5 Things to Know About Virunga | Explorer

[Music] Veranga is Africa's oldest and largest national park. It's an enormous area, 3,000 square miles of protected space. But perhaps most importantly, it's home to most of the world's critically endangered mountain gorilla. Barunga is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It has the same status as Yellowstone National Park or the Great Barrier Reef.

That protection is supposed to mean that it's illegal to explore or exploit any of the natural resources within its boundaries. And yet, that protection doesn't mean very much if companies like Soo or governments can find a way to undermine those principles, get round those laws. Essentially, Veruna is the most dangerous place to be a park ranger.

In the last 20 years, 140 park rangers on patrol have been killed, lost their lives in defense of nature. The charcoal industry is the singly most damaging contributor to habitat loss in the region. In very clever ways, the Barunga Alliance is addressing this directly, supplying alternatives, building infrastructure, electrifying the region through the creation of hydroelectric dams.

If social outreach can have the power to topple governments in our time, then perhaps our efforts can change policies at home and abroad in places as distant as the DRC in the Congo.