Precious forest falls victim to east congo tension

  • 05/12/2003

Armed with just an old AK-47 assault rifle, 26-year-old Martin Kazerezi admits he's ill-equipped to protect Africa's oldest national park. "There are so many enemies in the forest," the ranger says, referring not to dangerous animals, but to the conflict raging within the boundaries of Virunga National Park which straddles the borders of eastern Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. Home to looming volcanoes, pristine rainforests and the majestic mountain gorilla, Virunga was popularized by the film "Gorillas in the Mist," about American researcher Dian Fossey, who was hacked to death there in 1985.