The Virunga mountains straddle Rwanda, Burundi, the DRC, and Uganda and include three national parks. This landscape has global biodiversity significance and is ranked by the IUCN as having the highest priority for conservation in Africa. Our current work here is focused on our partnership with the Rwandan government to restore Volcanoes National Park.

AWF’s History in the Virungas

There are parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that do not make the news.

In spite of a history of political instability, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is an ecological paradise.

Uganda has an extraordinary natural beauty and significant untapped tourism potential.

From the highest mountain range in Africa — the Mountains of the Moon — to the mighty Nile, Uganda is filled with natural beauty.

So, it’s only natural that there is a variety of wildlife and flora found within the country’s boundaries. More than half of the world’s endangered mountain gorillas, over 1,000 bird species, along with seven out of the 18 plant kingdoms, and more than 340 mammal species find sanctuary in Uganda.