Created in 1925 by King Albert I of Belgium, Virunga National Park is Africa's oldest national park and is the continent's most biologically diverse protected area. The park is a world heritage site in the East Democratic Republic of Congo on the border of Rwanda and Uganda. It boasts a vast 7,800 square kilometres (790,000 ha) which includes forests, savannahs, active volcanoes, erosion valleys and the glaciated "peaks of the Rwenzori mountains".
Virunga is home to some of the world's most extraordinary and highly endangered species. Its fauna includes 200 of the remaining 800 mountain gorillas, the okapi (an endangered species that resembles a zebra but is more closely related to a giraffe), forest elephants, chimpanzees, lion and large colonies of hippopotami.
Despite the park's majesty, it is under great threat. The park is surrounded by some of the densest human populations and they have very considerable needs. Emmanuel de Merode, director of the Virunga National Park, explains that "it is an area that has been impoverished by years of political unrest, those communities and their economies needs to be revived." According to statistics from United Nations world Food Programme, the Republic of Congo is one of the poorest places on earth, with over 71% of the population living in extreme poverty, "three million children under five years of age suffering from malnutrition and almost half the countries children under five are stunted (short for their age)."
Virunga has served for the past 14 years for what some people term "Africa's World War, a multi-layered conflict that at its height, involved nine African national armies and a dozen rebel outfits, which sparked a humanitarian crisis and left an estimated five million people dead". In 1994, over 800,000 Rwandan's were killed in the space of just 100 days. Most of the dead were Tutsis and the majority of people that perpetrated the violence were Hutus. The tragic loss of life and political instability continues to have a huge impact on the park and the people living there.
With so much extreme poverty, the Democratic of Congo has one of the highest birth rates in the world. This explosion in the human population has had a detrimental effect on the park, leading to huge increases in deforestation levels, an explosion in the bush meat trade and pollution of rivers. From 2002 to 2013 the elephant population in the park has dropped from roughly 62,000 to less than 5,000. The critically endangered mountain gorilla (now numbering less than 800) is facing the fight of its generation.
A more recent pressure which is of very great concern for the future of the park is petrol. Emmaneul notes that "it is believed that there are large oil deposits under the park". Conservationists in 2014 were granted a huge victory, when the British company SOCO international agreed to halt all oil exploration in the world heritage site. The WWF argued that if oil was found and exploited it could have led to the poisoning of the Lake Albert where "50,000 families depend for fishing" and could further destabilise the region by "exacerbating the conflict between rival militias". To date no oil exploration has happened in the park, but the threat of future international oil companies exploiting the park remains inevitable.
How can we stop this?
Conserving the national park and reducing levels of poverty are both interlinked. A study by Lori Hunter from the Colorado University, found that where there are increased levels of resource scarcity there are also increased levels of "HIV within a community". Resource scarcity helps deepen poverty and robs "households of viable livelihood options". Additional evidence from a study by Hunter, Twine and Johnson on "The Role of Natural Resources in Coping with Household Mortality" suggests that "impoverished households affected by adult mortality are more likely than other households to use fuelwood rather than electricity or paraffin for cooking. Such intensified resource dependence can increase environmental degradation, particularly in areas being overharvested". Protecting the national park and having an environmental policy which encourages the sustainable use of local environments, can help reduce poverty and benefit the communities health.
Another sustainable way of protecting the park and bringing in wealth to the area is through eco-tourism. Eco-tourism has had a huge impact on the park and 2015 was the strongest year on record, with thousands of people coming from around the world to view its spectacular wildlife. Eco tourism has helped to create vital jobs, hospitals and schools for the local people living around the park. Emmaneul de Morede is hoping to create 100,000 jobs within the park in the next ten years through the Virunga Alliance Programme. This will offer a "critical pathway to a post-war economy in eastern Congo based on poverty reduction, environmental protection and peace building".
For the sake of its beautiful wildlife, biodiversity and the millions of people depending on the park, it is imperative that governments, conservationists and international bodies continue to place an economic value on the park to ensure its long time survival. In a capitalistic society the only way of saving something is to give it a monetary value. The park, through its majesty and beauty, offers a greater benefit to humanity then any guzzling oil company or destructive corporation could ever offer.
By supporting the fantastic work that Emmanuel de Merode does at the Virunga National Park (details below) and charities such as the Africa Wildlife Foundation there is still hope that we can save this magnificent place and preserve it for future generations to come.
By supporting the fantastic work that Emmanuel de Merode does at the Virunga National Park (details below) and charities such as the Africa Wildlife Foundation there is still hope that we can save this magnificent place and preserve it for future generations to come.
An article written by Harry Wright
In memory of ranger Sebinyenzi Bavukirahe Yacinthe who was murdered late last month by poachers protecting Virguna. He leaves behind his wife Jeaninne, and his eight children ages 2 to 16.
Please visit the Virunga National Park site here: https://virunga.org/who-we-are/ and the Africa Wildlife Foundation here to see how you can help http://www.awf.org/landscape/virunga.
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