Virunga National Park Facing Contemporary Challenges:: Boundary Disputes

Established in 1925 under the name PNA, this exceptional natural heritage site was created primarily to preserve biodiversity, protect endangered species, and safeguard the unique ecosystems of the Albertine Rift Valley. However, efforts to implement these conservation objectives quickly ran up against complex social, land tenure, and demographic realities. The various legal texts adopted from the colonial era to the present day have certainly defined the park's status, boundaries, and management procedures, but their enforcement has often been hampered by difficulties stemming from insufficient dissemination of the regulations, contradictions between modern law and customary land practices, weak administrative oversight, and the effects of armed conflicts that have undermined state authority in several surrounding areas.Disputes over boundary demarcation, illegal occupations, population displacements, agricultural encroachments, and differing interpretations of legal texts have thus contributed to a persistent crisis of territorial governance surrounding the park.