In 1925, the Belgian colonial government created Africa’s first national park with the designation of Albert National Park (renamed Virunga in 1969) in the eastern Congo, bordering Uganda. The park was created specifically to protect the local mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei) population, and has the greatest diversity of species and habitats of all African national parks. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.
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Further Readings:
- Kakira, L. M. "The Virunga National Park Grappling with the Problem of Population Pressure: A Case of Human Ecology." Wildlife and Nature 11, no. 2 (1995): 52-56.
- MacKenzie, J. M. The Empire of Nature: Hunting, Conservation and British Imperialism. Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press, 1989.
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