Important notice: this guide describes Virunga National Park for reference, but the park has been closed to tourism since 2020 and lies in a region in armed conflict. Since early 2025 the area has seen a serious escalation, with the M23 rebel group taking nearby Goma. Many governments advise against all travel to the east of the DR Congo. Before even considering a trip, it is essential to check the park's official status and up-to-date travel advice. With that warning made clear, it is worth knowing why Virunga is one of the most extraordinary places in Africa.
Virunga National Park is the oldest national park on the African continent: it was created in 1925, when the region was a Belgian colony, to protect the mountain gorillas of the Virunga volcanoes. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, it is an astonishing natural mosaic that, across almost 8,000 km², brings together mountain gorillas, two active volcanoes —Nyiragongo, with its lava lake, and Nyamuragira—, savannahs with elephants and hippos, Lake Edward, rainforests and the glacier-capped peaks of the Rwenzori massif, the 'Mountains of the Moon'.
Virunga is also a symbol of the fight for conservation in extreme conditions. Its rangers have paid an enormous price: more than 200 rangers have died protecting the park from poaching, armed groups and illegal exploitation. The park's story, told in the documentary 'Virunga' (2014), is one of heroism and tragedy. This guide explores its nature and its significance, always with the warning that visiting it today depends, more than ever, on a peace that has not yet arrived.
Virunga was founded in 1925 by King Albert I of Belgium as Albert National Park, the first national park in Africa, created to protect the mountain gorillas. After independence, it was renamed Virunga National Park in 1969, and in 1979 UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site. Decades of war in eastern Congo have hit it hard: it is on the List of World Heritage in Danger and more than 200 rangers have died defending it. The full story, including the epic of its rangers, is on our dedicated page.
Read the full history ↓The mountainous east is home to the mountain gorillas of Virunga, the lava lake of Nyiragongo and the Great Lakes. It is also an area of active armed conflict, so always check the official travel advice.
Read the history of The east: the Kivus, the volcanoes and the Great Lakes →A local guide tells you in half an hour what no sign at the site will ever explain. We look ours up on Civitatis: guided in Spanish and booked online with no fuss. They have 7 activities in Kigali. And there are free tours here: you book without paying and tip the guide whatever you think at the end, so trying one costs you nothing. Have a look below: tap any of them to see them all.
They depart from Kigali, 148 km away. If you book from this link we earn a commission and you pay no more.
No exact prices: a scale from $ (budget) to $$$$$ (luxury), with 2-3 options per category.
Origins, formation and what the sources say.
Virunga's story begins in 1925, when King Albert I of Belgium created, in what was then the Belgian Congo, the Albert National Park (Parc National Albert): the first national park on the African continent. The main reason was to protect the mountain gorillas living on the forested slopes of the Virunga volcanoes, whose survival was starting to worry naturalists and scientists. The Belgian king had been inspired by the national parks of the United States, which he had visited, and wanted to bring the idea to Africa.
At first, the park covered only the area of three volcanoes in the south, but over the years it grew enormously towards the north, taking in the plains of the Rutshuru River, Lake Edward and, further away, the Rwenzori Mountains. It eventually covered almost 8,000 km² of extraordinarily varied habitats: from equatorial glaciers to lakes, savannahs, rainforests and active volcanoes. Few parks in the world bring together such a range of landscapes.
Like so many colonial projects, the park's creation had a dark side: conservation was often imposed by displacing or restricting the local people who lived on or used that land. Even so, Virunga set a historic precedent for protecting nature in Africa and saved iconic species from extinction. Its value was confirmed in 1979, when UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site.
When Congo became independent in 1960, the park went through hard times. Political instability, lack of funds and poaching took their toll on the wildlife. In 1969, under Mobutu's regime, Albert National Park was given an African name: Virunga National Park, after the chain of volcanoes. For a while in the 1970s there were efforts to revive it and develop tourism, and the park even drew international visitors.
However, the economic crisis in Mobutu's Zaire and corruption gradually undermined its management. Poaching grew worse, and whole populations of elephants and hippos began to shrink. Like so many of the country's institutions, the park fell into a spiral of decline. Protecting the mountain gorillas in particular depended more and more on the heroic, poorly paid work of the rangers and on help from international organisations.
The hardest blow came with the wars of the late 20th century. The Great Lakes region became one of the most violent places on the planet, and Virunga was caught in the middle of that storm, with devastating consequences for its wildlife and for those who protected it.
In 1994, the Rwandan genocide triggered a humanitarian disaster that spilled over into eastern Congo. More than a million Rwandan refugees crossed the border and settled in huge camps around Goma, right on the edge of Virunga Park. The pressure on the park was brutal: forests were cut down for firewood, wildlife was hunted for food, and the protected areas were surrounded by desperation and violence.
That crisis was followed by the First (1996-1997) and Second Congo Wars (1998-2003), enormous conflicts that drew in several African countries and caused millions of deaths. The east of the country, and Virunga with it, filled up with armed groups that funded themselves through poaching, illegal logging, charcoal and mining. Gorillas and hippos were slaughtered; the park's hippo population collapsed from tens of thousands to a few hundred.
In the middle of that chaos, Virunga's rangers kept on patrolling, often facing armed men who were better equipped than they were. The human cost was, and still is, extremely high: more than 200 rangers have died in the line of duty over the decades, defending the park from militias, poachers and traffickers. Sadly, Virunga became one of the most dangerous places in the world to work in conservation.
From the mid-2000s, Virunga saw a remarkable attempt at a revival under the Belgian conservationist Emmanuel de Merode, who took charge of the park in 2008. With support from international foundations, the ranger corps was professionalised, wildlife populations recovered, gorilla tourism and Nyiragongo climbs were carefully reopened, and development projects were launched for local communities, such as small hydroelectric plants meant to provide electricity and jobs and to reduce dependence on the charcoal that was destroying the forest.
This effort, however, ran up against powerful interests. In 2014, the Oscar-nominated documentary 'Virunga' showed the world the park's fight against poaching, armed groups and pressure from an oil company that wanted to explore for crude within its boundaries. That same year, De Merode survived an assassination attempt when he was shot on a road in the park. The film turned Virunga into an international symbol of heroic conservation and helped stop the oil plans.
For a few years, Virunga managed to combine conservation, responsible tourism and local development, and became a top destination for seeing mountain gorillas and climbing the volcano. Thousands of visitors discovered its wonders, and the income helped support both the park and the communities. It was a time of hope that showed what Virunga could become in times of peace.
How fragile that revival was became painfully clear from 2018-2020. Kidnappings of tourists, attacks by armed groups and, finally, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to the park being closed to tourism. What at first looked like a temporary pause dragged on because of the region's ongoing insecurity, which prevented a stable reopening.
The situation got dramatically worse from late 2024, as the M23 rebel group, backed by Rwanda according to many international reports, advanced across North Kivu. In January 2025, M23 took the city of Goma, the historic gateway to Virunga, in an offensive that left hundreds dead and displaced huge numbers of people; Goma airport was damaged and closed, and it stayed out of service throughout 2025. Eastern Congo plunged into one of the worst crises in its recent history, and many governments stepped up their warnings against all travel to the region.
In this context, Virunga National Park remains closed to tourism, and its reopening depends entirely on reaching a peace that, at the time of writing this guide, has not come. Its nature is still extraordinary and its rangers are still risking their lives to protect it, but for travellers the advice is clear: today Virunga is a destination you can only admire from afar while waiting for better times, always following official safety advice. In 2025 the park turned one hundred; let's hope its second century brings it the peace it so deserves.
