Congo: Firewood harvesting in Virunga National Park
In the Ishasha area last weekend he saw a group of about 30 people
carrying wood out of the park. Some were men, but many of them were
women and children carrying incredibly heavy loads. They had chopped
down wood within the park and were carrying it back home to cook with.
They openly said that they had taken advantage of the latest
insecurity and had been taking wood from the park over the past couple
months. Ever since we had to evacuate the Rangers from Lulimbi last
November, there has been no-one to stop them.
Click link for full text/increase funding for writer/producer of these
words: http://gorilla.cd/2009/02/03/trees-chopped-down-for-fuel-wood/
It is obvious from the pictures that these people are very poor and
just scraping a living, but the destruction of the park cannot
continue like this.
Tackling the energy problem in North Kivu is major
priority and projects attempting to find viable alternatives are
already underway, such the Briquette Project and WWF’s EcoMakala
project.
Click link for full text/increase funding for writer/producer of these
words: http://gorilla.cd/2009/02/03/trees-chopped-down-for-fuel-wood/
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