Rwanda and DRC have strengthened a joint management of the national parks in the Virunga mountains

Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Rwanda want to further strengthen their existing cooperation in the tourism sector. This strengthening involves joint management of the Virunga massifs that they share. This is the gist of the exchange on Wednesday August 12, 2020 between the Rwandan ambassador in the DRC, Vincent Karega and the Congolese Minister of Tourism, Yves Bunkulu Zola in Kinshasa.
For the Rwandan diplomat, this management will protect mountain gorillas, an endemic species currently on the red list of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
“These cooperation talks will strengthen the existing cooperation and take it further in the field of tourism. The joint management of the heritage of the Virunga massifs which are home to mountain gorillas, rare animals that exist only there all over the world, ”said the Rwandan ambassador stationed in the DRC.
The strengthening of cooperation between the two countries will facilitate investments in the tourism sector in particular.
“When you are a tourist in Rwanda or Congo, you can have the ease of crossing over the border. Also when you are an investor in the tourism sector in one of the countries, have the possibility to go and invest in the other. It is in order to achieve a network more supplied with tourist products that the countries work together in the protection of flora and fauna, ”added Vincent Karega.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, security in protected areas, particularly Virunga Park, remains a major challenge following the activism of armed groups. Some Congolese gorillas had even fled insecurity to live in Rwanda. These animals have no boundary limits in the Virunga massifs. Traveling to countries in the region does not change their belonging to the country of origin.
The Virunga massifs are shared between the DRC (Virunga Park), Rwanda (Volkano national park) and Uganda (Bwindi national park).