Virunga is the continent's most biologically diverse protected area and a national park embarking on an ambitious development programme known as the "Virunga Alliance". In direct response to the massacres, the Senkwekwe Centre is established to care for the orphans of the massacre. The two active volcanoes in the range Mount Nyiragongo and Mount Nyamuragira are in Virunga National Park, and both reach heights of over 3,000 metres. Virunga has a vision for responsibly harnessing the Parks natural resources to create new opportunities for the four million people that live within a days walk of its borders. Virunga Mountains in Congo were formed as a result of volcanic activity from the past. Because of the high silica content of its lava, Nyiragongos lava flows are extremely fluid. The Virunga mountains are the most hike in DR Congo and they include Mount Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira which are active volcanoes, and lastly Mount Mikeno which is a dormant volcano. In 1926, Derscheid headed the first Belgian mission to map Albert National Park, which encompassed an area of 500km2 (190sqmi) around the extinct volcanoes Mount Karisimbi and Mount Mikeno. Learn more about the Okapi Conservation Project, a project working to protect these unique mammals in the DRC, as well as the forests and creatures of Okapi Wildlife Reserve. In the national park's northern sector, African leopard (P. pardus pardus), marsh mongoose (Atilax paludinosus), giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea), tree pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis), crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata), Lord Derby's scaly-tailed squirrel (Anomalurus derbianus), Boehm's bush squirrel (Paraxerus boehmi), western tree hyrax (Dendrohyrax dorsalis), Emin's pouched rat (Cricetomys emini) and checkered elephant shrew (Rhynchocyon cirnei) were recorded during surveys in 2008. Mikeno and Sabinio are the oldest of these, dating from the early part of the Pleistocene Epoch (the Pleistocene began about 2,600,000 years ago and lasted until about 11,700 years ago); their craters have disappeared, and erosion has imposed a jagged relief. Tullow Oil Plc, TotalEnergies, ENI and China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd (CNOOC) were interested in acquiring drilling permissions. Later in the Pleistocene (about 900,000 to 130,000 years ago), Karisimbi, Visoke, Mgahinga, and Muhavura appeared, all but Karisimbi possessing a crater summit. The ICCN (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature). Adult African fish eagles have mostly brown bodies with a white head and yellow face and large, powerful, black wings. The range runs east-west, perpendicular to the rift valley in which lie Lakes Kivu and Edward. However, this is no idle volcano. [18] In 1969, the two parks were merged under the name Virunga National Park, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. 689 men and women standing fearlessly to protect Virunga, Critical training and support for widows and children of fallen Virunga Rangers, The world's only facility caring for mountain gorilla orphans. In addition to buffalo, the plains support several ungulates, including topi, Ugandan kob, waterbuck, warthog, and red river and giant forest hog. Virunga Mountains, Virunga also spelled Birunga, also called Mufumbiro Mountains, volcanic range north of Lake Kivu in east-central Africa, extending about 50 miles (80 km) along the borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. [7], There have been several deadly attacks in the park by rebel groups, and several park rangers have been killed. (For more on the conservation and social developments by the Virunga Alliance. The great volcanoes of this range, clothed in cloud forests, include the dormant Mikeno, Karisimbi, Visoke, and Sabinio (Sabinyo), as well as the active Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira. They have significantly shaped the national park's diverse habitats and wildlife.