Emmanuel de Merode, warden of Virunga National Park, looks on as his rangers conduct a survey of the endangered mountain gorillas during a lull in a 20-year-old conflict that has brutalized the Democratic Republic of the Congo. During his reign, the Belgian prince has been waging his own battle to transform Africa's oldest and most diverse park from a breeding ground for corruption and violence into the Congo’s greatest hope for stability. But the enemy is formidable: Virunga still teems with heavily armed militias, poachers, and even a British oil company. In April, de Merode was ambushed by a group of gunmen and shot twice. He survived. Here, in the jungles of Virunga, conservation and corruption come to blows.
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A mountain gorilla family named Bageni huddles in the jungle of Virunga's gorilla sector, home to 220 of the endangered creatures. Only 880 remain in the world, and reside in just four parks. Virunga’s wilderness and wildlife—rivaling any of Africa’s most famous safari destinations—should be luring in travelers. Instead, visitors have only appeared in a slow trickle, halted continuously by the unpredictable security situation. Next door, in Rwanda and Uganda, gorilla tourism is a booming business.
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The view from the open-air deck of the visitor lodge stretches deep into a maze of jungle. The facilities are luxurious private bungalows that take in sweeping mountaintop views, monkeys literally swinging overhead. At night, a roaring fire warms guests gathered to sip local beers. Though tourism is scant right now, it's steadily building, and in October revenue from visitors reached $60,000.
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A park ranger tickles one of four orphan gorillas who live at the Senkwekwe Center in Virunga headquarters. A devoted team of three caretakers live with the gorillas, who were rescued from poachers and nursed back to health. They are the world's only mountain gorillas in captivity.
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Rebel groups have seized control of Virunga twice in the past seven years. Each time, gorillas and other wildlife are under threat of being caught in the crossfire. When the M23 militia occupied the area in 2012, rebels actually led treks into the gorilla sector for tourists in order to raise money for their insurgency. All the while, de Merode and his rangers refused to leave. “It takes many years to rebuild a park like this, but it could be destroyed in three days,” he explains. “So you can never let your guard down.”
In 2007, a rebel movement called CNDP took control of the park and all staff members were forced to evacuate. De Merode, who had just been appointed park director, displayed remarkable diplomacy when he was able to negotiate access with the rebels for his rangers to resume conservation. Here, Innocent Mburanumwe, the sector's warden, catches the first glimpse of gorillas in 15 months. When park rangers were finally allowed back in, they were thrilled to discover one family had five new babies.
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The drive to and from Virunga is spectacular: stunning views of a looming volcano and acres of lush jungle filled with wild animals. But the four million people who live on the park's outskirts suffer a lack of electricity, clean water, and basic health and education infrastructure. Virunga donates 30 percent of its revenue to projects that assist these communities, and has announced a multi-million dollar long-term effort called the Virunga Alliance to build up the economy.
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On the way to the sprawling savannas of Virunga, a small herd of elephants pull leaves from roadside trees. The park is home to more than 1,000 animal species, making it the most biodiverse place in Africa and, possibly, the world.
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A baby gorilla gawks at a silverback male—one of three dominant males who head the Manyaga family. Rangers lead visitors on treks through the jungle to visit the gorillas in their natural habitat.
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The plans for a hydroelectric power plant being constructed with funds from the Virunga Alliance. It will provide 13-megawatts of electricity to the region. Wiring the region with electricity will bring in $3 million annually for the park, save villagers costs on generators, and allow larger infrastructure to be built, like factories and health clinics. De Merode hopes to finish six power plants over the course of a decade.
De Merode surveys the construction site as an armed guard watches vigilantly from above him. Since the April assassination attempt, de Merode has been unable to move or travel without protection. He has accepted this grudgingly. "I'd prefer to be able to lead my life as I did before, but that's just the way it is," he says.
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Recently, Virunga has been in the throes of a furious legal battle and international campaign to stop a British oil company called SOCO International from drilling in the park, which is listed as an UNESCO heritage site. A village called Vitshumbi, on the banks of Lake Edward, is in the middle of the battle between park authorities and oil interests. This is one of four clean water systems that residents of Vitshumbi say SOCO built for them.
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In a park that has survived 20 years of civil war, not to mention two full takeovers by rebel militia, it’s the issue of oil, de Merode says, that is the largest threat to ever face the park. He believes that extracting oil could not only destroy the conservation sector in all of Congo, but decimate the livelihoods of local communities. Vitshumbi residents are counting on both the park and SOCO to help lift them from a fishing slump.
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The route to Virunga is a bustling portrait of rural Congolese life. Spotted along the bumpy road are busy village marketplaces, groups of students in blue-and-white school uniforms, and young men riding along the roadside with the day’s bounty strapped to their wooden scooters.
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Well-armed rangers patrol the park's sprawling wilderness, hunting out poachers, rebels, and illegal traffickers. At least once a week, these patrols come under attack from those looking to exploite Virunga's vast natural resources. Since 1996, around 140 rangers have been killed in the line of duty at Virunga. "We do everything we can to prevent it from happening, but we can't stop working," says de Merode.
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