Virunga Wildlife Rangers On the Offensive Against Militias

The Congolese rangers protect the wildlife in Virunga National Park, the most famous inhabitants of which are the 700 remaining mountain gorillas. These rangers are very brave people with possibly the most dangerous jobs in the world. And they don't get paid very much at all.

They've just launched an offensive against the militias that are destroying habitat in order to get charcoal. One of these militias was involved in the Rwandan genocide.

From the official website of Virunga National Park.

The Congolese National Park Authorities have sent the biggest ever deployment of armed rangers to strike at charcoal-making operations run by armed groups deep in the forests of Virunga National Park in Eastern DR Congo. The move, undertaken in collaboration with the UN peace-keeping forces MONUC, follows a report by the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo identifying charcoal from Virunga National Park as a major source of revenue for illegal armed groups. These include the FDLR, the Rwandan militia whose members are held responsible for the Rwandan Genocide in 1994.