SAVE VIRUNGA
Stop Oil Exploration in Africa's Oldest National Park
by Stephan Doempke[1] Over the past two weeks, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee came together for its annual meeting. Since it had been cancelled last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, parts of last year had to be made up, which is why the conference was extended from 10 to 14 days. At the same time,… Read More
Eighty five percent of wetlands have disappeared, and critical tropical forests continue to burn. Humanity is pushing against the planet’s boundaries. But there are fewer and fewer places left to go. Some of the few, undeveloped places left in the world are those located within internationally recognized areas, such as World Heritage, Ramsar, Biosphere Reserves, among… Read More
Position of Group of civil society NGOs working for the protection of the environment in the Democratic Republic of Congo to KIMIA Mining; a Chinese company and illegal mining exploitation in protected area (Okapi Wildlife Reserve (RFO) a UNESCO world heritage site. TO ACT IN FAVOR OF A FAIR AND TRANSPARENT JUSTICE, RESPECTFUL OF THE LEGAL TEXTS… Read More
Around 1 million species face extinction in the next few decades and 10% of the earth’s wilderness has been lost in the past two decades. Humans depend on nature, but unsustainable activities are driving massive biodiversity losses and eroding cultures around the world at a rate higher than ever before in history. Without urgent action… Read More
The real cure for COVID is renewing our fractured relationship with the planet JAMES MASKALYK AND DAVE COURCHENE If humanity is to endure, the coming months must hold healing, not just of populations across the globe from the coronavirus, but of the Earth herself. As is true of many zoonoses (diseases that jumped from animals),… Read More
More than 500 dams are planned or under construction within protected areas, according to a new study published in Conservation Letters. These findings raise red flags as dams can have detrimental impacts on livelihoods of local communities such as fishing and floodplain farming, species movements, sediment flows to downstream deltas and floodplains, and other critical… Read More
About Sombwe Dam In June 2019, PowerChina and the Congolese company Kipay Investments Sarl signed a joint venture for the construction of the 150 megawatt (MW) Sombwe hydropower plant in the DRC. The proposed USD 400 million Sombwe complex includes a dam, reservoir, and road works. The hydropower plant is located inside Upemba National Park, one of the… Read More
Closed to tourists, pandemic is taking major toll on Virunga’s finances, local economy, as park reels from recent violence. SOPHIE NEIMAN June 2, 2020 Stretching some 3,000 square miles, Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is the oldest and most biodiverse national park on the African continent. It was designated a… Read More
Despite the global plunge in oil prices, a major pipeline that would carry oil 900 miles across East Africa is moving ahead. International experts warn that the $20 billion project will displace thousands of small farmers and put key wildlife habitat and coastal waters at risk. BY FRED PEARCE • MAY 21, 2020 Imagine a tropical version of… Read More
Home to rare and endangered species, the Congo’s national parks are also sites of human conflict. Without addressing the material drivers behind ecological degradation, conservation risks a losing battle. For Virunga, this was not an option– as Africa’s oldest national park, tackling socio-economic challenges facing local populations was a necessity in preserving its natural heritage.… 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
“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
SAVE VIRUNGA 