Virunga Page #3

All the other parks are going to sink.

Everyone will say,

"You're not allowing us to exploit oil

or ore in this park...

but you did so in Virunga."

If we fail here, the whole conservation

sector in Congo is going to fall.

It would be a disaster.

SOCO? Make Congo better?

No! And I repeat, no.

What will make Congo better?

It's work.

Work within the law.

All I know is that oil exploitation is

not compatible with conservation.

I am not saying that

because I am a ranger,

it's the law that says this.

If you look at everyone in the chain

of authorities in charge of the park,

Emmanuel de Merode is the only one

who doesn't feed on it.

We wonder what's wrong with him.

Everyone's noticed

that oil is something big.

It's worth billions of dollars.

It looks like he wants his government,

the Belgian one,

to be part of this exploitation,

or perhaps he wants them

to take control at a later stage.

Either way, he's the one

hindering the process,

and he's the only one.

At the moment,

the president's office,

everyone in the capital,

all have authorized it.

Even the minister for the environment

has authorized it.

So far it's simply a matter of checking

whether there is any oil.

It's like checking whether

a person's liver or heart is okay,

just checking if there's

something wrong or not.

I think you have come to the right place.

When your people

want to come into the park,

I can arrange things in my sector.

I can tell my people

that this is how things are going to be.

I'll have to speak to the minister,

so that the minister

can speak to you personally.

So the safety of the people of SOCO

can be given to Rodrigue

and his people.

But that should be your secret.

Just like that we can finalize it.

You get your cut,

and maybe you give me

a little of what they give you.

No problem.

People are being approached by SOCO

supporters and offered money.

Even people in Virunga's organization

are now working to undermine the park.

It is unclear who can be trusted.

What is the importance of this lake

for you as a community?

In Vitshumbi

we are about 2,000 inhabitants,

and all of us depend on this lake

as we don't have

any other work except fishing.

Therefore, fishing within

the Virunga National Park

is life for the community.

Our lives depend on it.

He says,

"We don't care about oil,

we earn our living

from the lake and fishing."

You see, we are barely surviving here.

In the past, things were much better.

But with the recent fighting,

people find their

living standards are falling.

Did SOCO come to ask for your views

about what is going on?

No, SOCO came in like a parachute.

We got up one morning

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes