Democratic Republic of Congo: Virunga national park plagued by M23 rebels • FRANCE 24 English

Democratic Republic of Congo: Virunga national park plagued by M23 rebels • FRANCE 24 English

now we turn to the Dr Congo and today veruna National Park faces one of the largest threats since its founding in 1925 as the conflict between the Army and M23 Rebels drags on in the east of the country the wildlife living in the Lush mountains and forests surrounding the compents are also taking a hit EMT Livingston reports for us from GMA veruna National Park is one of the oldest on the African continent established in 1925 a UNESCO world’s heritage site the vast Park is home to an array of wildlife including Lions elephants and its famed mountain gorillas it has survived for decades in a trying context impoverished Eastern Congo is plagued by dozens of armed groups the hydroelectric power plants funga operates also provide electricity to much of the city of GMA which lies on the Park’s border but the 2-year long M23 Rebellion is placing orous pressure on the park stoking fears for its future the M23 which is backed by Rwanda is active in sections of the park and there has been an influx of displaced people into its confines some of the more than 1 million people who have been displaced by the conflict it’s hard to overstate how precarious a situation is one Western Diplomat told us pointing out that battles often take place inside the park itself making Environmental Protection close to Impossible vera for its part said the huge number of displaced people who have virtually no support is driving a wave of deforestation as well as an increase in poaching Park Rangers have also been unable to consistently monitor the population of endangered gorillas for 18 months a park spokesperson said over the weekend Congo’s defense minister jeaner bber also warned that the M23 was reinforcing its positions inside funga Park as well as on the outskirts of GMA without an end in sight to the M23 conflict funga is likely to continue to suffer the consequences oh

Today Virunga National Park, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, faces one the largest threats since its founding in 1925. As the conflict between the army and M23 rebels drags on, the wildlife living in the lush mountains and forest surrounding the combattants are also taking a hit. More information with FRANCE 24 correspondent, Emmet Livingstone.
#Congo #M23rebels #NationalPark

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