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129-675: The African Wildlife Leadership Foundation (AWLF) was founded in 1961 by Russell E. Train , a wealthy judge, hunter, and member of the Washington Safari Club. Other founding members of the Safari Club were Nick Arundel , a former United States Marine Corps combat officer and journalist; Kermit Roosevelt Jr. of the Central Intelligence Agency ; James S. Bugg, a businessman; and Maurice Stans , an accountant who would later serve as finance chairman of

258-1005: A League of Nations mandate over the previously German colony of Ruanda-Urundi . During World War II , the Belgian Congo provided a crucial source of income for the Belgian government in exile in London, and the Force Publique again participated in Allied campaigns in Africa . Belgian Congolese forces under the command of Belgian officers notably fought against the Italian colonial army in Ethiopia in Asosa , Bortaï and Saïo under Major-General Auguste-Eduard Gilliaert . In May 1960,

387-464: A UNESCO World Heritage Site , the trans-national W National Park , as well as several adjacent reserves and buffer zones. The complex includes savanna woodlands, gallery forests and flooded plains where the Mekrou and Niver rivers meet. It is home to the largest population of elephants in the region and the only remaining West African giraffes . Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA research shows that this

516-716: A critical water catchment area for the country, providing a source of water for many of Kenya 's wildlife and people. African Wildlife Foundation, together with the Kenya Forest Service , the Community Forest Association, and other stakeholders, is reforesting areas of the Mau Forest with indigenous trees. This 1,823,280 hectares (7,039.7 sq mi) region is located around the point where Niger , Burkina Faso and Benin meet. It consists of three national protected parks that form

645-410: A kleptocracy as Mobutu and his associates embezzled government funds. In a campaign to identify himself with African nationalism, starting on 1 June 1966, Mobutu renamed the nation's cities: Léopoldville became Kinshasa (the country was known as Congo-Kinshasa), Stanleyville became Kisangani , Elisabethville became Lubumbashi , and Coquilhatville became Mbandaka . In 1971, Mobutu renamed the country

774-549: A U.S. Congressman and Massachusetts Attorney General . An ancestor, John Trayne, had emigrated from Scotland to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635. He was trained in the ways of Washington from an early age. His father had an office at the White House, where he served as President Herbert Hoover's Naval aide. In 1932, Mrs. Hoover invited Mr. Train and his older brothers, Cuthbert and Middleton, to spend

903-621: A campaign against Congolese ethnic Tutsis in eastern Zaire. A coalition of Rwandan and Ugandan armies invaded Zaire to overthrow the government of Mobutu, launching the First Congo War. The coalition allied with some opposition figures, led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila , becoming the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo . In 1997 Mobutu fled and Kabila marched into Kinshasa, naming himself as president and reverting

1032-782: A ceasefire, a plane crash near Ndola resulted in the death of Dag Hammarskjöld , the Secretary-General of the United Nations , along with all 15 passengers, setting off a succession crisis. Amidst widespread confusion and chaos, a temporary government was led by technicians (the Collège des commissaires généraux ). Katangan secession ended in January 1963 with the assistance of UN forces . Several short-lived governments of Joseph Ileo , Cyrille Adoula , and Moise Kapenda Tshombe took over in quick succession. Meanwhile, in

1161-630: A cluster of modern new buildings for the Lupani community school were opened in Kazungula, built by the AWF at a cost of US$ 250,000. The new school has six classrooms, offices and five teachers' houses with three bedrooms each. Disney released the movie African Cats in April 2011. The Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund gave AWF a portion of the proceeds from the first week's ticket sales for use in protecting

1290-593: A consequence of exploitation and disease. In some areas the population declined dramatically – it has been estimated that sleeping sickness and smallpox killed nearly half the population in the areas surrounding the lower Congo River. News of the abuses began to circulate. In 1904, the British consul at Boma in the Congo, Roger Casement , was instructed by the British government to investigate. His report, called

1419-537: A difference in the world." In 2009, a species of gecko, Gekko russelltraini , was named in his honor. Train collected printed books, manuscripts, photographs, maps, artifacts, and artwork on African exploration, big-game hunting, natural history, and wildlife conservation, dating primarily from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In 2004, the Russell E. Train Africana Collection was acquired by

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1548-686: A growing nationalist movement, the Mouvement National Congolais led by Patrice Lumumba , won the parliamentary elections . Lumumba became the first Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, on 24 June 1960. The parliament elected Joseph Kasa-Vubu as president , of the Alliance des Bakongo ( ABAKO ) party. Other parties that emerged included the Parti Solidaire Africain led by Antoine Gizenga , and

1677-579: A joint Anglo-Belgian-Portuguese invasion of German colonial territory in 1916 and 1917 during the East African campaign . The Force Publique gained a notable victory when it marched into Tabora in September 1916 under the command of General Charles Tombeur after heavy fighting. After 1918, Belgium was rewarded for the participation of the Force Publique in the East African campaign with

1806-460: A lack of infrastructure, corruption, and centuries of both commercial and colonial extraction and exploitation, followed by more than 60 years of independence, with little widespread development. Besides the capital Kinshasa, the two next largest cities, Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi , are both mining communities. The DRC's largest export is raw minerals, with China accepting over 50% of its exports in 2019. In 2021, DR Congo's level of human development

1935-739: A lodge overlooking the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park . According to Farley Mowat in his book Woman in the Mists , in the late 1970s, Fossey asked McIlvaine to temporarily serve as secretary-treasurer of the Digit Fund while he was AWF President. She had created the fund to finance patrols against poachers seeking to kill mountain gorillas. McIlvaine partnered with the International Primate Protection League ,

2064-504: A member of the National Water Commission, charged by Congress with reviewing national water policies. In 1968, Train was selected to serve as Chairman, Task Force on Environment for U.S. President-elect Richard M. Nixon. His selection, and the creation of the task force, signals the growing acceptance by the incoming administration of the "environment" as a public policy concept. Train served as Under Secretary of

2193-648: A monopoly over violence and resource extraction. The most violent of these concession regions, were surrounding rubber plantations. Concession regions would align with villages, employing local chiefs to aid in enforce strict quotas. Failure to comply or to meet quotas would result in kidnaping of family, held ransom until quotas could be met or physical violence. Violence was carried out by "village sentries," European militias employed to ensure collection. These sentries were granted full impunity for violence, without proper oversight were known to kill and eat underperforming workers. During 1885–1908, millions of Congolese died as

2322-500: A revival of logging. Since 1973, a Japanese team has been researching the bonobo population near the village of Wamba in 1973. However, research was discontinued after political disorders started in 1991, followed by the civil war in 1997, resuming only in the mid-2000s. The IUCN Red List classifies bonobos as an endangered species , with conservative population estimates ranging from 29,500 to 50,000 individuals. The AWF has partnered with local and international groups to develop

2451-695: A sustainable land use plan for the MLW Landscape. The plan aims to ensure that the economic and cultural needs of the inhabitants are met while conserving the environment. The approach combines AWF's Landscape Conservation Process and the Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) Program Monitoring Plan. A variety of tools are used, including surveys, interviews with local people, and satellite image interpretation. The Etosha-Skeleton Coast landscape, in

2580-578: A third even further east and south around the Upemba Depression . By the 13th century there were three main confederations of states in the western Congo Basin around Pool Malebo. In the east were the Seven Kingdoms of Kongo dia Nlaza , considered to be the oldest and most powerful, which likely included Nsundi , Mbata , Mpangu , and possibly Kundi and Okanga . South of these was Mpemba which stretched from modern-day Angola to

2709-497: Is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. As of 2009, there were 36 members of the board and 132 paid staff. Funds are raised through direct mail, grant proposals, Internet appeals, planned giving, cause-related marketing, and membership appeals. The executive heads of the foundation have been: The AWF is a member of International Conservation Caucus Foundation's Conservation Council. It

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2838-613: Is a member of the United Nations , Non-Aligned Movement , African Union , COMESA , Southern African Development Community , Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie , and Economic Community of Central African States . The Democratic Republic of the Congo is named after the Congo River , which flows through the country. The Congo River is the world's deepest river and the world's third-largest river by discharge . The Comité d'études du haut Congo ("Committee for

2967-528: Is a subspecies that diverged from the Rothschild's giraffe about 350,000 years ago. In Parc W, AWF and other International NGOs such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature , World Wide Fund for Nature and Africa 70 play a central role in communication, education and organization of local communities and their leaders, and help collect socio-economic and technical data. AWF

3096-571: Is also a member of EarthShare , a national federation that supports American environmental and conservation charities. Russell E. Train Russell Errol Train (June 4, 1920 – September 17, 2012) was the second administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), from September 1973 to January 1977 and the founder chairman emeritus of World Wildlife Fund (WWF). As the second head of

3225-702: Is helping fund tree nurseries in Niger and Burkino Faso for replanting to provide fodder for the giraffes. Conservation threats are human population growth and desertification. AWF partners in the region include the Association pour la Sauvegarde des Girafes du Niger , Centre National de Gestion des Réserves de Faune (CENAGREF), Benin and the Ministries of the Environment in Burkina Faso and Niger. The Ruaha area will intersect with an agriculture corridor that

3354-424: Is home to many of the species most popular with tourists, including lions, white and black rhinoceros, giraffes, elephants, hippopotamus and buffalos. The AWF says the mega park will result in "creating new jobs and fortifying a tourism base [that is] not yet meeting its full potential". The AWF is a major sponsor of the project that is setting up this park. The 35,000 acres (14,000 ha) Manyara Ranch Conservancy

3483-956: Is near to Lake Manyara in Tanzania . This is a conservation and tourism project supported by the African Wildlife Foundation, the Tanzania Land Conservation Trust and the Manyara Ranch Conservancy. Rarely seen, but a common resident on the Conservancy is the lesser kudu . Within Kenya's Rift Valley, sits the Mau Forest Complex. It is the largest indigenous montane forest in East Africa and serves as

3612-569: Is particularly strong in archival materials on the following topics: the search for the source of the Nile and the progress of other exploring expeditions in Africa; the collecting of specimens of African animals, plants, and ethnological materials for zoos and museums (including a significant body of correspondence and photographs from the Smithsonian African Expedition in 1909-1910, led by President Theodore Roosevelt ); and

3741-716: Is research such as Dian Fossey 's work on gorillas and Cynthia Moss 's work on elephants, which were both supported by the AWF. In 1968, the annual budget was less than US$ 250,000. In 1988, the year of the AWF's campaign launch against elephant poaching , the foundation had a staff of six and an annual budget of $ 2 million. When the AWF turned 30 in 1991, the board of trustees remained dominated by prominent and wealthy Americans, many of whom served on other non-profit boards. The AWF have said their recent programs are modelled around three central objectives: empowering people, conserving wildlife, and protecting land. Empowering people involves conservation enterprises. The AWF's primary goal

3870-704: Is to protect land. Starting in 1998, land protection efforts focused on landscape-level conservation approaches. Foundation finances include a reported income of US$ 19,333,998 in the 2009 fiscal year. Of this, $ 8,582,555 came from public sector support, $ 5,815,839 from corporate and foundation support, $ 5,224,931 from gifts from individuals, and $ 1,360,424 from legacy gifts. $ 17,395,456 was spent on programs, $ 1,524,764 on fund raising, and $ 1,262,056 in administration. Program funding broke down as $ 14,174,224 on conservation programs, $ 2,392,989 on public education, and $ 828,243 on membership programs. The AWF formerly referred to its protected landscapes as its "heartlands"; currently,

3999-436: The 2018 general election , in the country's first peaceful transition of power since independence, Kabila was succeeded as president in a highly contentious election won by Félix Tshisekedi , who has served as president since. Since 2015, eastern Congo has been the site of an ongoing military conflict . The Democratic Republic of the Congo is extremely rich in natural resources but has suffered from political instability,

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4128-469: The Casement Report , confirmed the accusations of humanitarian abuses. The Belgian Parliament forced Leopold II to set up an independent commission of inquiry. Its findings confirmed Casement's report of abuses, concluding that the population of the Congo had been "reduced by half" during this period. Determining precisely how many people died is impossible, as no accurate records exist. In 1908,

4257-592: The Conference of Berlin in 1885 and made the land his private property. He named it the Congo Free State . Leopold's regime began various infrastructure projects, such as the construction of the railway that ran from the coast to the capital of Leopoldville (now Kinshasa), which took eight years to complete. In the Free State, colonists coerced the local population into producing rubber, for which

4386-602: The Congo Free State , Belgian Congo , the Republic of the Congo-Léopoldville , the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Zaire , before returning to its current name the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the time of independence, the country was named the Republic of the Congo-Léopoldville to distinguish it from its neighbour Congo , officially the Republic of the Congo . With

4515-567: The Congo River . It included various kingdoms such as Mpemba Kasi and Vunda . To its west across the Congo River was a confederation of three small states; Vungu (its leader), Kakongo , and Ngoyo . The Kingdom of Kongo was founded in the 14th century and dominated the western region. The empire of Mwene Muji was founded around Lake Mai-Ndombe. From the Upemba Depression the Luba Empire and Lunda Empire emerged in

4644-714: The Democratic Republic of the Congo meet. Virunga is home to the last 700 mountain gorillas in the world. It includes the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda, where AWF opened a visitor center in July 2006. The Virunga ecosystem shelters chimpanzees, golden monkeys, forest elephants, and many species of birds, reptiles and amphibians. The region is overpopulated and unstable. The AWF helped Dian Fossey study Rwandan mountain gorillas in

4773-614: The Department of the Interior from 1969 to 1970. Between 1970 and 1973 he was Chairman of the newly formed Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). During his time as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency , Train led during the approval of the catalytic converter to achieve Clean Air Act automobile emission reductions; and the implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and

4902-507: The Garamba National Park . The war in the Congo has been described as the bloodiest war since World War II. In 2009, The New York Times reported that people in the Congo continued to die at a rate of an estimated 45,000 per month  – estimates of the number who have died from the long conflict range from 900,000 to 5,400,000. The death toll is caused by widespread disease and famine; reports indicate that almost half of

5031-527: The Kongo language (also called Kikongo ). According to American writer Samuel Henry Nelson: "It is probable that the word 'Kongo' itself implies a public gathering and that it is based on the root konga , 'to gather' (trans[itive])." The modern name of the Kongo people, Bakongo , was introduced in the early 20th century. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been known in the past as, in chronological order,

5160-629: The National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), which began an armed rebellion against the government. In March 2009, after a deal between the DRC and Rwanda, Rwandan troops entered the DRC and arrested Nkunda and were allowed to pursue FDLR militants. The CNDP signed a peace treaty with the government in which it agreed to become a political party and to have its soldiers integrated into

5289-577: The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). As head of the EPA under Presidents Nixon and Ford, Train is generally credited with helping to place the issue of the environment on the presidential and national agenda in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a key period in the environmental movement. Train opened a dialog on global environmental issues with Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin , marking

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5418-682: The Norwegian Refugee Council , the situation in the DRC became much worse in 2016 and 2017 and is a major moral and humanitarian challenge comparable to the wars in Syria and Yemen, which receive much more attention. Women and children are abused sexually and "abused in all possible manners". Besides the conflict in North Kivu , violence increased in the Kasai region . The armed groups were after gold, diamonds, oil, and cobalt to line

5547-405: The Potomac School and then the St. Albans School and graduated in 1937. Train then studied at Princeton University , from where he graduated with an A.B. in politics in 1941 after completing a 112-page long senior thesis titled "The United States versus Japan: A Study of Sea Power in the Atlantic." While at Princeton, he was in the United States Army ROTC program and upon graduation entered

5676-407: The Republic of Zaire , its fourth name change in eleven years and its sixth overall. The Congo River was renamed the Zaire River. During the 1970s and 1980s, Mobutu was invited to visit the United States on several occasions, meeting with U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon , Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush . Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union U.S. relations with Mobutu cooled, as he

5805-480: The Richard Nixon administration . Train was worried that European park managers would be replaced by unqualified Africans in conservation works as African countries gained their independence. Twenty African countries became independent in 1960 and 1961. Train wrote, "In Tanganyika alone, the government recently ordered Hundred percent (100%) Africanization of the game service by 1966! The replacement of European staff by untrained, unqualified men spells disaster for

5934-455: The Russell E. Train Education for Nature (EFN) Program to help build capacity for conservation in Africa, Asia, and Latin America by supporting academic and mid-career training. To date, EFN has awarded over 1,200 scholarships and training grants totaling 11.3 million since its establishment. Train was named chairman of WWF's National Council from 1994 to 2001. In 2003, Politics, Pollution and Panda: An Environmental Memoir by Russell E. Train

6063-454: The Second Congo War from 1998 to 2003, which resulted in the deaths of 5.4 million people and the assassination of President Laurent-Désiré Kabila . The war ended under President Joseph Kabila , who governed the country from 2001 to 2019 and under whom human rights in the country remained poor and included frequent abuses such as forced disappearances , torture, arbitrary imprisonment and restrictions on civil liberties. Following

6192-439: The Smithsonian Institution Libraries , where it is housed in the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History in Washington, D.C. The collection includes correspondence, drafts of publications, diaries, account books, ephemera, posters, news-clippings, biographies, memoirs, portraits, and the former personal property of selected explorers, big game hunters, missionaries, pioneers, and naturalists in Africa. The Train Collection

6321-460: The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Among other activities, the IGCP works with Virunga Artisans, which markets the handmade products of artisans who live near the Volcanoes , Mgahinga and Bwindi National Parks . A census of mountain gorillas in the Virunga Massif in March and April 2010 showed that there had been a 26.3% increase in the population over the past seven years. During recent decades, cattle fences and livestock have been removed, with

6450-455: The World Wildlife Fund (U.S.) was formed in Washington, D.C., on December 1, 1961, Russell Train became its first ever Vice-President; in later years he was named Chair Emeritus of the WWF. He was President of The Conservation Foundation from 1965 to 1969. In this role, Train helped to bring the environment to the American public's consciousness and lobbied for a high-level policy group at the highest levels of government. In 1966, Train became

6579-498: The eastern chimpanzee . An estimated 35,000–65,000 eastern chimpanzees are found in this complex. Few organizations are working there. The Maringa-Lopori-Wamba Landscape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the least developed and most remote parts of the Congo Basin. The inhabitants are among the poorest in Africa. Most people live by slash-and-burn agriculture and rely on bushmeat protein. Cash crops include maize, cassava and groundnuts. The growing population risks

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6708-453: The "Democratic Republic of the Congo". In 1971 Mobutu changed the name again, this time to "Republic of Zaire". Mobutu had the staunch support of the United States because of his opposition to communism ; the U.S. believed that his administration would serve as an effective counter to communist movements in Africa. A single-party system was established, and Mobutu declared himself head of state . He periodically held elections in which he

6837-459: The 100,000 Europeans who had remained behind after independence fled the country. After the United Nations rejected Lumumba's call for help to put down the secessionist movements, Lumumba asked for assistance from the Soviet Union, who accepted and sent military supplies and advisers. On 23 August, the Congolese armed forces invaded South Kasai . Lumumba was dismissed from office on 5 September 1960 by Kasa-Vubu who publicly blamed him for massacres by

6966-432: The 15th and 17th centuries respectfully dominated the eastern region. Belgian exploration and administration took place from the 1870s until the 1920s. It was first led by Henry Morton Stanley , who undertook his explorations under the sponsorship of King Leopold II of Belgium . The eastern regions of the precolonial Congo were heavily disrupted by constant slave raiding , mainly from Arab–Swahili slave traders such as

7095-415: The 1960s. AWF President Robinson McIlvaine later said that "There would be no mountain gorillas in the Virungas today ... were it not for Dian Fossey's tireless efforts over many years". McIlvaine initiated the formation of a consortium to protect the threatened Rwandan mountain gorillas while he was president of the AWF between 1978 and 1982. More recently, the AWF coordinated fundraising and construction of

7224-415: The 1988 discovery of the Semliki harpoon at Katanda , one of the oldest barbed harpoons ever found, believed to have been used to catch giant river catfish . Bantu peoples reached Central Africa at some point during the first millennium BC, then gradually started to expand southward. Their propagation was accelerated by the adoption of pastoralism and of Iron Age techniques. The people living in

7353-399: The 7th Annual Heinz Award Chairman's Medal, 2001, a prestigious prize honoring individuals who have made extraordinary achievements on issues of importance. Train was recognized as "a tireless advocate for the cause of the environment since 1961… the architect of an environmental agenda without parallel in history in its scope…and as a "truly outstanding example of how a single life can make

7482-444: The AWLF provided $ 50,000 to finance the construction of a research institute in Tanzania. In 1970, the AWF established a school for wildlife management in Garoua , Cameroon; giving instruction in French. During the 1970s and 1980s, the AWLF continued to finance students, and also assisted conservation projects, often giving supplies such as tents, vehicle spare parts, water pumps, and photographic equipment, rather than cash. In 1969,

7611-458: The AWLF took the lead in a campaign supported by other conservation groups to protect rhinoceroses. In 1974, the foundation began a program to study cheetahs. In 1983, the AWF dropped "Leadership" from its name. Train was disappointed with the change, believing that the organization had lost sight of its original mandate. In his view, it had become just another conservation organization, giving funding to westerners to conduct research on animals. There

7740-419: The Amboseli Wildlife Corridor. Their "See 'African Cats,' Save the Savanna" program served both to promote the movie and to raise money for conservation. The Limpopo Landscape includes areas of Mozambique , South Africa and Zimbabwe . It includes savannas, woodlands, rivers and floodplains. Fauna include sable antelope , rhinos, hippos, and many species of birds, insects and aquatic life. The AWF has started

7869-547: The Army as an officer. Train remained in the Army for four years during World War II , stationed both home and overseas and ending up on Okinawa . He attained the rank of major , before being discharged in 1946. Over the following two years Train attended Columbia University Law School , where he took an accelerated schedule and graduated with an LLB in 1948. Early in his career, Train served from 1949 to 1956 as Attorney, Chief Counsel, and Minority Advisor on various Congressional committees and from 1956 to 1957 as Assistant to

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7998-536: The Belgian Congo and the majority of Leopold II's administration with him. Opening up the Congo and its natural and mineral riches to the Belgian economy remained the main motive for colonial expansion – however, other priorities, such as healthcare and basic education, slowly gained in importance. Colonial administrators ruled the territory and a dual legal system existed (a system of European courts and another one of indigenous courts, tribunaux indigènes ). Indigenous courts had only limited powers and remained under

8127-463: The Belgian Congo. The railway first commenced in the Congo in 1910, reaching a 800-km network of track. In 1923 the colonial capital moved from Boma to Léopoldville, some 300 kilometres (190 mi) further upstream into the interior. The transition from the Congo Free State to the Belgian Congo was a break, but it also featured a large degree of continuity. The last governor-general of the Congo Free State, Baron Théophile Wahis , remained in office in

8256-486: The Belgian parliament, in spite of initial reluctance, bowed to international pressure (especially from the United Kingdom ) and took over the Free State from King Leopold II. On 18 October 1908, the Belgian parliament voted in favour of annexing the Congo as a Belgian colony. Executive power went to the Belgian minister of colonial affairs , assisted by a Colonial Council (Conseil Colonial) (both located in Brussels). The Belgian parliament exercised legislative authority over

8385-430: The Central African Republic on behalf of its former president, Ange-Félix Patassé . Talks led to a peace accord under which Kabila would share power with former rebels. By June 2003 all foreign armies except those of Rwanda had pulled out of Congo. A transitional government was set up until after the election. A constitution was approved by voters, and on 30 July 2006 DRC held its first multi-party elections . These were

8514-399: The Congo DR Congo , officially the Democratic Republic of the Congo , also known as the DRC , Congo-Kinshasa or simply Congo , is a country in Central Africa . By land area, DR Congo is the second-largest country in Africa and the 11th-largest in the world . With a population of around 109 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most populous Francophone country in

8643-504: The Congo , led by Congolese warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba . The two rebel movements, along with Rwandan and Ugandan troops, started the Second Congo War by attacking the DRC army in 1998. Angolan, Zimbabwean, and Namibian militaries entered the hostilities on the side of the government. Kabila was assassinated in 2001. His son Joseph Kabila succeeded him and called for multilateral peace talks. UN peacekeepers, MONUC, now known as MONUSCO , arrived in April 2001. In 2002–03 Bemba intervened in

8772-416: The Congo territory from the colonial nations of Europe in 1885 and declared the land his private property, naming it the Congo Free State . From 1885 to 1908, his colonial military forced the local population to produce rubber and committed widespread atrocities . In 1908, Leopold ceded the territory, which thus became a Belgian colony . Congo achieved independence from Belgium on 30 June 1960 and

8901-487: The Congo was first inhabited by Central African foragers around 90,000 years ago and was settled in the Bantu expansion about 3000 to 2000 years ago. In the west, the Kingdom of Kongo ruled around the mouth of the Congo River from the 14th to 19th centuries. In the center and east, the empires of Mwene Muji , Luba , and Lunda ruled from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. King Leopold II of Belgium formally acquired rights to

9030-412: The DROC , and RDC (in French). Before Bantu expansion , the territory comprising the Democratic Republic of the Congo was home to Central Africa's oldest settled groups, the Mbuti peoples . Most of the remnants of their hunter-gatherer culture remain in the present time. The geographical area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo was populated as early as 90,000 years ago, as shown by

9159-434: The Digit Fund, and his own AWF, asking for funds to be made out to the AWF. The Digit Fund received none of the money. When McIlvaine suggested to Fossey that the Digit Fund could be folded into AWF, Fossey declined, and McIlvaine resigned as secretary-treasurer of the fund. The AWF is a co-sponsor of the International Gorilla Conservation Program (IGCP) in Virunga, the others being Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and

9288-452: The EPA under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford , Train helped place the issue of the environment on the presidential and national agenda in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a key period in the environmental movement . He was a conservative who reached out to the business community and Republicans. He promulgated the idea that as the economy of the nation was growing quickly, public as well as private projects should consider and evaluate

9417-646: The Getty Prize "the Nobel Prize for Conservation." Begun in 1974, the Getty Prize originally honored outstanding contributions to wildlife conservation and now focuses on the education of future conservationists. In 1985, Train became chairman of the board of directors of World Wildlife Fund and The Conservation Foundation and served as chairman until 1994. In this same year, the Conservation Foundation formally affiliated with WWF. Though

9546-705: The Grootberg Lodge in the Khoadi-Hoas community conservancy. At the core of the Faro landscape in northern Cameroon is Faro National Park , located close to the Nigerian border. This park hosts the largest population of hippos in Cameroon. AWF is lending support to counter-poaching park rangers in Faro and building a contingent of community scouts on the park's borders to provide a buffer between outsiders and

9675-674: The Leopard Conservation Science Project in this landscape. The AWF is particularly involved in the Banhine National Park in Mozambique, which covers 7,000 square kilometres (2,700 sq mi). Until recently, this park had little or no infrastructure or staff to ensure that the environment was protected. The AWF has built a conservation research center, which it is marketed internationally. Fees from researchers will pay for staff to run

9804-533: The Parti National du Peuple led by Albert Delvaux and Laurent Mbariko . The Belgian Congo achieved independence on 30 June 1960 under the name "République du Congo" ("Republic of Congo" or "Republic of the Congo" in English). Shortly after, on 15 August 1960, the neighboring French colony of Middle Congo also gained independence and adopted the same name, ' Republic of Congo .' To avoid confusion between

9933-551: The Samburu Landscape among the acacia grasslands. The challenges faced in Samburu are forest/habitat degradation due to logging and farming and cattle-carnivore conflict. AWF has addressed these challenges, including partnering with Starbucks Coffee Trading Co. to train coffee growers and working with Samburu warriors. The Virunga landscape is an area of volcanic highlands around the point where Uganda , Rwanda and

10062-627: The Secretary and Head of the Legal Advisory Staff for the U.S. Treasury Department . In 1954, Train married the former Aileen Bowdoin Travers; they became the parents to four children – Nancy, Emily, Bowdoin and Errol. He was a judge for the U.S. Tax Court from 1957 to 1965, one of several appointments which went against a previously observed Senate Resolution prohibiting the appointment to that body of persons recently employed by

10191-599: The Sekute Chiefdom, holding two elephant corridors' helped wildlife authorities settle four new white rhinos in Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia, joining the last surviving white rhino in the country, a bull. On 17 January 2011, it was reported that two of the females white rhinos had given birth to calves, which seemed healthy. The area is also home to endangered black rhinos . In 2011,

10320-462: The Simba rebels by November 1965. Lumumba had previously appointed Mobutu chief of staff of the new Congo army, Armée Nationale Congolaise . Taking advantage of the leadership crisis between Kasavubu and Tshombe, Mobutu garnered enough support within the army to launch a coup. A constitutional referendum the year before Mobutu's coup of 1965 resulted in the country's official name being changed to

10449-650: The Study of the Upper Congo"), established by King Leopold II of Belgium in 1876, and the International Association of the Congo , established by him in 1879, were also named after the river. The Congo River was named by early European sailors after the Kingdom of Kongo and its Bantu inhabitants, the Kongo people , when they encountered them in the 16th century. The word Kongo comes from

10578-618: The Tanzanian government wants to develop in southern Tanzania . The proposed corridor will overlap many different ecosystems. AWF is scaling up social venture capital investments through its subsidiary, African Wildlife Capital (AWC), which invests in socially and environmentally responsible agricultural and other businesses—such as the Rungwe Avocado Co.—that must comply with conservation covenants to secure and maintain investment. The Grevy's zebra and reticulated giraffe live in

10707-742: The Treasury Department. In 1959, Train founded the Wildlife Leadership Foundation in hopes of establishing effective wildlife parks and reserves. In 1961, he founded the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) to aid Africans in developing capacity to manage their own wildlife resources. He was chairman of the AWF from 1961 to 1969. He also helped establish the College of African Wildlife Management at Mweka (near Moshi ), Tanzania . When

10836-594: The armed forces in South Kasai and for involving Soviets in the country. On 7 September, Lumumba made a speech to the Congolese House of Representatives, arguing his dismissal was illegal under the nation's laws. Congolese law gave parliament, not the president, the authority to dismiss a government minister. The House and Senate both rejected the dismissal of Lumumba, but the removal proceeded unconstitutionally. On 14 September, Colonel Joseph Mobutu , with

10965-460: The backing of the US and Belgium, removed Lumumba from office. On 17 January 1961, Lumumba was handed over to Katangan authorities and executed by Belgian-led Katangan troops. A 2001 investigation by Belgium's Parliament found Belgium "morally responsible" for the murder of Lumumba, and the country has since officially apologised for its role in his death. On 18 September 1961, in ongoing negotiations of

11094-598: The birth of modern American environmental diplomacy Nixon pursued environmental diplomacy to garner domestic political support. After leaving EPA he served as president of the World Wildlife Fund -U.S. from 1978 to 1985 and as its chairman from 1985 to 1994. Under his guidance, World Wildlife Fund-US expanded its focus not only on species-related conservation projects, but also on protecting habitat by establishing national parks and nature reserves. It also developed innovative financial mechanisms, including

11223-849: The center and manage the park. The Great Limpopo Trans frontier Park (GLTP) is a 35,000 square kilometres (14,000 sq mi) park that is being established to connect the Kruger National Park in South Africa, the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique, the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe, and other protected areas. It is almost the size of the Netherlands and more than three times larger than Yellowstone National Park . The GLTP

11352-590: The concept of using Third World debt reduction to protect the global environment. Through these debt-for-nature swaps , WWF started to convert portions of national debts into funding for conservation, beginning in the mid-eighties. Through Train's efforts, in 1983 the WWF-administered J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Prize was presented to awardees in the White House Rose Garden by President Ronald Reagan . President Reagan called

11481-416: The country to the "Democratic Republic of the Congo", but the change was not made. The country's name was later restored by President Laurent-Désiré Kabila when he overthrew Mobutu in 1997. To distinguish it from the neighboring Republic of the Congo, it is sometimes referred to as Congo (Kinshasa) , Congo-Kinshasa , or Big Congo . Its name is sometimes also abbreviated as Congo DR , DR Congo , DRC ,

11610-602: The east of the country, Soviet and Cuban-backed rebels called the Simbas rose up, taking a significant amount of territory and proclaiming a communist "People's Republic of the Congo" in Stanleyville. The Simbas were pushed out of Stanleyville in November 1964 during Operation Dragon Rouge , a military operation conducted by Belgian and American forces to rescue hundreds of hostages. Congolese government forces fully defeated

11739-638: The environmental impacts of their actions. Train was born on June 4, 1920, in Jamestown, Rhode Island , but grew up in Washington, D.C. His father was an officer in the United States Navy who was frequently away on assignment. The youngest of the three sons of Rear Admiral Charles Russell Train and the former Errol Cuthbert. His paternal grandfather was Rear Admiral Charles J. Train , and his great-grandfather Charles R. Train had been

11868-544: The firm control of the colonial administration. The Belgian authorities permitted no political activity in the Congo whatsoever, and the Force Publique put down any attempts at rebellion. The Belgian Congo was directly involved in the two world wars. During World War I (1914–1918), an initial stand-off between the Force Publique and the German colonial army in German East Africa turned into open warfare with

11997-666: The first free national elections since 1960, which many believed would mark the end to violence in the region. However, an election-result dispute between Kabila and Bemba turned into a skirmish between their supporters in Kinshasa. MONUC took control of the city. A new election took place in October 2006, which Kabila won, and in December 2006 he was sworn in as president. Laurent Nkunda , a member of Rally for Congolese Democracy–Goma , defected along with troops loyal to him and formed

12126-585: The game." The first major grant of the AWLF was $ 47,000 to help found the College of African Wildlife Management at Mweka, Tanzania , in 1963. The college was organized by Bruce Kinloch , Chief Game Warden of Tanganyika, as a pioneer institution for the training of African wildlife managers. Funding for Mweka was also provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Frankfurt Zoological Society , with facilities donated by

12255-413: The government of Tanganyika . By 2010, the college had trained over 4,500 wildlife managers from 28 African countries and 18 non-African countries. In 1963, AWLF started a scholarship program to bring young Africans to American universities where they could study biology and wildlife management. Later that year, AWLF built a conservation education center at the entrance to Nairobi National Park . In 1967,

12384-634: The growth of the African wildlife conservation movement. Besides Roosevelt, the major persons represented in the Train Africana Collection include the journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley and members of his Emin Pasha Relief Expedition ( Thomas Heazle Parke , Robert H. Nelson , James S. Jameson, John Rose Troup, William Bonny, William Grant Stairs , Edmund Musgrave Barttelot , and Arthur J. M. Jephson );

12513-642: The highest levels of sexual violence in the world. According to the Human Rights Watch and the New York University-based Congo Research Group, armed troops in DRC's eastern Kivu region have killed over 1,900 civilians and kidnapped at least 3,300 people since June 2017 to June 2019. On 10 May 2018, Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his effort to end

12642-462: The individuals who have died are children under five years of age. There have been frequent reports of weapon bearers killing civilians, of the destruction of property, of widespread sexual violence, causing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes, and of other breaches of humanitarian and human rights law. One study found that more than 400,000 women are raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo every year. In 2018 and 2019, Congo reported

12771-419: The infamous Tippu Tip , who was well known to Stanley. Leopold had designs on what was to become the Congo as a colony. In a succession of negotiations, Leopold, professing humanitarian objectives in his capacity as chairman of the front organization Association Internationale Africaine , actually played one European rival against another. King Leopold formally acquired rights to the Congo territory at

12900-410: The largest in the world, are between Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia and Victoria Falls National Park in Zimbabwe. The Falls and surrounding area are designated a World Heritage Site . However, the environment is threatened by the development of tourism and a lack of funding. The AWF has established the 160,000 acres (65,000 ha) Sekute Conservation Area in this region in partnership with

13029-469: The late 1960s, Mobutu continued to shuffle his governments and cycle officials in and out of the office to maintain control. Joseph Kasa-Vubu's death in April 1969 ensured that no person with First Republic credentials could challenge his rule. By the early 1970s, Mobutu was attempting to assert Zaire as a leading African nation. He traveled frequently across the continent while the government became more vocal about African issues, particularly those relating to

13158-480: The medical missionary Dr. David Livingstone and his father-in-law Robert Moffat ; taxidermist Carl Akeley ; zoologist Edmund Heller ; hunter Frederick Selous ; artist and adventure writer A. Radclyffe Dugmore; explorers Samuel Baker , Thomas Baines , Richard Francis Burton and E.J. Glave; anthropologist Paul du Chaillu ; and royal traveler Edward VIII (later the Duke of Windsor). Democratic Republic of

13287-542: The name of the country to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kabila later requested that foreign military forces return to their own countries. Rwandan troops retreated to Goma and launched a new Tutsi-led rebel military movement called the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie to fight Kabila, while Uganda instigated the creation of a rebel movement called the Movement for the Liberation of

13416-553: The national army in exchange for the release of its imprisoned members. In 2012 Bosco Ntaganda , the leader of the CNDP, and troops loyal to him, mutinied and formed the rebel military March 23 Movement (M23), claiming the government had violated the treaty. In the resulting M23 rebellion , M23 briefly captured the provincial capital of Goma in November 2012. Neighboring countries, particularly Rwanda, have been accused of arming rebel groups and using them as proxies to gain control of

13545-605: The night at the White House, where they slept in the Andrew Jackson bedroom and breakfasted with the president and Mrs. Hoover on the portico overlooking the Ellipse and the Washington Monument. "I think what made the greatest impression on me," he wrote years later, "were the tall glasses of fresh California orange juice. I had never seen anything like those large glassfuls before." Young Russell attended

13674-490: The northern part of Namibia , is home to Etosha National Park and its vast salt pan, woodland, and savanna ecosystems. The landscape is home to the black-faced impala and the oryx . To the west of the park lies the Skeleton Coast, where herds of elephants live. The African Wildlife Foundation is scaling up social venture capital investments through its subsidiary, African Wildlife Capital (AWC) , which invests in

13803-554: The organization employs a "priority landscape" approach. These priority landscapes include: The Bili-Uele Protected Area Complex is found in the remote north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , along the border of the Central African Republic. The region consists of savanna mosaic north of the Uele River and lowland primary forest to the south. Both regions support the remaining undisturbed population of

13932-500: The organizations shared the same board of directors as well as some staff, they remained separate legal entities until their merger in 1990. During 1988 he also worked as co-chairman of Conservationists for Bush, making reference to George H. W. Bush , and from 1990 to 1992 as chairman of the National Commission on the Environment . In September 1994, Train was elected WWF chairman emeritus. That same year, WWF launched

14061-596: The park. The Great Fish River Nature Reserve is located in South Africa 's Eastern Cape province. The 45,000-hectare reserve, which lies in the Great Fish River valley, is home to critically endangered black rhinos . The floodplains of the Zambezi River are surrounded by a mosaic of miombo and mopane woodlands and grasslands that include important wildlife migration corridors. Victoria Falls ,

14190-459: The planned 2016 elections, which he is constitutionally barred from participating in). This bill passed; however, it was gutted of the provision that would keep Kabila in power until a census took place. A census is supposed to take place, but it is no longer tied to when the elections take place. In 2015, elections were scheduled for late 2016 and a tenuous peace held in the Congo. On 27 November 2016 Congolese foreign minister Raymond Tshibanda told

14319-464: The pockets of rich men both in the region and internationally. There were also ethnic and cultural rivalries at play, as well as religious motives and the political crisis with postponed elections. Egeland says people believe the situation in the DRC is "stably bad" but in fact, it has become much, much worse. "The big wars of the Congo that were really on top of the agenda 15 years ago are back and worsening". Disruption in planting and harvesting caused by

14448-411: The press no elections would be held in 2016: "it has been decided that the voter registration operation will end on July 31, 2017, and that election will take place in April 2018." Protests broke out in the country on 20 December when Kabila's term in office ended. Across the country, dozens of protesters were killed and hundreds were arrested. According to Jan Egeland , presently Secretary-General of

14577-547: The promulgation of the Luluabourg Constitution on 1 August 1964, the country became the DRC but was renamed Zaire (a past name for the Congo River) on 27 October 1971 by President Mobutu Sese Seko as part of his Authenticité initiative. The word Zaire is from a Portuguese adaptation of a Kikongo word nzadi ("river"), a truncation of nzadi o nzere ("river swallowing rivers"). The river

14706-694: The provincial capital of Lubumbashi in 2013 and 400,000 persons displaced in the province as of 2013 . On and off fighting in the Ituri conflict occurred between the Nationalist and Integrationist Front and the Union of Congolese Patriots who claimed to represent the Lendu and Hema ethnic groups, respectively. In the northeast, Joseph Kony 's Lord's Resistance Army moved from their original bases in Uganda and South Sudan to DR Congo in 2005 and set up camps in

14835-729: The rebellion of Laurent-Desire Kabila that overthrew the Mobutu regime." In September 1997, Mobutu died in exile in Morocco. By 1996, following the Rwandan Civil War and genocide and the ascension of a Tutsi -led government in Rwanda, Rwandan Hutu militia forces ( Interahamwe ) fled to eastern Zaire and used refugee camps as bases for incursions against Rwanda. They allied with the Zairian Armed Forces to launch

14964-680: The resource-rich country, an accusation they deny. In March 2013, the United Nations Security Council authorized the United Nations Force Intervention Brigade to neutralize armed groups. On 5 November 2013, M23 declared an end to its insurgency. Additionally, in northern Katanga , the Mai-Mai created by Laurent Kabila slipped out of the control of Kinshasa with Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga 's Mai Mai Kata Katanga briefly invading

15093-582: The resurgence of wildlife and a recovery of wild habitats. The Save Valley Conservancy, in Zimbabwe's southern lowveld area, forms part of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park. AWF supports Save Valley Conservancy's anti-poaching efforts and works with government partners. The AWF's headquarters are located in Nairobi, Kenya , with regional offices in South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Washington, DC. The organization

15222-566: The south and southwest were foraging groups, whose technology involved only minimal use of metal technologies. The development of metal tools during this time period revolutionized agriculture. This led to the displacement of the African pygmies . Following the Bantu migrations, a period of state and class formation began circa 700 with three centres in the modern-day territory; one to the west around Pool Malebo , one east around Lake Mai-Ndombe , and

15351-519: The southern region. Zaire established semi-clientelist relationships with several smaller African states, especially Burundi, Chad, and Togo. Corruption became so common the term " le mal Zairois " or "Zairian sickness", meaning gross corruption, theft and mismanagement, was coined, reportedly by Mobutu. International aid, most often in the form of loans, enriched Mobutu while he allowed national infrastructure such as roads to deteriorate to as little as one-quarter of what had existed in 1960. Zaire became

15480-645: The spread of automobiles and development of rubber tires created a growing international market. Rubber sales made a fortune for Leopold, who built several buildings in Brussels and Ostend to honor himself and his country. To enforce the rubber quotas, the Force Publique was called in and made the practice of cutting off the limbs of the natives a matter of policy. Under the Congo Free State concessions were granted to private industry, granting

15609-402: The two, the former Belgian Congo became known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( DR Congo ), while the former French colony retained the name 'Republic of the Congo' ( Congo ). Shortly after independence the Force Publique mutinied, and on 11 July the province of Katanga (led by Moïse Tshombe ) and South Kasai engaged in secessionist struggles against the new leadership. Most of

15738-527: The use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict . In 2015, major protests broke out across the country and protesters demanded that Kabila step down as president. The protests began after the passage of a law by the Congolese lower house that, if also passed by the Congolese upper house, would keep Kabila in power at least until a national census was conducted (a process which would likely take several years and therefore keep him in power past

15867-586: The world. The national capital and largest city is Kinshasa , which is also the economic center. The country is bordered by the Republic of the Congo , Central African Republic , South Sudan , Uganda , Rwanda , Burundi , Tanzania (across Lake Tanganyika ), Zambia , Angola , the Cabinda exclave of Angola , and the South Atlantic Ocean . Centered on the Congo Basin , the territory of

15996-404: Was immediately confronted by a series of secessionist movements , the assassination of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba , and the seizure of power by Mobutu Sese Seko in a 1965 coup d'état . Mobutu renamed the country Zaire in 1971 and imposed a harsh personalist dictatorship until his overthrow in 1997 by the First Congo War . The country then had its name changed back and was confronted by

16125-409: Was known as Zaire during the 16th and 17th centuries; Congo seems to have replaced Zaire gradually in English usage during the 18th century, and Congo is the preferred English name in 19th-century literature, although references to Zaire as the name used by the natives (i.e., derived from Portuguese usage) remained common. In 1992, the Sovereign National Conference voted to change the name of

16254-511: Was no longer deemed necessary as a Cold War ally. Opponents within Zaire stepped up demands for reform. This atmosphere contributed to Mobutu's declaring the Third Republic in 1990, whose constitution was supposed to pave the way for democratic reform. The reforms turned out to be largely cosmetic. Mobutu continued in power until armed forces forced him to flee in 1997. "From 1990 to 1993, the United States facilitated Mobutu's attempts to hijack political change", one academic wrote, and "also assisted

16383-456: Was published. A chronicle of his career, the book is also a history of the birth and growth of U.S. national interest in environmental issues. Train died at his farm in Bozman, Maryland , on September 17, 2012, aged 92. In 1981, Train was awarded the Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences . In 1991, Train received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his work in conservation. In 2001, Train received

16512-412: Was ranked 179th out of 191 countries by the Human Development Index and is classed as a least developed country by the UN . As of 2018 , following two decades of various civil wars and continued internal conflicts , around 600,000 Congolese refugees were still living in neighbouring countries. Two million children risk starvation, and the fighting has displaced 4.5 million people. The country

16641-422: Was the only candidate. Although relative peace and stability were achieved, Mobutu's government was guilty of severe human rights violations, political repression , a cult of personality and corruption . By late 1967 Mobutu had successfully neutralized his political opponents and rivals, either through co-opting them into his regime, arresting them, or rendering them otherwise politically impotent. Throughout

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