Virunga National Park, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, is Africa’s oldest national park and its most biologically diverse protected area. Three-thousand square miles of pristine beauty, lush forests, and active volcanoes. Virunga defies the odds. In a province that for the last two decades has been the epicenter of violent conflict in the DRC, the park is becoming an engine of economic development despite the efforts by rebels militias, poachers, illegal charcoal traders, and most recently, a British oil company. The Virunga Alliance brings together civil society, private sector and state institutions to spark economic development grounded in sustainable management of the park’s natural resources and for the benefit of surrounding communities.
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