[4] Because of its relatively stable climate during the repeated ice ages, the wildlife reserve, and the Ituri Forest as a whole, protects a unique biological community.

[4] In 1996, there were roughly 7,500 elephants and 7,500 chimpanzees within the reserve,[4] although those numbers have likely declined significantly in recent years due to poaching and political instability.

[4] The imposing Mbiya Mountain overlooks the Epulu village, and nomadic Mbuti pygmies and Bantu farmers also live within the reserve.

The project continues to support the reserve by training and equipping wildlife guards and by providing assistance to improve the lives of neighboring communities.

The main threats to the reserve are deforestation, primarily caused by slash and burn agriculture, and commercial hunting for the sale of bushmeat.

The mine was run by a loosely organized rebel faction, Mai-Mai Simba, who aimed to liberate the local population from the reserve's land use restrictions.

[9] A June 2021 report from the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo raised concerns about the presence of semi-industrialized dredging operations 12 kilometers south of Bandegaido, within the Okapi Wildlife reserve.

[12] As of 2022, non-governmental organizations such as the Council for Environmental Defense through Legality and Traceability (CODELT) and Alerte Congolaise pour l’Environnement et les Droits de l’Homme (ACEDH) blame mining operations for destroying pristine rainforest within the reserve.

[13] On 24 June 2012, the Epulu Conservation and Research Center was attacked, looted and burned by a group of Mai-Mai rebels, led by Paul Sadala (alias Morgan) and consisting of elephant poachers and illegal miners.