Natthimmel med stjärnor och solnedgång

Nyiragongo volcano located in the east of Congo DRC, at around 19kms from Goma.

It’s the most active volcano in the world. In 1997 and 2002, flows of very liquid lava broke out from cracks in the slopes. They covered 17 km to Goma in just a few minutes, killed dozens of people in refugee camps, and left hundreds of thousands homeless.

The mountain gorillas were not affected that time. Dr. Lanjouw of IGCP reports that it is unlikely that the forest that the gorillas inhabit will be affected greatly in the future, as it is uphill from the Nyiragongo Volcano.

However, chimpanzees and other wildlife in the forest around the Nyiragongo will probably be devastated.

It is likely this volcano will affect every level of the mountain’s ecosystem. The problem becomes the physical destruction of habitat, and of course the sulphur gases over the area.

Mount Nyiragongo, a volcano in the Virunga National Park in Congo.