SAVE VIRUNGA
Stop Oil Exploration in Africa's Oldest National Park
Standard Bank, Africa’s biggest lender, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) of Japan are reportedly about to finance a 1,443-kilometer crude oil pipeline through Uganda and Tanzania. If built, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) would be the longest heated crude oil pipeline in the world and is expected to cause large-scale displacement of… Read More
Total is present in Uganda through its wholly owned subsidiary Total Exploration & Production Uganda B.V (hereinafter Total Uganda), developing an oil project called “Tilenga” on the shores of Lake Albert. Total owns 54.9% of the project and is its operator. Its partners are the Chinese oil company CNOOC, with a 33.33% stake and Britain-based Tullow… Read More
The continuing importance of parks While community forests and conservation areas are a good way to build trust and a sense of stewardship and responsibility in the local community, national parks are still an essential conservation tool. “I think you still need parks, because you still need to have areas where biodiversity is totally protected,”… Read More
“Because we do not love the earth and the things of the earth but merely utilize them…we have lost touch with life…We have lost the sense of tenderness, that sensitivity, that response to things of beauty; and it is only in the renewal of that sensitivity that we can have understanding of what is true… Read More
The latest Virunga Alliance report for the July-August-September 2019 quarter reports the birth of 5 new baby gorillas in Virunga National Park, located at the East of the country. However, a baby is dead. With the 4 survivors, the total number of gorillas now stands at 147 in this nature reserve. “Mountain gorillas are doing… Read More
By Willy Mutunga, The writer is Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya and President of the Supreme Court Nelson Mandela belonged to that exceptionally rare and endangered breed of the African elite that broke vernacular barriers to build a Rainbow Nation. With considerable effort and remarkable foresight, he harnessed diversity into a common nationhood.… Read More
A Third of the World’s ‘Protected’ Areas Are Under Threat Six million square kilometers are under intense pressure from human activity. The world map is peppered with patches of protected land, ostensibly ringed by clear borders that seem to safely shield our few remaining wild areas from human encroachment. But the reality on the ground… Read More
There is a revived public outcry following media reports that government has proceeded with plans to allow the construction of a hydropower dam near one of Uganda‘s most spectacular natural attractions Murchison Falls. Earlier with year stakeholders in the tourism sector launch the protest calling on government to cancel plans for the dam project. They… Read More
Protection of the environment by criminal law It is true that the criminal response comes when the crime has been committed, that it does not repair damage or prevent repetition, and that it rarely has dissuasive effects. It is also true that, because of its structural selectivity, the sanctioning function usually affects the most vulnerable… Read More
When Rodrigue Katembo moved from Virunga to Upemba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2015, after uncovering the corruption attempts by SOCO International to drill for oil in the park, he probably didn’t expect to be confronted with a similar situation in his new home, endangering not only his conservation’s effort but also… Read More
In Uganda, In Uganda, Murchison Falls is Number 1 China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) is one of the largest construction groups in the world. In Uganda, it built the 40-kilometer expressway between Entebbe Airport and the capital city, Kampala. The Export Import Bank of China is involved in the destruction of the Murchison Falls National… Read More
Time is running out, we are losing our most precious wild places at an unbelievable pace. Last week it was the turn to Lower Zambezi National Park in Zambia, the government has given green light for mining activities to start in this rich ecosystem compromising its diverse fauna and flora. Yesterday it was Virunga National… Read More
