Crisis in Congo Park: Belgian Prince’s Management and European Funds Under Scrutiny

This investigation was originally published on an investigative website.

Dressed in khaki uniform, with a green beret attached to his shoulder and hands on his hips, Belgian Prince Emmanuel de Merode rallies his troops. “ I rely on you to stand by me, he told dozens of rangers at Virunga National Park in late 2012, as troops from the M23 rebel movement advanced towards Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), posing a threat to the park’s guards. We cannot fight them. I will be the last to leave. ”

This moment of valor was captured in the Netflix documentary Virunga, released in 2014. Nominated for an Oscar, the film celebrates Africa’s oldest national park, established in 1925 during Belgian colonial rule, which marks its centenary this year. A UNESCO World Heritage site, Virunga Park is renowned for its active volcanoes and mountain gorillas, an endangered species. It benefits from substantial European funding aimed at aiding locals caught in regional conflicts and safeguarding biodiversity.

The mission is led by Prince Emmanuel de Merode. The 55-year-old anthropologist and primatologist was appointed park director in 2008, following a public-private partnership agreement between the Congolese authorities and the Virunga Foundation, the British NGO he directs, which has been involved in park management since 2005. The management of this protected area has been heavily criticized by park residents.

Although Emmanuel de Merode is not a member of the Belgian royal family, his aristocratic lineage has been entitled to use the honorary title of prince since 1929. Before taking on his role at Virunga, he coordinated European development projects in eastern Congo. From 2003 to 2005, he oversaw programs and conducted assessments as a consultant for the European Union. He has since become a recipient of European development funds himself.

In 2005—then known as the African Conservation Fund—the Virunga Foundation took over a significant portion of the park’s management from the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation. That year, the foundation became a beneficiary of European grants, though there was no bidding process involved.

“ Many other international NGOs working on environmental protection in DRC have been and continue to be baffled by the lack of transparency in this process and the preferential treatment given to the Virunga Foundation ”, wrote Esther Marijnen, a political ecology researcher at Wageningen University, in an article published in an academic journal.

The European Commission denies any conflict of interest: “ Mr. de Merode was the EU’s technical assistant in charge of coordinating and monitoring EU support for post-conflict reconstruction in North Kivu. He was an independent expert, not an EU employee. Mr. de Merode responded to an international call for applications for the position of director of Virunga National Park. This was done transparently with the EU. ”

Contacted for comment, Emmanuel de Merode stated through his spokesperson that he has “ never been employed by the European Union ” but “ has done consulting work on various occasions for the Central African European delegation ”.

Since then, the European Union has provided steady financial support to the Virunga Foundation. Over the past twenty years, it has contributed 157 million euros to the prince’s organization. European Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen, responsible for international partnerships from 2019 to 2024, describes it as a “ unique model of green economy that protects nature and communities ”. In early 2025, Europe allocated 78.6 million euros to establish a “ ecological corridor ” the size of France along the Congo River.

If Europe is so generous, it’s to aid a region plagued by nearly continuous conflicts since 1996. The management of part of eastern Congo, including park territories, has involved massacres that have forced local populations to relocate. The park’s management has struggled to provide electricity and potable water to displacement camps.

In this challenging environment, Prince de Merode’s park is often seen as a lifeline. Its development projects aim to reduce locals’ dependence on park resources, benefiting nature and biodiversity in turn.

The flagship of this program has been the construction of three hydroelectric plants. According to the park, 39,000 households have been connected to the grid, and several dozen institutions, including three schools and five hospitals, benefit from free electricity. The EU has covered the majority of the costs, amounting to 60 million euros. Small factories have also been established to produce soap and chocolate, creating “ over 12,000 jobs ”, according to a park spokesperson, with about 10 % being allocated to former members of armed groups.

A different story is heard in the villages near the park. Follow The Money spoke with about twenty people living in the area, including farmers, a teacher, an M23 rebel, journalists, and researchers, all of whom are critical of the park’s management.

“ The park is a nightmare for us, says François Kamaté, a climate activist in the region. There’s no quality dialogue between the park and the locals. It creates ongoing tension. ”

Many complaints focus on the lack of arable land around the park. With the boundaries of the protected area not always clear, villagers sometimes create fields in contested areas, which are then destroyed by the park.

“ This leads to public discontent ”, says Onesphore Sematumba, a researcher affiliated with the think tank International Crisis Group. When asked, the park insists there is “ a clear methodology for settling border disputes ” in consultation with the communities.

While in theory, locals welcome the hydroelectric plants, the promise of free or low-cost energy does not seem to be met. Even when described as “ low ”, the cost is too high, and many villages are not even connected to the grid.

The residents of Ivingu, a village located 20 kilometers west of the park, assert that the development plans have “ no effect ” on their daily lives, despite being near one of the hydroelectric plants. In a letter to the park’s board of directors, dated March 5, 2024, and reviewed by Follow the Money, the dissatisfied residents threatened to “ erase all traces of Virunga Park ” from their territory.

Faced with what they consider to be empty promises, the locals feel abandoned. “ We keep being told that the villages will benefit from new roads, schools, and a clinic, but we see none of it ”, explains Joseph Tsongo, a podcast creator living on the southern edge of the park.

The majority of the population also does not benefit from the jobs created, lament Esther Marijnen and Judith Verweijen, a geopolitician at the University of Groningen. Both have been researching Virunga Park and its surroundings for 15 years and have spoken with 700 residents. They emphasize that 12,000 jobs created is modest compared to the estimated 5 to 11 million inhabitants of the park and its immediate surroundings.

For some Congolese, the prince’s involvement also leaves a bitter aftertaste reminiscent of the country’s colonial past. The Congo was ruled by Belgium from 1908 to 1960. During this period, the population and nature were exploited, with millions of Congolese killed or maimed. “ Our ancestors were driven off their lands by the Belgians to make way for the park, says Lwambo Mupfuni, president of a youth organization. And now, our park is run by a Belgian prince. Does this mean the park is a Belgian legacy ? ”

De Merode emphasizes that he was appointed by Congolese authorities, which, according to a park spokesperson, is “ the opposite of a colonial-era role ”. Asked about the discontent among locals, the spokesperson retorts: “ We cannot respond to unfounded considerations based on local communities’ perceptions of the park. ”

The promises of regional security also appear to remain unfulfilled. It is estimated that between 2,000 and 3,000 armed group members reside in the park, not including M23 militias. Over the past thirty years, more than 200 rangers have been killed in attacks by armed groups. Emmanuel de Merode himself was once attacked inside the park.

However, the work of Esther Marijnen and Judith Verweijen shows that the rangers themselves contribute to the violence. In their research, they argue that the approach implemented in Virunga Park is an example of “ militarization of conservation ”, where combating poachers is depicted as a war to be won.

According to a 2020 publication by the two researchers, park guards are involved in at least 35 homicides and 6 injuries committed between 2010 and 2019. They have recorded at least 9 rapes and 10 cases of torture.

When asked about the number of locals killed by his staff, the park did not respond. “ Rangers do as they please. They spread terror and behave as if they rule the park ”, says Augustin Kasereka, an environmental activist residing in Ivingu.

A high-profile case—which received little attention—is that of Innocent Mburanumwe, the former deputy director of the park who is internationally renowned as one of the main rescuers of gorillas in the world. In 2019, the European Union delegation in DRC awarded a prestigious European recognition to Mburanumwe. Shortly thereafter, he was suspected of having seriously injured a young woman by shooting her. According to the young woman’s lawyer, the ranger had been raping her since she was 15, she had a child by him, and had to undergo multiple abortions.

When asked, Mburanumwe stated that the case had been dismissed for lack of evidence. A spokesperson for the Commission adds: “ The park management immediately dismissed Mr. Innocent Mburanumwe from his duties and handed him over to the competent national authorities. The Schuman Prize was awarded by the Schuman Foundation, not by the European Commission. ”

Several residents of the region confided that, in another case of assault, a young woman from the village of Ivingu was killed by gunfire—apparently because she wanted to end her relationship with a ranger. According to the park, the ranger in question died before his case could be brought to court.

Despite these issues, the Commission continues to support the prince. It has already committed to investing 78.6 million euros in the Kivu-Kinshasa green corridor, in an area inhabited by more than 30 million people. Europe also plans to more broadly finance the hydroelectric plants.

The establishment and management of this new protected area have also been entrusted to the Virunga Foundation. This is confirmed by François-Xavier de Donnea, a member of the NGO’s board, on his website.

While Europe does not seem concerned about continuing to allocate more resources to the park, the details of these public expenditure are not accessible to the public in question. “ To my knowledge, no detailed large-scale evaluation has ever taken place ”, says Jean-Pierre d’Huart, who conducted audits in African natural parks for years. The EU refuses to share the audits with Follow the Money. It is therefore impossible to know if the money allocated to Virunga Park is being spent in accordance with the rules of the European Commission.