituri Forest. But what I've been doing -- when I was about 14, I grew in my uncle's house. And my father was a soldier, and my uncle was a fisherman and also a poacher. What I've been doing from 14 to 17 was, I was assisting them collecting ivory tusk, meat and whatever they were killing, poaching, hunting in the forest, bring it in the main city to get access to the market.
Ne govorim engleski. Počeo sam govoriti, učiti engleski otprilike prije godinu dana. Govorim francuski i odrastao sam uz njega, zato je moj engleski zapravo frengleski. Rodio sam se u zapadnom Kongu, ovdje blizu i pohađao sam sveučilište u Kisangani. Kad sam završio sa studijem, išao sam u ovo područje, šuma Ituri. Ali što sam radiom -- kad sam imao 14 godina, živio sam u kući kod ujaka. Moj otac je bio vojnik a ujak ribar, ali i krivolovac. Od 14 do 17 godine, pomagao sam im skupljati bjelokost, meso ili štogod su već ubijali, lovili u šumi i nositi skupljeno u glavni grad na tržnicu.
But finally, I got myself involved. Around 17 to 20 years, I became, myself, a poacher. And I wanted to do it, because -- I believed -- to continue my studies. I wanted to go to university, but my father was poor, my uncle even. So, I did it. And for three to four years, I went to university. For three times, I applied to biomedical science, to be a doctor. I didn't succeed. I was having my inscriptions, my admission to biology. And I said, "No way, I'm not doing it. My family's poor, my area don't have better health care. I want to be a doctor to serve them." Three times, that means three years, and I start getting old. I say, "Oh, no, I continue." So, I did tropical ecology and plant botany. When I finished, I went to the Ituri Forest for my internship. It's where I really getting passion with what I'm doing right up to now -- I'm standing in front of you -- doing botany and wildlife conservation.
Na kraju sam se i ja uključio. Između 17 i 20 godine sam i ja postao krivolovac. Htio sam se baviti time jer sam htio nastaviti sa svojim studijem. Htio sam ići na fakultet, ali moj otac i ujak bili su siromašni Tako sam to radio. Nakon tri-četiri godine otišao sam na sveučilište. Tri puta sam se prijavljivao za biomedicinu, htio sam biti liječnik. Nisam uspio. Primljen sam na biologiju. Ali rekao sam si, ne, nema šanse. Moja obitelj je siromašna, cijelo područje ima loše zdravstvo. Želim biti doktor i pomagati ljudima. Tri puta, znači tri godine, i započeo sam stariti. Rekao sam, ne, nastavit ću pokušavati. Tada sam upisao tropsku ekologiju i botaniku. Kada sam završio, otišao sam u šumu Ituri na stažiranje. Tamo sam otkrio strast za ono što radim danas i zato stojim pred vama, zato se danas bavim botanikom i zaštitom životinja.
That time the Ituri Forest was created as a forest reserve with some animals and also plants. And the training center there was built around the scientific Congolese staff and some American scientists also. So, the Okapi Faunal Reserve protects number -- I think that is the largest number of elephants we have right now in protected areas in Congo. It has also chimpanzees. And it has been named Okapi Faunal Reserve because of this beautiful creature. That is a forest giraffe. I think you guys know it quite well. Here we have savanna giraffes, but through evolution we have this forest giraffe that lives only in Congo. It has also some beautiful primates. Thirteen species -- highest diversity we can find in one single area in Africa. And it has the Ituri Forest itself -- about 1,300 species of plants, so far known.
U to vrijeme šuma Ituri pretvorena je u rezervat za životinje i biljke. Izgrađen je i centar za obuku, okupljen oko kongoških i američkih znanstvenika. Okapi rezervat čuva brojnost životinja – mislim da je tamo najveći broj slonova koji sada imamo u zaštićenim područjima u Kongu. Tu su i čimpanze. Zove se Okapi rezervat za faunu zbog ovog prekrasnog stvorenja. Ovo je šumska žirafa. Mislim kako ju poznajete dobro. Imamo savanske žirafe, ali kroz evoluciju je nastala i šumska žirafa koja živi samo u Kongu. Tamo prebivaju i neki predivni primati. 13 vrsta – to je najveća raznolikost na jednom području u Africi. A tu je i sama šuma Ituri – gdje možemo naći oko 1.300 vrsta zasad poznatih biljaka.
I joined the Wildlife Conservation Society, working there, in 1995, but I started working with them as a student in 1991. I was appointed as a teaching assistant at my university because I accomplished with honor. But I didn't like the way -- the instruction I got was very poor. And I wanted to be formed to a training center and a research center. With the end of the dictatorship regime of Mobutu Sese Seko, that most of you know, life became very, very difficult. And the work we have been doing was completely difficult to do and to achieve it.
Počeo sam raditi u Društvo za zaštitu okoliša 1995. godine, ali pridružio sam im se već 1991. godine kao student. Dodijeljeno mi je mjesto asistenta na mom sveučilištu jer sam završio studij s odličnim ocjenama. Međutim, nisam bio zadovoljan znanjem koje sam tamo trebao dobiti. Htio sam se pridružiti nekom istraživačkom centru. Nakon završetka diktature Mobutu Sese Sekoa, kao što većina vas zna, život je postao jako, jako težak. A posao koji smo mi radili bio je još teži.
When Kabila started his movement to liberate Congo, so Mobutu soldiers started moving and retreated. So they started fleeing from the east to the west. And the Okapi Faunal Reserve is there, so there was a road from Goma, somewhere here, and coming like this. So they might go through, pass through the Okapi Faunal Reserve. Congo has five of the world's richest sites of protected area, and the Okapi Faunal Reserve is one of them. So soldier was fleeing in the Okapi Faunal Reserve. On their way, they looted everything. Torture, wars -- oh, my God, you can't believe. Every person was looking his way -- where to go, we don't know. And it was for us, the young, the first time really we hear the language of war, of guns. And even people who faced the rebellion of 1963, after our independence, they didn't believe what was happening. They were killing people. They were doing whatever they want because they have power. Who have been doing that? Young children. Child soldiers. You can't ask him how old he is because he has guns.
Kad je Kabila pokrenuo svoj pokret za oslobođenje Konga, Mobutuovi vojnici počeli su se povlačiti, bježati s istoka na zapad. A baš tamo je i Okapi rezervat, i postojala je cesta iz Gome, otprilike ovdje. Tako da su mogli proći kroz Okapi faunski rezervat. Kongo ima pet najbogatijih zaštićenih područja svijeta, a Okapi je jedno od njih. Dakle, vojnici su bježali kroz Rezervat i putem krali sve živo. Mučenja i rat – moj Bože, ne biste vjerovali. Svatko je bježao na svoju stranu i htio se pobrinuti za sebe. To je bio prvi put za nas mlade da smo se susreli s ratom, s jezikom pucnjave. Čak ni ljudi koji su doživjeli ustanak iz 1963. godine, nakon osamostaljenja, nisu mogli vjerovati što se zbiva. Ubijali su ljude i činili što su htjeli samo zato što su mogli. Tko je to radio? Mlada djeca. Djeca vojnici. Ne možeš ga upitati koliko ima godina jer ima pištolj.
But I was from the west, working in the east. I even [at] that time was not speaking Swahili. And when they came, they looted everything. You can't speak Lingala because Lingala was from Mobutu, and everyone speaking Lingala is soldier. And I was from the same area to him. All my friends said, we are leaving because we are a target. But I'm not going to the east, because I don't know Swahili. I stay. If I go, I will be killed. I can't go back to my area -- it's more than 1,000 kilometers [away].
Ali ja sam bio sa zapada, radio sam na istoku, i čak u to vrijeme nisam niti znao swahili. Kad su došli, sve su pokrali. Nisi smio govoriti lingala jezikom jer su tim jezikom govorili Mobutuovi vojnici. Svatko tko je govorio lingala smatran je vojnikom. A ja sam bio iz istog područja kao i Mobutu. Svi su moji prijatelji rekli da odlaze jer su se osjećali ugroženima. Ali ja nisam htio na istok jer nisam znao swahili. Ostao sam. Da sam otišao, ubili bi me. Nisam mogao nazad u svoje područje – udaljeno je više od 1.000 km.
I stayed after they looted everything. We have been doing research on botany, and we have a small herbarium of 4,500 sheets of plants. We cut, we dry and we packed them, we mounted them on a folder. Purpose: so that we start them for agriculture, for medicine, for whatever, and for science, for the study of the flora and the change of the forest. That is people moving around, that's even Pygmies. And this is a bright guy, hard-working person, and Pygmy. I've been working with him about 10 years. And with soldiers, they went to the forest for poaching elephants. Because he's Pygmy, he knows how to track elephants in the forest. He has been attacked by a leopard and they abandon him in the forest. They came to told me, I have to save him. And what I did, I gave him just antibiotics that we care for tuberculosis. And fortunately, I saved his life.
Ostao sam nakon što su sve pokrali. Istraživali smo na području botanike, i imamo mali herbarij od 4.500 biljaka. Sjekli smo, sušili ih i pakirali, i lijepili ih u fascikle. Zašto? Da bismo ih očuvali zbog poljoprivrede, medicine -- i za znanost, istraživanje flore i promjena koje se događaju u šumi. Ovo su ljudi kako rade, čak i Pigmejci. Ovo je jedna bistra, marljiva osoba, Pigmejac. Radim s njim već otprilike deset godina. Vojnici su išli u šumu zbog lova na slonove. Budući da je Pigmejac, zna kako naći slonove u šumi. Napao ga je leopard i vojnici su ga ostavili u šumi. Došli su k meni i rekli da ga moram spasiti. I ja sam mu samo dao neke antibiotike koje se daju za tuberkulozu. Na sreću, spasio sam mu život.
And that was the language of the war. Everywhere there has been constant extraction of mineral, killing animals, the logging timbers and so on. And what of important things -- I think all of you here have a cell phone. That mineral has killed a lot: five millions of Congolese have gone because of this Colombo-Tantalite -- they call it Coltan -- that they use it to make cell phones and it has been in that area, all over in Congo. Extraction, and good, big business of the war.
To je jezik rata. Svugdje su iskopavali minerale, ubijali životinje i rušili drveće. Jedna važna stvar, mislim da svi ovdje imate mobitele. Taj mineral je ubio mnoge – oko 5 milijuna Kongožana je umrlo zbog tog colombo-tantalita, zovu ga i coltan. Koriste ga za izradu mobitela, a iskopavali su ga u ovom području i cijelom Kongu, jer je to bio unosan posao za rat.
And what I did for the first war, after we have lost everything, I have to save something, even myself, my life and life of the staff. I buried some of our new vehicle engines, I buried it to save it. And some of equipment went with them, on the top of the canopy, to save it. He's not collecting plants, he's going to save our equipment on the canopy. And with the material that's left -- because they wanted to destroy it, to burn it, they didn't understand it, they didn't go to school -- I packed it. And that is me, going to, hurrying to Uganda, to try to save that 4,000 material, with people carrying them on the bikes, bicycles. And after that, we succeeded. I housed that 4,000 material at the herbarium of Makerere University. And after the war, I have been able to bring it back home, so that we continue our studies.
I ono što sam napravio za prvog rata, nakon što smo sve izgubili, morao sam nešto učiniti, morao sam nešto spasiti, barem svoj život i živote svojih ljudi. Zakopao sam motore novih vozila u zemlju, da bi ih spasio. Nešto od opreme otišlo je s njima na vrhu kabine, opet da bi je spasio. On ne skuplja biljke, on će spasiti našu na vrhu kabine. A s materijalom koji je ostao – jer oni su ga htjeli uništiti, spaliti. Ali nisu ga razumjeli, nisu bili školovani. Spremio sam ga. Ovo sam ja, idem, žurim prema Ugandi, pokušavam spasiti 4.000 biljaka, ljudi ih nose na biciklima. I nakon toga smo uspjeli. Smjestili smo svih 4.000 biljaka u herbarij Makerere sveučilišta. A nakon rata mogao sam ih prenijeti nazad kući kako bismo nastavali s istraživanjem.
The second war came while we didn't expect it. With friends, we had been sitting and watching match football, and having some good music with WorldSpace radio, when it started, I think. So, it was so bad. We heard that now from the east again the war started, and it's going fast. This time I think Kabila will go in place of, as he did with Mobutu. And the reserve was a target to the rebels. Three different movements and two militia acting in the same area and competing for natural resources. And there was no way to work. They destroy everything. Poaching -- oh, no way. And that's the powerful men. We have to meet and to talk to them. What's the regulation of the reserve and what is the regulation of the parks? And they can't do what they are doing. So we went to meet them. That is Coltan extraction, gold mining.
Drugi je rat došao neočekivano. Sjedili smo s prijateljima i gledali nogometnu utakmicu, slušali dobru glazbu na Worldspace radiju, kada je počeo, mislim. Dakle, bilo je loše. Čuli smo da je rat opet počeo na istoku i brzo se širio. Ovaj puta Kabila će ići na bojište, kao i u ratu s Mobutuom. A rezervat je bio meta pobunjenicima. Tri različita pokreta i dvije paravojske su djelovale na istom području i natjecale se za prirodna bogatstva. To nikako nije moglo funkcionirati. Sve su uništavali. Krivolov i sve. A to su sve bili moćni ljudi – morali smo se naći s njima i popričati. Koja su pravila rezervata i koja su pravila parka? Nisu smjeli raditi to što su radili. Otišli smo se sastati s njima. Ovo je iskopavanje coltana, iskopavanje zlata.
So, we started talking with them, convincing them that we are in a protected area. There are regulations that it's prohibited to do logging, mining and poaching, specifically. But they said, "You guys, you think that soldiers who are dying are not important, and your animals you are protecting are most important. We don't think so. We have to do it, because to let our movement advance." I say, "No way, you are not going to do it here." We started talking with them and I was negotiating. Tried to protect our equipment, tried to protect our staff and the villages of about 1,500 people. And we continued.
Počeli smo pregovarati s njima, pokušali smo ih uvjeriti da su u zaštićenom području. Postoje pravila koja zabranjuju sječu drveća, iskopavanje i krivolov. Ali oni su odgovorili, "Vi mislite da vojnici koji umiru nisu važni a vaše životinje koje štitite su jako važne. Mi to ne mislimo. To radimo zbog našeg pokreta." Ja sam im odgovorio, "Nema šanse, nećete to ovdje raditi." Nastavili smo pričati i pregovarati s njima. Nastojali smo zaštiti našu opremu, osoblje i sela od otprilike 1.500 ljudi. I nastavili smo.
But I was doing that, negotiating with them. Sometimes we are having meeting and they are talking with Jean-Pierre Bemba, with Mbusa Nyamwisi, with Kabila, and I'm there. Sometimes, they talk to my own language, that is, Lingala. I hear it and what strategy they are doing, what they are planning. Sometimes, they are having a helicopter to supply them with ammunition and so on. They used me to carry that, and I was doing counting, what comes from where, and where, and where. I had only this equipment -- my satellite phone, my computer and a plastic solar panel -- that I hide it in the forest. And every time, daily, after we have meeting, what compromise we have, whatever, I go, I write a short email, send it. I don't know how many people I had on my address. I sent the message: what is going about the progress of the war and what they are planning to do. They started suspecting that what we do on the morning, and the afternoon, it's on the news, BBC, RFI. (Laughter) Something might be going on. And one day, we went for a meeting. (Applause) Sorry.
Kad smo pregovarali s njima, oni su ponekad u isto vrijeme razgovarali i sa Jean-Pierre Bembom, Mbusom Nyamwisijem, Kabilom, dakle bili smo tamo. Nekad su pričali i mojim jezikom, lingalom. Razumio sam ih i čuo njihove planove i strategije. Dolazili su im i helikopteri sa zalihama streljiva i drugim. Mene su zaposlili da to prenosim i brojao sam, što i koliko dolazi odakle. Imao sam samo satelitski telefon, računalo i plastičnu solarnu ploču, skrivene u šumi. Svaki dan, nakon sastanka, otišao bih i napisao kratki e-mail i poslao ga. Ne znam točno koliko sam ljudi imao u adresaru, ali poslao bih svima poruku o tome što se događa i što vojnici planiraju dalje. Počelo im je biti čudno da ono što bismo se dogovorili ujutro, navečer bude na vijestima – BBC, RFI. (Smijeh) Nešto se čudno zbiva. Jedan dan, nakon sastanka... (Pljesak) Oprostite.
One day, we went to meet the Chief Commander. He had the same iridium cell phone like me. And he asked me, "Do you know how to use this?" I said, "I have never seen it. (Laughter) I don't know." And I had mine on my pocket. So, it was a chance that they trusted me a lot. They didn't -- they was not looking on me. So I was scared. And when we finished the meeting, I went to return it in the forest. And I was sending news, doing whatever, reporting daily to the U.N., to UNESCO, to our institution in New York, what have been going. And for that, they have been having big pressure to leave, to free the area. Because there was no way -- whatever they do, it's known the same time.
Jedan dan sastali smo se s vrhovnim zapovjednikom. Imao je isti mobitel kao ja. Pitao me, "Znaš li kako se ovo koristi?" Odgovorio sam, "Nikad nisam tako nešto vidio. (Smijeh) Ne znam." A imao sam isti takav u džepu. Dakle, bilo je očito da su mi vjerovali, nisu pazili na mene. Bio sam uplašen. Kad je sastanak završio, vratio sam mobitel u šumu. Poslao sam vijesti, svaki dan sam ih slao UN-u, UNESCO-u, našoj podružnici u New Yorku da bi vidjeli što se događa. Zato su vojnici bili pod velikim pritiskom, morali su osloboditi područje Jer što god bi napravili, to bi se odmah znalo.
During the first two rebellions, they killed all animals in the zoo. We have a zoo of 14 Okapis, and one of them was pregnant. And during the war, after a week of heavy war, fighting in the area, we succeeded: we had the first Okapi. This is the only trouser and shirt remind me of this. This is not local population, this is rebels. They are now happy sending the news that they have protected the Okapi with the war, because we sent the news that they are killing and poaching everywhere. After a week, we celebrated the birthday of that Okapi, they killed an elephant, just 50 meters to the area where the zoo, where Okapi was born. And I was mad. I oppose it -- that they are now going to dissect it, until I do my report and then I see the Chief Commander. And I succeeded. The elephant just decayed and they just got the tusks.
Tijekom prve dvije pobune ubili su sve životinje u zoološkom vrtu. U vrtu smo imali 14 okapija, jedna ženka bila je trudna. Tijekom rata, nakon teških tjedan dana, borbi na području, uspjeli smo – rodio se prvi okapi. Ovo su jedine hlače i majica koje sam imao. Ovo nisu seljani, to su pobunjenici. Sretni su zbog vijesti o rođenju okapija jer smo dosad slali vijesti kako samo ubijaju i kradu svugdje. Tjedan dana poslije, kad smo slavili rođendan malog okapija, ubili su jednog slona, samo 50 metara dalje od zoološkog vrta, gdje je rođen mali okapi. I bio sam bijesan. Nisam im htio dopustiti da ga rasijeku na komadiće dok ne napišem izvještaj i onda se vidim s vrhovnim zapovjednikom. I uspio sam. Slon je uginuo i dobili su samo kljove.
What we are doing after that -- that was the situation of the war -- we have to rebuild. I had some money. I was paid 150 dollars. I devoted half of it to rebuild the herbarium, because we didn't have good infrastructure to start plants. Wildlife Conservation Society more dealing with plants. I started this with 70 dollars, and start fundraising money to where I've been going. I had opportunity to go all over, where herbarium for my African material is. And they supported me a bit, and I built this. Now, it's doing work to train young Congolese.
Nakon rata, sve je bilo uništeno i morali smo sve ponovno izgraditi. Imao sam nešto novca – platili su me 150 dolara. Pola od toga dao sam za izgradnju herbarija, jer nismo imali dobre temelje ni za što. Wildlife Conservation Society se više bavio biljkama. Počeo sam sa 70 dolara i nastavio skupljati novce. Dobio sam priliku putovati po mjestima gdje su naše biljke smještene. Dobio sam podršku i izgradio ovo. Danas se tu obučavaju mladi Kongožani.
And also, what one of the speciality we are doing, my design is tracking the global warming effect on biodiversity, and what the impacts of the Ituri Forest is playing to uptake carbon. This is one of the studies we are doing on a 40-hectare plot, where we have tagged trees and lianas from one centimeters, and we are tracking them. We have now data of about 15 years, to see how that forest is contributing to the carbon reductions. And that is -- I think it's difficult for me. This is a very embarrassing talk, I know. I don't know where to start, where to finish it.
Također, jedna od naših posebnosti je i to što pratimo utjecaj globalnog zagrijavanja na raznolikost života i ulogu šume Ituri u poništavanju ugljika. Ovo je jedno od istraživanja koje radimo na području od 40 hektara – označili smo drveće i lijane od jednog centimetra i pratimo njihov razvoj. Danas već imamo podatke od proteklih 15 godina, i možemo vidjeti kako šuma pridonosi smanjenju udjela ugljika. Znate, ovo je jako teško za mene. Ovo je jako neugodan govor, znam -- ne znam gdje bih počeo, gdje bih završio.
When I was thinking to come here, what best title I wanted to say to my talk, I didn't find this. But now I think that I would have titled it, "The Language of Guns." Where are you people? Now we are talking about reconstitution, rebuild Africa. But is gun industries a tool to rebuild, or is it a game? I think we see the war like a game -- like soccer, football. Everybody is happy, but see what it's doing, see what is going in Darfur. Now we say, oh, my God. See what the wars in Rwanda. That's because of the language of guns. I don't think that someone may blame Google, because it's doing the right things, even if people like Al-Qaeda are using Google to connect between them. But it's serving millions for the best. But what is doing with gun industries? Thank you. (Applause)
Kad sam razmišljao o dolasku ovamo, nisam mislio da je ovo najbolji naslov za moj govor. Mislim da bih ga sada nazvao: "Jezik oružja". Gdje ste sada, svi vi? Sada kada govorimo o rekonstituiranju, ponovnoj izgradnji Afrike. Je li industrija oružja alat kojim ćemo graditi ili samo igra? Mislim da rat vidimo kao igru – kao nogomet. Svi su kao sretni, ali pogledajte što on radi, pogledajte što se zbiva u Darfuru. Sada govorimo, o moj Bože. Pogledajte rat u Ruandi. To je sve jezik oružja. Smatram da ne treba kriviti Google jer čini dobre stvari, čak i ljudi iz Al-Qaede koriste Google kako bi se povezali. Ali to je korisno milijunima ljudi. Ali industrija oružja? Hvala. (Pljesak)
Chris Anderson: Thank you, thank you. Just wait over there. It's an amazing story. I suspect a lot of people here have the same question I have. How can we help you?
Chris Anderson: Hvala vam, hvala. Pričekajte ovdje. Ovo je nevjerojatna priča. Mislim da dosta ljudi ovdje zanima ista stvar kao i mene. Kako vam možemo pomoći?
Corneille Ewango: That's really embarrassing questions. I think that now I feel nervous. And I think, helping us, people are acting sometimes by ignorance. I did it myself. If I know when I was young, that [by] killing an elephant, I'm destroying biodiversity, I would not have done it. Many, many of you have seen the talents of Africans, but there are few who are going to school. Many are dying because of all those kind of pandemics, HIV, malaria, poverty, not going to school. What you can assist us, it's by building capacities. How many have got opportunity like me to go to U.S., do a master's? And go -- now, I'm in the Netherlands to do a Ph.D. But many of them are just here, because they don't have money. And they can't go even to university. They can't even attain the bachelor's degree. Building capacities for the young generation is going to make a better generation and a better future tomorrow for Africa.
Corneille Ewango: Ovo je stvarno nezgodno pitanje. Malo sam sada nervozan. Mislim da nam ljudi nekad pomažu iz neznanja. I ja sam to radio. Da sam kao mali znao da je ubijanje slonova loše, da uništavam bioraznolikost, ne bih to radio. Mnogi od vas vidjeli su potencijal Afrikanaca, ali mali je broj onih koji su školovani. Mnogi umiru zbog raznih pandemija, HIV-a, malarije, zbog siromaštva, ne idu u škole. Možete nam pomoći izgradnjom kapaciteta. Koliko ih ima priliku, kao ja, otići u SAD na magisterij? Ja sam sad u Nizozemskoj na doktoratu. Mnogi Afrikanci su ovdje jer nemaju novaca. I ne mogu na sveučilište. Čak ni na preddiplomski studij. Stvaranjem prilika za mlađe generacije stvaramo i bolje generacije i bolju budućnost za Afriku.
CA: Thank you, thank you. (Applause)
C. A.: Hvala vam. Hvala. (Pljesak)