UN-HABITAT and the World Wide Fund for Nature “WWF” have entered into an agreement to ensure a better protection of the World heritage site of the Virunga National Park in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The is the very first time two agencies with two very specific and different mandate will join their efforts to pursue the same goal recognising their mutual interest around the management of the Virunga National Park.
WWF is a leading international conservation organization founded in 1961 with a regional programme office in Eastern Africa and represented in North Kivu by its Virunga Environmental Programme whose main goal is the preservation of the biodiversity of the park, creating a harmony between the park and the development of the communities living around it.
UN-HABITAT has been implementing a large scale land conflict resolution programme programme in Eastern Congo, including around the Virunga National Park, to support vulnerable groups such as Internally Displaced Persons and refugees to access land and secure right on it
UN-HABITAT and WWF share a common objective to achieve the Millenium Develeopement Goal related to environemental sustainbilility and recognise the impact of human settlement and displacement on biodiversity and natural environement especially in a post conflict context such as the Eastern DRC.
In recognizing that WWF’s participative demarcation approach will contribute to the resolution of several conflict link to land tenure near the limit of Protected area and recognizing that UN-HABITAT has a solid experience in land conflict mediation, land administration and land management as well as in supporting national and local authorities in developing land policy, both organization recognize the benefits of synchronizing resources and expertise to the development of a common framework for long term collaboration in improving sustainable land management in DRC and in particular in the Eastern Province. |
