Virunga Youth supports ranger training in the DRC

Three young people joined ranger teams in national parks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after successfully completing their training. Their training was supported by the Virunga Youth programme, which includes a variety of activities. ‘Supporting young people from the Virunga region in reconnecting with nature is the ultimate goal of this programme,’ says Paul Villaespesa, East Africa expert at IUCN NL. ‘Whether it is through sports, music or theatre, we support them in their community life.’

Header photo: Rangers in Virunga National Park (the newly trained rangers are not in the photo) © J.J. Stok

Achieving their nature conservation dream

The area of Virunga National Park is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth and home to many rare, endemic and endangered species, such as mountain gorillas, elephants and chimpanzees. But there are little job opportunities. With armed groups being active in the area, it is important to provide young people with alternative livelihoods.

With professional training young people in the area have more opportunities. Completing their training, however, was not easy for the three new rangers, also called eco-guards. ‘They had to travel many kilometres under difficult conditions to achieve their dream to protect nature,’ writes Silvan Ngandulo from FECOPEILE, one of IUCN NL’s local partners in the programme Virunga Youth: Actors of Hope.

‘The aim is that by embracing this path, the young rangers contribute to both nature conservation and the well-being of their communities.’

• Paul Villaespesa, expert East Africa and coordinator of Virunga Youth at IUCN NL

Nature conservation and communities’ well-being

Due to the armed groups in the area, their new job is not without risk and far away from their families. The three new rangers will join teams in different national parks: Upemba National Park, Okapi Wildlife Reserve and Kahuzi-Biega National Park. ‘One of the objectives of the programme is facilitating environmental vocation for young people in North Kivu, which includes training to become an eco-guard. The aim is that by embracing this path, the young rangers contribute to both nature conservation and the well-being of their communities,’ shares Paul Villaespesa, coordinator of Virunga Youth programme.

Virunga Youth: Actors of Hope

The programme aims to recreate the link between young people, and their communities, and the managers of Virunga National Park increase the awareness of the important role of the nature for the local communities and their livelihoods. Ngandulo sees a positive change: ‘The curve of change is more and more positive, as there is more commitment of young people to work for the protection of the environment.’ He also sees an increasing connection between the national park managers and communities in the area.

Virunga Youth engages youth through different activities in the field of sports, theatre, music and scouting. ‘I see a positive trend as a result of the activities carried out as part of this programme, such as football training and the Mazingira theatre festival,’ says Ngandulo. He is optimistic: ‘The best is yet to come.’