Emmanuel de Merode

Emmanuel de Merode in 2013

Emmanuel Werner Marie Ghislain, Prince de Merode (born 5 May 1970) has been the director of the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since 2008.

Family history

Crest of Prince Emmanuel de Merode

Merode was born in North Africa, at Carthage, Tunisia and spent his childhood in Kenya and was educated at Downside School in the United Kingdom. He is the second son of Charles Guillaume, Prince de Merode, and of his wife Princess Hedwige de Ligne (sister of Charles-Antoine, Prince de Ligne de La Trémoïlle). His older brother, Prince Frédéric Robert Raymond Xavier de Merode is married to Hannah Jane Robinson and heir to titles of his father. His parents^[1] belong to two of Belgium's historically most ancient and influential families: He descends from Count Félix de Merode, a military commander during the successful Belgian Revolution of 1830 who helped form the first Belgian legislative counsel and government. Emmanuel de Merode does not use his hereditary title in professional contexts; however, he is legally a prince in the Belgian nobility, the title having been conferred upon the family by King Albert I in 1929.^[2] He has a PhD in Anthropology from University College London, on Congolese conservation issues.

Career

Anthropologist, conservationist, pilot, he worked to control the bushmeat trade and protect endangered wildlife in Central and Eastern Africa. His main focus has been support for African wildlife rangers in remote and difficult national parks and reserves. His work was primarily in the parks of eastern DRC, working to sustain the national parks through the DRC's 10-year civil war. Merode is the author of fourteen scientific papers and co-editor of the book Virunga: The Survival of Africa's First National Park.^[3]

On 1 August 2008, he was appointed Director of Virunga National Park by the Congolese government. After swearing allegiance to the Congolese flag, he became the only foreign national to exercise judicial powers in the war torn central African nation. He now lives at the park headquarters in Rumangabo, bordering the park's mountain gorilla sector. The park's 680 rangers are under his direction and much of his work is focused on protecting the park's exceptional wildlife, that include a critically important population of mountain gorillas, elephants, okapis and chimpanzees. His first breakthrough^[4] was to broker an agreement between the Congolese government and rebel leader Laurent Nkunda to spare the mountain gorilla sector of the park from the rages of the ongoing civil war and to enable government rangers to redeploy in rebel territory. Negotiating the neutral status of environmental and sustainable development imperatives among the warring factions in eastern Congo became a recurring theme in de Mérode's approach to establishing Virunga National Park as a stabilizing presence in the war affected Great Lakes Region of Africa.

Given the chronic insecurity and the succession of violent wars in eastern Congo, Merode has focused his efforts on economic development initiatives that bring greater stability to the region. In 2013 he assisted in the launching of the Virunga Alliance ^[5] in an effort to drive the post-war economy of eastern Congo as an instrument for peace-building in the region. The initiative is based on 127 local institutions from the private sector, civil society and government agencies committing to the sustainable development of the parks resources, through tourism, rural electrification, sustainable fisheries and agriculture. A major program is now underway that aims to generate 80 to 100,000 employments in the post-war communities living around the national park, providing young Congolese men and women viable alternatives to engaging in conflict related activities.

At his swearing in ceremony, Merode remarked, "The intensity of the conflict in and around the park makes this a daunting challenge, but it is a great privilege to be working alongside such a dedicated and courageous team of rangers. I have real confidence in our ability to secure a future for the park to ensure that it makes a positive contribution to the lives of the people of North Kivu." His role in maintaining the Park's administration during the M23 Rebellion was covered in the award-winning British documentary Virunga.

He has spoken about his work and the work of the rangers of Virunga in a TEDxWWF talk, "A story of conflict, renewal and hope".^[6] Under his leadership, the Virunga park opened to the public again in 2014.^[7]

Assassination attempt

On 15 April 2014 Emmanuel de Merode was seriously injured by unidentified gunmen during an ambush on the road between Goma and Rumangabo. He was shot several times in the chest and abdomen, but survived and was able to leave the scene of the attack with the help of local residents.^[8][9] Emergency surgery was performed at a local hospital in Goma. A legal enquiry into the motives and identity of the attackers was undertaken by the Congolese authorities. Media reports have cited various suspects, including those engaged in the illegal production of charcoal, people associated with SOCO International, a British oil company engaged in the exploration for oil in the national park, opponents of the 12 Megawatt Project, disgruntled local residents, and those engaged in struggles to control park lands including, at the time, factions of the National Congress of the Defense of People (CNDP) and of the Congolese military.^[10]

De Merode returned to Virunga National Park on the 22nd of May 2014 to resume his functions as Park Director.^[11]

Personal life

Merode married^[12] Louise Leakey in 2003, a paleontologist from Kenya. They have two daughters:

• Princess Ina Seiyia de Merode (born 2004)
• Princess Alexia Maeve de Merode (born 2006)^[13]

Honours and Titles

For his efforts, de Merode receives international respect, he has received many international awards. Among others, he has received official recognition of King Philippe of Belgium, Prince Albert of Monaco and Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.

Titles

• Prince de Merode, by birth.
• Dr. of Philosophy - Biological Anthropology. University College London^[14]
• Dr. Honoris Causa, honorary doctorate of law - University of Hasselt.^[15][16]
• Grand Officer in the Order of Leopold, Royal decree of 8 July 2015 ^[17]

International recognition

• The Tusk Award for Conservation in Africa, by HRH the Duke of Cambridge.^[18]
• National Geographic Explorer of the Year, Award, 2015.^[19]
• Biodiversity Award of Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation given to Prince Emmanuel de Merode.^[20]
• Albert Schweitzer Award^[21]
• Zoological Society of London Conservationist of the Year^[22]

Publications

• Macmillan (2005) Protected areas and decentralisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo: a case for devolving responsibility to local institutions (in Rural Resources and Local Livelihoods in Africa, Edited by Katherine Homewood). Emmanuel de Merode
• Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B (2004) Volume 271, pages 2631–2636 Do wildlife laws work? Species protection and the application of a prey choice model to poaching decisions. Marcus Rowcliffe, Emmanuel de Merode and Guy Cowlishaw.
• Biological Conservation (2003) Volume 118, Issue 5, Pages 573-581 The value of bushmeat and other wild foods to rural households living in extreme poverty in Democratic Republic of Congo. Emmanuel de Merode, Katherine Homewood and Guy Cowlishaw
• Overseas Development Institute Wildlife Policy Series (2003) Volume 1 Wild resources and livelihoods of poor households in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Emmanuel de Merode, Katherine Homewood & Guy Cowlishaw.
• International Journal of Remote Sensing (2000) Volume 21, Numbers 13-14, pages 2665-2683 The spatial correlates of wildlife distribution around Garamba National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. De Merode E, K. Hillman-Smith, A. Nicholas, A. Ndey, M. Likango.
• Earthscan Publications (1999) Promoting Partnerships: Managing Wildlife Resources in Central and West Africa. J. Abbot, F. Ananze, N. Barning, P. Burnham, E. de Merode, A. Dunn, E. Fuchi, E. Hakizumwami, C. Hesse, R. Mwinyihali, M.M. Sani, D. Thomas, P. Trench, R. Tshombe
• WWF sustainable development series, (1999) Towards Financial Sustainability for Protected Areas: learning from business approaches. A. Inamdar, E. de Merode
• PhD Thesis, University of London (1998) Protected Areas and Local Livelihoods: Contrasting Systems of Wildlife Management in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• PLA Notes (1998) Volume 33, Pages 27-33 Participatory GIS: opportunity or oxymoron. Jo Abbot, Robert Chambers, Christine Dunn, Trevor Harris, Emmanuel de Merode, Gina Porter, Janet Townsend and Daniel Weiner
• Pachyderm (1995) Volume 19, pages 39–48 Factors affecting elephant distribution at Garamba National Park and surrounding reserves, Zaïre, with focus on human elephant conflict. Hillman Smith, A. K. K., E. de Merode, A. Nicholas, B. Buls, and A. Ndey.

References

External links

• Official website