Virunga National Park was founded in 1925 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and aims to protect the flora and fauna of the park, as well as the local communities that live near Virunga’s boundaries. Apart from patrolling the parks to deal with the pressures on the forests and wildlife from migration flows which are exacerbated by frequent conflicts, the park rangers have to actively protect and defend the wildlife from poachers, and the forests from illegal resource exploitation, sometimes in armed combat. The park is poorly staffed in terms of number of rangers relative to the size of the national park and scale of challenges, they are also insufficiently trained relative to the armed poachers and mercenaries they have to face.
A total of 12 park rangers were killed last year!
The SCC has decided to contribute to the park’s conservation efforts in the following ways:
- equipment for rangers
- tactical training
- health insurance for rangers and family
- ranger widow and widowed children support
- orphaned gorilla support
- anti-poaching patrol
- wildlife snare sweep
etc.
The Virunga National Park project is supported in the context of our Social Contract, which is part and parcel of our Corporate Social Responsibility.
With a purpose to foster a meaningful link between our company, our employees and society, we contribute part of our resources in a responsible way to projects that create opportunities in our local community and in target countries. Our Social Contract is a way for us to support fantastic initiatives that we would normally not be a part of in our core business. Our support is provided by way of pro bono consulting and by financial support to projects where we can make a positive impact. The Social Contract is steered by our Social Contract Committee, composed of dedicated Innpact staff members.
For more information about our societal engagement, see https://innpact.com/about-us/our-engagement/
