The Impacts of War: An Analysis of Deforestation in
Virunga National Park Using Satellite Imagery
Located along the borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda, Virunga National Park is home to a pristine wilderness and a huge variety of wildlife, including chimpanzees, elephants, and the critically endangered mountain gorillas. Centered along the Albertine Rift, Virunga National Park has become an area of particular international interest because of its vast natural resources and hydrocarbon reserves. Additionally, decades of war and violence have driven the rural population to seek refuge within the park and convert previously intact forest for slash-and-burn agriculture, charcoal production, and mining operations. It is estimated that more than 1.7 million people have died as a direct or indirect consequence of the Congo Wars (Draulans, 2002).
Long-term political and ethnic conflicts such as the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and the Congo Wars of 1996-2003 not only affect the human population, but also drastically alter landscapes, the environment, and wildlife. During wartime, environmental and conservation are not high priority concerns when the majority of the population is suffering from violence, famine, and disease. However, the health of the environment and wildlife is directly correlated to the health of the human population and their standard of living. This fact is especially important in a developing country such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Despite its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, there have been few comprehensive studies about the environmental impacts of the Congo Wars in Virunga National Park. The remoteness of the Congo region, the instability of its government, and economic unrest have made it difficult to study conservation efforts, monitor wildlife, and quantify land forest cover. In our study, we present a review and analysis of the environmental consequences of the Congo Wars using high resolution satellite imagery and discuss possible future conservation efforts to employ in Virunga National Park. We measure the consequences of war and illegal resource drilling on the environment using unsupervised classifications, change detection analysis, and NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index). We hope that our remote sensing analysis of Virunga National Park will increase international awareness concerning the severity of the Congo's environmental vulnerability and prompt the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to reform and restructure its conservation efforts in Virunga National Park.
Long-term political and ethnic conflicts such as the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and the Congo Wars of 1996-2003 not only affect the human population, but also drastically alter landscapes, the environment, and wildlife. During wartime, environmental and conservation are not high priority concerns when the majority of the population is suffering from violence, famine, and disease. However, the health of the environment and wildlife is directly correlated to the health of the human population and their standard of living. This fact is especially important in a developing country such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Despite its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, there have been few comprehensive studies about the environmental impacts of the Congo Wars in Virunga National Park. The remoteness of the Congo region, the instability of its government, and economic unrest have made it difficult to study conservation efforts, monitor wildlife, and quantify land forest cover. In our study, we present a review and analysis of the environmental consequences of the Congo Wars using high resolution satellite imagery and discuss possible future conservation efforts to employ in Virunga National Park. We measure the consequences of war and illegal resource drilling on the environment using unsupervised classifications, change detection analysis, and NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index). We hope that our remote sensing analysis of Virunga National Park will increase international awareness concerning the severity of the Congo's environmental vulnerability and prompt the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to reform and restructure its conservation efforts in Virunga National Park.