Virunga Park: Is There a Future for It and the Mountain Gorilla?
By B. McPherson This wildlife refuge in the Albertine Rift area of Africa was designated a World Heritage Site in 1979. The 790 000 ha site was dedicated as a park in 1925. Since then it has been subjected to increasing pressure from the swelling populations in that area. Villagers crowd the park boundaries and infiltrate it, seeking to increase their plantings and find forage for their cattle. Charcoal merchants turn park trees into fuel for city dwellers in Goma who lack other means to cook their food. Tomorrow the Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC) will hold elections. Perhaps the warfare that has raged in this area will cool, perhaps not. Virunga Park also borders the countries of Rwanda and Uganda, countries that have had their share of civil unrest, resulting in massacres and millions of displaced people. Enterprising poachers have slaughtered many of the large mammals in the park and sold the meat to soldiers, and irregular militia as well as to the refugees. As w...