The Belgian prince, the national park, and the bitcoin mine
Emmanuel de Merode’s controversial stewardship of the DRC’s iconic Virunga National Park is giving him even greater powers.
Olivier van Beemen
Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, boasting active volcanoes, dense rainforests, and a great variety of wildlife, including the rare okapi and the endangered silverback gorilla. It is the oldest and one of the most iconic national parks in Africa, founded in 1925 as Parc Albert by the Belgian colonialists.
But there’s not much to celebrate in the year of its centenary. A large chunk of the park is currently occupied by the March 23 Movement (M23), a rebel militia backed by the government of neighbouring Rwanda. The park is home to another 2,000 to 3,000 militants belonging to an estimated 50 different armed groups – some with an ideology, others just ordinary bandits.
In this context, the Virunga Foundation, headed by Emmanuel de Merode, is generally considered a beacon of hope and stability. This Belgian aristocrat – who holds the honorary title “prince”, but is not a member of his country’s royal family – has managed the park since 2008 in a public-private partnership with the Congolese government. The EU has been his most generous supporter, with $180-million, and counting, in donations.
De Merode’s park rangers are tough on poachers and farmers who try to grow their crops inside the park – although the boundaries of the park are often disputed. Many local residents around the park are unhappy with the rangers’ harsh attitude and say it actually adds to the violence.
“The park is a nightmare for us,” said François Kamaté, a climate activist in the region. “There is no good dialogue between the park and residents. This creates permanent tension.”
For some people, the involvement of a Belgian prince leaves a bitter aftertaste that is reminiscent of the country’s colonial past. “Our ancestors were chased off their land without any compensation to make way for the park,” said Lwambo Mupfuni, the chairperson of a youth organisation. “And now our park is headed by a Belgian prince. Does that mean it is still of Belgian heritage?”
The economy of ecology
To tackle poverty, insecurity, and unemployment, part of the prince’s mission is coming up with development projects designed to stimulate the local economy.
Tourism was considered a pillar in this model. By targeting wealthy, international guests, park management hoped to create jobs and generate its own income. The EU invested more than $3-million to build a luxury safari lodge and other tourism facilities. On Tripadvisor, an Australian tourist called the lodge “paradise on Earth’”. But, overall, visitors and revenue have been disappointing.
In 2018, two British tourists and their Congolese driver were kidnapped in the park and a ranger who tried to defend them was killed. The industry was hit again by an Ebola outbreak in 2019 and the park closed at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
A second pillar of Virunga’s economic stimulation programme is hydroelectric power stations, which are supposed to generate jobs and industry. Three plants have now been completed with a fourth one under way.
The hydroelectric project has been running for more than 10 years, but results are – yet again – far below expectations. The goal was to connect one-million local residents with cheap energy by 2020 and create 60,000 jobs. But today, only 39,000 households are connected – of a population of five million – and fewer than 12,000 jobs have been created.
One of the power stations – Luviro, to the west of the park – was intended to supply electricity to the nearby city of Butembo, but a grid connecting the plant to the city was never built. Now a competing electricity company is operating there.
De Merode came up with a new plan for this “surplus” hydroelectric power: a Bitcoin mine, opened by the French entrepreneur Sébastien Gouspillou – also known as the “Bitcoin Indiana Jones” for his crypto dealings in Siberia, Tajikistan, and Paraguay.
Ten shipping containers, each containing up to 500 special computers for mining Bitcoins, have been installed in the rainforest. Most of the proceeds go to Gouspillou’s company.
Expanding influence
Despite its limited economic impact, Prince Emmanuel de Merode continues to tout the “Virunga model” as a success, and both the Congolese government and the EU appear convinced: they’ve recently granted him sweeping new authority.
In May, the Virunga Foundation was quietly assigned the management of the more than 550,000km² Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor. It’s a protected zone covering nearly a quarter of the DRC – an area almost the size of Kenya and home to more than 30-million people. The EU has pledged another $90-million for the project.
De Merode insists it has local support, but many people on the ground remain deeply sceptical.
“The Parliament has not even been able to debate this large-scale project,” said MP Robert Agenong’a, a member of the environmental committee of the Congolese national assembly.
“The population has absolutely no say in the matter.” Almost a year later, the details about how the area will be managed, and what powers De Merode and his supporters will have, remain murky.
The Virunga Foundation and the Congolese conservation institute ICCN refused to answer our questions on this.
The prince was not available for an interview.
I’m noticing the same routine Ben promises something, then it’s all we care about you, really. Of course you do. If comfortable keeping titles that do not belong to you what does that say! I will be keeping a close eye on this! Thank you