Talk:Virunga National Park

Which is Africa's first??
Interesting. Most of the references I've seen refer to 1950 as the establishment date for Kafue. Kruger National Park was also established in 1925, a few months before Virunga, but at the time is was established as a reserve, not a national park, hence Virunga's status as Africa's first National Park (second in the world, after Yellowstone National Park in the United States) Virunga NP is indeed the first National Park in Africa. It was gazetted on 21 April 1925. Kruger was gazetted in January 1926. Like Virunga and Kruger, many National Parks were established based on pre-existing protected areas of various status. When referring to NP status, the date of creation must of course refer to the gazetting as National Park, not under other forms. Virunga is NOT the second NP in the world, because several National Parks were gazetted in the USA in the 1910s. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.205.92.219 (talk) 09:36, 23 November 2013 (UTC)

First National Park in Africa?
The article says it was the first, being established in 1925. However the article on Kafue National Park in Zambia says that was established in 1924. Perhaps it's a question of terminology -- what they were actually called. Rexparry sydney 12:29, 3 September 2007 (UTC)
 * The year about Kafue was unreferenced and wrong. --Elekhh (talk)

Current situation
Hey Guys,

Eurazn101 (talk) 21:21, 31 January 2016 (UTC)I think we should provide an update on the current situation of Oil Exploration of Virunga National Park. This is very important to the future of the park, and should be explored in further detail. Also, next month the government plans on receiving six new bids for oil exploration in Virunga national park. Therefore, oil exploration may occur very soon, and we should keep the public informed if any changes occur. Thanks.

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founded primarily to protect the mountain gorillas ?
In regards to this sentence: "It was founded primarily to protect the mountain gorillas living in the forests of the Virunga Mountains but later, it expanded north to include the Rwindi plains, Lake Edward, and the Rwenzori Mountains."

I searched the archive of the Institute of the National Parks of Belgian Congo' and read several articles about missions to Albert NP between the early 1930s and late 1950s. But nowhere did I find any mention of this park or Virunga NP having been established 'primarily to protect mountain gorilla'. In case, I find such an argument in these old reports, I will add this info again, with proper ref. -- BhagyaMani (talk) 14:23, 7 November 2018 (UTC)

In the early 1920s, one, not all, of the proponents for Albert NP indeed had a focus on founding a gorilla reserve. But in the final decree of April 1925 for establishment of this NP, the scope was much broader defined, see Harroy (1993) and De Bont (2015, 2016) ref'ed in text. -- BhagyaMani (talk) 07:45, 10 November 2018 (UTC)

Lack of reference to the most comprehensive review of history and value of Virunga NP
While being the oldest NP in Africa and having benefitted from many publications; there is only one single book that provides a comprehensive history and facts (including description of biodiversity and habitats and the many challeges the NP faced) that is the result of the work of 30+ knowledgeable authors: "Virunga: The survival of Africa's first National park" edited by M. Languy and E. de Merode and published in 2009 by Lannoo (French version "Virunga: Survie du premier parc d'Afrique" in 2006 by the same publisher). I think this authoritative reference should be mentioned and used as reference for many topics relating to Virunga NP. 41.57.95.162 (talk) 11:51, 13 January 2024 (UTC)