Al Jazeera, July 2014 | In-depth feature
Virunga national park is the oldest and most biodiverse in Africa – and probably the most dangerous too.
Over 150 rangers have been killed in the past decade in the park, which is home to some of the last endangered mountain gorillas.
The park spans across the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Rwands, and rangers are under siege from armed rebels, poachers, and, in recent years, a British company exploring for oil.
“I may die at any time in an ambush by people against the protection of the park,” says senior warden Rodrigue Mugaruka. “Rangers commit to protect the park, under very dangerous conditions, to their last breath.”
Mugaruka, who is a former child soldier, now has a son and sees the tourism and sustainable development that Virunga is nurturing as a chance to bring stability to an area of the country stricken by extreme violence and poverty. “We don’t want people of his generation to inherit a country as broken as ours,” he says.
Sylvia Rowley 