Emmanuel de Merode

Director and Chief Warden, Virunga National Park
Congo

Emmanuel de Merode was born in North Africa and spent his childhood in Kenya. He arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1993 and, in 2008, was appointed Director and Chief Warden of Virunga National Park in eastern Congo – a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Africa’s oldest national park.  The park is famous as a last refuge for the Mountain Gorillas, but also lies at the heart of a region that has suffered 30 years of armed conflict. Over the past 15 years, Emmanuel has overseen the work of the Virunga Alliance, an ambitious development programme designed to foster peace and prosperity through the responsible economic development of the Park’s natural resources.  Through the combination of electrification and financial services, over 21,000 jobs have been created in the local community, of which over 2,000 are estimated to be young men and women who have left the armed groups to re-integrate their communities, offering a unique  approach to environmental protection and peace-building.