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ENVIRONMENTALISTS AROUND THE world have condemned the shooting of a Belgian conservationist who has struggled to protect Africa’s mountain gorillas in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.
Emmanuel de Merode, director of the Virunga National Park in the DR Congo’s war scarred North Kivu province, was attacked on Tuesday as he travelled alone by jeep from the regional capital Goma to a nearby nature conservation centre.
A colleague said he was attacked after filing a report into the actions of a British oil company, SOCO International, which had sought to prospect in an area overlapping the park.
“This is the first time the director de Merode has been directly attacked. We don’t yet know the motive for this attack,” Norbert Mushenzi, the director’s assistant, told AFP.
“Mr de Merode had just filed a report with the public prosecutor in Goma comprising the results of months – even years – of investigation into SOCO International.
In 2010 SOCO International won a government contract to jointly prospect for oil on a concession overlapping the park’s territory, but Kinshasa later suspended the permit under international pressure.
De Merode, who is around 40, was reportedly rescued by an army patrol and rushed to the Heal Africa hospital in Goma where he underwent surgery to remove bullets.
“He was shot in the stomach and the thorax. He had surgery and is still in intensive care, and according to the surgeon, so far there is hope,” hospital spokesman Ferdinand Mugisho told AFP.
North Kivu province has been ravaged by successive conflicts for more than 20 years.
‘Dedicated conservationist’
The reserve, which covers 800,000 hectares (two million acres) of land on the border with Uganda and Rwanda, has attained worldwide renown for its rare and endangered mountain gorillas.
The attackers did not steal anything from de Merode.
A group of North Kivu environmentalists condemned the attack, which they said was aimed at “discouraging community development and conservation efforts”.
The provincial governor of North Kivu, where Goma is located, visited de Merode in hospital on Wednesday.
“He is lucid, he is talking, and he thanked the army for rescuing him, as well as the doctors who saved him,” Julien Paluku told AFP.
Created in 1925 in the far east of what was then the Belgian Congo, the Virunga park has been declared an “endangered” part of the global heritage by UNESCO.
Poachers and logging teams have damaged the reserve, as elsewhere in Africa, but the park is also criss-crossed by rival armed groups and soldiers, while local people have taken up illegal residence.
The quest for oil is the latest threat to Africa’s most venerable wildlife reserve.
WWF head of conservation Lasse Gustavsson said de Merode was a “dedicated conservationist” who put his life on the line every day to protect the park and the people who depended on it for their livelihoods.
“I know how much Emmanuel loves this park. He continues to be a source of inspiration to those around him and I wish him a swift recovery.”
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Oil companies buy governments, rape the lands and worse, it appears
Close down all oil companies now! The world would be a better place without oil. Ban electricity also. How many people die worldwide as a result of electric shocks? The figures would frighten you. Electricity companies try and keep us in the dark.
How many people would die within the next few minutes if there was no electricity to power medical equipment? Not against you just pointing out one of the many arguments against. Think we need more than people getting electric shocks to convince us
Corporate assassination?
No, because he’s still alive. An assassination attempt no doubt I’ll give you that. In future make sure you read the entire article not just the headlines.
Keremy, we are seeing it unfold in Ukraine also. The entire situation there is artificially concocted in order to let Halliburton gain access and control of the fracking gas fields.
This is not tin-foil hat stuff …. Haliburton got approval from US congress to begin work on a 10 billion dollar contract in Ukraine, BEFORE the Kiev protests. Why would they get approval on that contract before the regime change? Easy, the new regime have given Haliburton the go ahead to commence their fracking efforts.
If there ends up a major civil war, with many many casualities, Haliburton will be laughing, as guess what, they supply weapons etc too. This corporation made 79 billion off the war in Iraq.
Its terrible that not many more people are trying to protect this magnificent creatures full of respect for this man risking his life in trying to protect these beautiful endangered animals
Is it any wonder that Africa is the way it is. No western government is willing to do anything except accommodate corporations and whatever nefarious things they want to do. Here comes democracy, bitches.
China is the one that has carved up Africa.
Rare mineral excavation rights in return for a few hundred kms if road.
Yeah no other countries have had a hand in exploiting africa at all.
Governments do not control corporations….. its the other way round…. look at the US Senate…. you need something like the French Revolution….. eliminate the wealthy… or we all suffer….. all most people get are scraps….. enough to keep us happy….
Considering the only people who are threatened by him are the oil prospectors and paid off government officials, it’s not hard to figure out who killed him.
Corporations in places like this act like criminals. People’s lives are worth nothing to them. And these same corporations show you nice fuzzy warm ads on your Western TV sets about how great they are and how much they care about the environment.
Join the dots.
He’s not dead
Shell Oil senior executives were complicit in human rights abuses, including summary execution and torture in Nigeria of environmental activists who disrupted their destruction of the niger delta.
“De merode, who is around 40″ fantastic journalism!!!!
The article never claimed that he was around 3’4”.
Wouldn’t put it past them.
Probably shot by “The Guerrilla freedom fighters”.
A case of mistaken identity…
How many” shell “casings , were found at the scene.
have your say