Kahuzi-Biega National Park

Kahuzi-Biega National Park, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo near Lake Kivu, protects a vast expanse of primary tropical forest dominated by two dormant volcanoes, Kahuzi and Biega, from which it takes its name. Ranging from dense lowland rainforest to high-altitude bamboo and montane vegetation, the park supports a diverse and abundant fauna. It is above all a last refuge for the eastern lowland (Grauer's) gorilla, the largest of the gorilla subspecies, whose numbers here have become critically reduced. Elephants, chimpanzees and many endemic birds and plants share the forest, which forms an important reservoir of Central African biodiversity. The mountainous terrain, waterfalls and misty peaks give the park a striking beauty. Inscribed by UNESCO in 1980 and later listed as World Heritage in Danger, Kahuzi-Biega remains a globally significant but fragile stronghold for one of the planet's most endangered great apes.