St. Petersburg, Russia, 6 July, 2012 (IUCN) – As the number of
natural wonders on the World Heritage List continues to grow,
too many sites are left with little resources to manage them
properly and conserve the very values they were inscribed for,
say IUCN experts. Many face a barrage of threats, not least from
mining and oil exploration. Africa’s natural World Heritage
Sites are particularly at risk. Over 60% of West and Central
African sites are Danger Listed, and one out of four of these
iconic areas are threatened by planned mining and oil and gas
projects. This includes Virunga National Park in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, home to many of the world’s last mountain
gorillas. The security situation in these sites is precarious,
making their management extremely challenging. Since 1996 more
than 130 rangers have been killed in Virunga National Park.
Recently, poachers armed with AK47 rifles attacked a
neighbouring World Heritage Site, the Okapi Wildlife Reserve,
and killed seven people, including