SAVE VIRUNGA
Stop Oil Exploration in Africa's Oldest National Park
Five community-based groups and civil society organisations representing over 272 members from Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have written an open letter to six oil companies. The community groups and CSOs are calling on the companies not to submit oil exploration bids for the Ngaji oil block, which covers Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP)… Read More
The Great Lakes that link Uganda and the DRC are home to some of the most diverse wildlife on the planet, as well as diverse cultures and people. They also contain oil and gas deposits that many companies want to exploit. Local communities are concerned about how the oil industry will affect their lives. After… Read More
Last month, the Minister of Energy informed the public through a news briefing that on May 8, 2019, Uganda’s Ministry of Energy will launch the second competitive licencing round for oil blocks. The launch will take place in Kenya. . Some of the oil blocks that are set to be put up for licencing on Wednesday… Read More
“We humans are only part of the ecosystem and if we kill part of the system we are killing ourselves, that is what we need to understand, that this ecosystem must remain as it is, it must be sustained, because in its survival depends our own” – Wangari Maathai Wangari Maathai (1940–2011) was the founder… Read More
Fishers Unite! All Pictures from Enanga.org It is abnormal for a fisher or fishing community to depend on imported fish for protein. It is an unhappy situation when an experienced fisherman returns from a fishing trip with only flotsam or other debris, including plastics, in the nets. Unfortunately, this is the reality facing fishers in… Read More
The subject of African heritage and its sustainable development – or African heritage and sustainable development – has become one of the most discussed issues of late, both within and outside the continent. The discussion has not been confined only to heritage practitioners but has traversed the traditional boundaries, bringing in the practitioners, academicians, communities,… Read More
There is an inextricable link between the fisheries of Lake Edward, the well-being of the local population, and Virunga National Park itself. The Virunga Alliance is doing it’s best to serve all parties in this tightly-knit web of life on Lake Edward. On the road from park HQ in Rumangabo to Vitshumbi… By Evelyne Malfliet… Read More
“The benefit of the park [for us communities] is to protect the Lake – so we have security. This means that we keep it as a long term benefit project. In order to meet our future needs.” You can watch here the full video message from Virunga’s fisher communities:
“Oil: the fossil fuel responsible for the dispute over Virunga National Park in Congo” By Jakub Szweda Congolese people fight for their stability and food security after prospecting search for oil by a British company. SOCO International, in 2007, has signed a production-sharing contract for Block 5 Albertine Grahen, permitting them to enter over a half of… Read More
In “Women Empowerment, Fisheries and Sustainable Development in Virunga” we have seen how important Lake Edward is for the empowerment and emancipation of women in the Great Lakes region. In this article based on the excerpt of the UN report on Women and Natural Resources: Unlocking the PeaceBuilding Potential we focus on the relationship between women and natural resources in… Read More
The fisheries of Lake Edward in Virunga National Park make a substantial contribution to poverty reduction and sustainable economic growth within Eastern DRC. Over 50.000 people are supported by the fisheries; it creates jobs, provides an important supply of affordable protein to the Kivu’s, and makes a significant contribution to food security in the Congo.… Read More
. “In the oil industry, the value of an oil and gas company is mainly determined by its reserves. This means that SOCO’s primary assets “are its entitlements to future production from reserves, and one of the distinct features of the industry is its depleting asset base and need for replacement through drilling and acquisition.(2)”… Read More
SAVE VIRUNGA 