Open letter the General Director of the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN)

15-11-2013

On the 27^th of December 2013, SOCO was pleased to announce that “ICCN, the organisation that manages the Virunga National Park, has reported to SOCO that it has received widespread support for SOCO’s activities on Block V in eastern DRC.”1 The oil company indicates that this report “follows visits by ICCN’s senior representatives to a number of communities around Lake Edward to engage with the local population and to hear their concerns about SOCO’s potential impact on their communities.”2

Civil society has expressed serious concerns about the role of some ICCN’s senior representatives and their involvement with SOCO International in Virunga Block V. In an open letter to the head of the ICCN in Kinshasa dated of the 15th of November 2013, a coalition of local NGOs working on Human Rights and Environmental issues in and around Virunga National Park urged the General Director of the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) to do something about the unacceptable behavior of Mr Guy MBAYMA, Technical and Scientific Director of ICCN, as well as SOCO’s focal point.

 LISTEN HERE TO THE RADIO INTERVIEW WITH MBAYMA –