Virunga Foundation
The Virunga Foundation is a non-governmental organisation working in the field of nature conservation. It is focused on protecting the wildlife in Virunga National Park. Its former name was African Conservation Fund.[1]
Founded | 20 October 2005[1] |
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Focus | Nature conservation, biodiversity |
Location |
International Gorilla Conservation Programme
In 2017, the Virunga Foundation started a conservation project that targets the mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei), in which the Volcanoes National Park also participated.[2]
Controversy
The Virunga Foundation and Virunga National Park have faced criticism that their conservation efforts in the region have led to the "militarization of conservation" and further violence and dispossession faced by local Indigenous peoples. Communities, such as the Mbuti, which previously relied on the lands included in the park for food and shelter have been forced out, or risk being arrested or killed by armed park rangers.[3]
References
- All about the Virunga Foundation
- Virunga: Mountain gorilla sanctuary under threat
- Moloo, Zahra (14 September 2014). "Militarised Conservation Threatens DRC's Indigenous People – Part 1". Inter Press Service. Retrieved 4 January 2019.