In the past weeks, we have seen many headlines about the Democratic Republic of Congo government’s decision to auction 27 oil and 3 gas blocks in some of the most biodiverse areas of this vast country. National and international civil society organisations are warning about the environmental damage this could cause to peatlands, to National…
Climate activists in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have expressed strong opposition to plans for oil exploration in the Virunga National Park. In a short film dubbed ‘Fossil Free Virunga’, that was released by 350Africa.org worldwide today, the activists raised concerns with the environmental impacts, as well as the impact to local communities’ livelihoods. The…
Tourists could be spreading the virus causing COVID-19 to wild mountain gorillas by taking selfies with the animals without following precautions. Researchers from Oxford Brookes University examined 858 photos posted on Instagram from 2013-2019 under two hashtags — #gorillatrekking and #gorillatracking — and found most gorilla trekking tourists were close enough to the animals, without…
100+ civil society organisations to the African Development Bank: Don’t finance the East African Crude Oil Pipeline More than 100 civil society organizations have written to the President of the African Development Bank, Mr. Akinwumi Adesina, warning the bank against financing the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, which they call “an exceptionally high-risk project.” The proposed 1,445-kilometer…
What do the coronavirus and the extinction of endangered species have in common? With the current outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), global attention has been drawn to the significant health risks posed by eating wild animals. COVID-19 is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2 in short. Originating in Wuhan in Hubei, China early December…
Uganda’s Ministry of Tourism Wildlife and Antiquities and the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration reveal that the number of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) in the 340-square kilometer transboundary protected forest have increased to 459 from an estimated 400 in 2011 This announcement brings the global wild population of mountain gorillas to 1,063 when combined with the published…
Kampala and Goma – Nearly 50 civil society organizations (CSOs) from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and their partners have written to the presidents of Uganda and the DRC calling on them to avoid sensitive ecosystems in the planned and ongoing oil exploration licensing round in the Albertine Graben. The CSOs made the…
In a special episode of her television show, American television superstar Ellen DeGeneres has just celebrated her 60th birthday and was moved to tears by a special gift from her wife, Portia de Rossi. The meaningful present is establishment of The Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in Rwanda. “It’s your 60th…
More than 70% of Africa’s national parks have been affected by war in recent decades, and wildlife has suffered as a result. That’s according to a new study by researchers from Yale and Princeton universities, which looked at data on 253 populations of large herbivores from 126 protected areas in 19 countries across the continent….
People often worry about the risks involved of catching diseases from animals, such as rabies. However, the risk humans pose to animals is often only considered once a species becomes critically endangered. Mountain gorillas live in two isolated regions: the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) in Uganda and the Virungas, bounded by Uganda, Rwanda, and…