18 September 2007
U.S. Increases Funding To Protect Mountain Gorillas of Congo
Funds for national park will support gorillas and other endangered wildlife
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
September 17, 2007
MEDIA NOTE
U.S. Support to Virunga National Park and Mountain Gorillas of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development are making available $496,000 of new funds to support the park rangers and endangered wildlife of the Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. This area is home to scores of unique species, including the mountain gorilla, which have declined due to the region’s ongoing armed conflict, poaching, demographic pressures and habitat disturbance.
This support directly addresses threats to biodiversity and illegal poaching in and around the Virunga National Park through cross-border wildlife monitoring, rehabilitation of ranger posts, the provision of equipment and training for rangers. This support to park wardens will improve their capacity to carry out effective wildlife conservation activities and further law enforcement, information exchange and cooperation with regional authorities.
“Our efforts are focused on conserving and protecting the habitat of these magnificent animals. The survival of the mountain gorillas of Virunga is severely threatened by the tragic events in the region, and we will continue to devote whatever resources we can to protect the gorillas and other threatened species there,” said Oceans, Environment, and Science Assistant Secretary of State Claudia A. McMurray.
We have supported conservation in the Virunga National Park since 2003 through the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Central African Regional Program for the Environment and the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP). For further information on CBFP please visit http://www.sdp.gov/sdp/initiative/congo/
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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
