SAVE VIRUNGA
Stop Oil Exploration in Africa's Oldest National Park
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
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
September 24 marks World Gorilla Day, when humanity celebrates one of its closest relatives, sharing 98 percent of our DNA as we do, plus we also have a common ancestor that lived not too long ago in evolutionary terms, around 10 million years ago. All species of gorillas are critically endangered according to the Red… Read More
On November 1st, 2027, the last living mountain gorilla was killed by poachers in the Congo. For the International Festival of Animal and Nature Photography in Montier-en-Der, the photographer Gilles Martin invited visitors to witness the primate’s symbolic burial with an impressive photographic installation. The memorial featured photographs of mountain gorillas accompanied by the text… Read More
Some of the most serious questions that SOCO International has to answer relate to allegations that its representatives and allies used threats and physical violence against opponents of the company’s operations in Virunga. There have been worrying reports from credible and respected local organisations since at least 2012 of SOCO International allies orchestrating a campaign of… Read More
(Kinshasa) – Democratic Republic of Congo authorities should fully and impartially investigate threats and violence against Virunga National Park rangers and local activists, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should examine whether the incidents are linked to plans to explore for oil within and near Virunga Park by SOCO International, a British oil company operating in… Read More
26-02-2014 DRC civil society calls Joseph Kabila to cancel the production sharing agreement signed with the company SOCO International PLC in Virunga national Park. This was the result of a day of discussions around the oil exploration activities of the British Company SOCO and its impact on the future of Virunga National Park, as well… Read More
European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, together with the Belgian Minister for International Cooperation, Jean-Pascal Labille, urge SOCO’s shareholders and all relevant authorities to make sure that oil company SOCO International Plc respects international laws and regulations and is in compliance with all of the required standards considering its oil exploration activities in a World… Read More
DRC civil society calls Joseph Kabila to cancel the production sharing agreement signed with the company SOCO International PLC in Virunga national Park. This was the result of a day of discussions around the oil exploration activities of the British Company SOCO and its impact on the future of Virunga National Park, as well as surrounding… Read More
Oil drilling may bring benefits in healthcare and education, but critics are concerned about corruption and the effect on wildlife Patience Akumu Most of Uganda’s oil is in the Albertine Graben region in the west of the country, an expanse of lush green vegetation that is home to about half of Africa’s bird species. There… Read More
Think oil, think population influx in and around the Virunga park, increased deforestation, conflict and bye bye gorillas…. The films follows two European journalists a Dutch Photojournalist and a British foreign correspondent as they cover an environmental story centred on the Virunga National Park DRC. More information available at: ERA FILMS ‘Stories Behind Our Foreign… Read More
WWF has learned that two community activists opposing planned oil development in and near Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Virunga National Park have received threatening telephone calls. The men both report having been called by unidentified individuals who told them, “If you continue your advocacy against SOCO, you will die.” SOCO, a British oil company,… Read More
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