Africa's Oldest National Park In Crisis
by Jon Hamilton
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Map of Virunga National Park
The Threat To Virunga
Watch a video from National Geographic about the problems facing Virunga National Park.
Conservationist Emmanuel de Merode Courtesy of WildlifeDirect
Weekend Edition Saturday, July 5, 2008 · One of the world's great wildlife sanctuaries is literally going up in smoke. The hardwood forests of Virunga National Park in Central Africa are being cut down to support a lucrative — and illegal — trade in charcoal. If the destruction continues at its present rate, most of the trees in southern Virunga will be gone in a decade.
Virunga, founded in 1925, includes the mountains where the late anthropologist Dian Fossey did her research for the book Gorillas in the Mist. But endangered mountain gorillas, several of which were recently found murdered execution-style, are just part of the story.
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Africa's Oldest National Park In Crisis : NPR
