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
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
Theodore Trefon noted in 2016 that “Oil has become big business in the DRC and the subject of major deal making – more often than not by dubious partners. It is shrouded in secrecy and controlled by the presidency” (1). The oil and gas sector of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) ranked 84th (among 89… Read More
A group of about 580 savanna elephants recently returned to Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after crossing over from Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. The reappearance of the elephants brings hope to a park that’s been beset with civil unrest, violence, and poaching for decades. In May, Virunga National… Read More
2020 will go down as a somber year in human history with a global pandemic and a year full of protest against racial injustice. For Virunga National Park, 2020, will be remembered as the deadliest year in the history of the park with 21 Rangers and Employees who tragically lost their lives in 2020. Today… Read More
Virunga National Park has for more than two decades been going through a period characterized by various threats due not only to the activism of armed groups but also to the pressure exerted by local communities on natural resources, a phenomenon resulting from manipulations on the part of certain political leaders. Faced with this last… Read More
New armed attack, perpetrated in the morning of Wednesday 24 June 2020, against guards of the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN), inside the Virunga National Park. After the terrible killing of four civilians and 13 staff members of Virunga National Park on 24 April, this latest attack fills us with consternation and… 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
This is the time to take the decisive step, to move from using and misusing nature to contemplating it. We have lost the contemplative dimension; we have to get it back at this time. Excerpt from “Pope Francis says pandemic can be a ‘place of conversion’” by Austen Ivereigh I was curious to know if the Pope… Read More
More than 20 local civil society groups in North Kivu have expressed their concerns with regard to the surge of insecurity in and around Virunga National Park. It is with deep consternation that we learned today, Thursday, 24 April 2020, of the attack on a convoy of the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature… Read More
SAVE VIRUNGA 