Endangered Destinations 2011: Virunga National Park

Sasha Wood

Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo

Is a gorilla worth more than a barrel of oil?

What’s the problem?

Africa’s oldest national park – home to more than one-fifth of the world’s 700 critically endangered mountain gorillas – is at risk from armed militia, local politicians and proposed oil drilling.

The steppes, savannahs, lava plains and snow-capped peaks of Virunga National Park make it one of the most diverse of any park in Africa. But it is currently considered a World Heritage Site in Danger, and faces a number of threats including commercial poaching for bushmeat and military encroachment, all exacerbated by the lack of law enforcement in the area.

“Virunga is being threatened from multiple directions,” says Cai Tjeenk Willink, Business Development Officer at the park. “There are still multiple rebel groups in various sections of the park, making tourism in those areas impossible. We have some local politicians who want to give the park to the population for farming and actively resist the development of the park. We have overpopulation – four million poor people living within a day’s walk of the park boundaries. And we have a ʻmafia’ burning down our forests in order to produce charcoal.”

The recent discovery of around two billion barrels of oil reserves near wildlife areas on the Ugandan side of the park, plus proposed oil exploration on the Congolese side, bring new threats to both the environment and the future of tourism in Virunga.

Ian Redmond, chair of the Ape Alliance and a leading authority on the region, says, “The oil exploration is a new threat, but armed militia remain a more urgent threat in some parts not frequented by tourists. Fortunately the gorilla sector is relatively secure. If oil were to be found, it raises the prospect of a potentially disastrous spill – a greater risk with all the military activity.”

Unesco believes the security situation presents a real danger to the park’s mountain gorillas, ten of which were lost in 2007. In January this year, clashes between armed militia resulted in three national park guards and five soldiers being killed in Virunga.

What’s the solution?

Cai Tjeenk Willink believes tourism is the solution: “If we can start a resurgence in tourism all will benefit, especially the communities around the park. Tourism development is therefore one of our primary goals.”

Meanwhile Unesco has said it regards oil exploration and development as incompatible with World Heritage status. It has been involved in negotiations with the Congolese government to stop oil drilling in the national park. The DRC has signed a declaration calling a temporary halt to petroleum exploration while the environmental impact is assessed in more detail, but elections later this year could change this, and destabilise the region further.

“The declaration is clearly a step in the right direction and gives hope that law will finally be respected,” says Natasha Quist, WWF representative for Central Africa. “This oil exploration project threatens to undo decades of successful conservation work in the park.”

WWF has also launched an international petition lobbying oil companies to abandon plans for oil exploration in Virunga, saying, “Extractive industries should respect the laws and intentions of the countries in which they operate”.

Check out the full list of the world's most Endangered Destinations here