25 - De la nature à l’écologie
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Patricia Van Schuylenbergh
Virunga in the media: the adventures of Africa’s most ancient national park
Le Temps des médias n° 25, Automne 2015, p. 85-103.
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International media regularly focus their attention on the Virunga National Park, created in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1925. Large areas of the park are now under the threat of oil diggings, despite a large call for actions from international institutions, environmentalists, politicians, journalists or Hollywood stars. The media impact has been critical since the Belgian colonial era. As the country gradually opened to tourism, the colonial propagandists began to encourage colonials, tourists and the world to discover the unspoiled natural heritage Belgium was taking charge of. Similarly, the scientific research that was carried out in the Park, more specifically the American ethological and ecological studies of Mountain Gorillas, anchored the park at the forefront of media and social networks coverage. Since the 1970s, and up to today, these have broadcasted the conservationists’ angst about the possible demise of one of the last, conserved, environmental world heritage.