Emmanuel de Merode
Encyclopedia
Prince Emmanuel de Mérode (born 5 May 1970) is the Director of Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC).
, and of his wife Princess Hedwige de Ligne (sister of Charles-Antoine, Prince de Ligne de La Trémoïlle
). His parents belong to two of Belgium's historically most ancient and influential families. Emmanuel de Mérode does not use his hereditary title
in professional contexts, however he is legally
a prince
in Belgium's nobility
, the title having been conferred upon the family in 1929.
, 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. Author of fourteen scientific papers and co-editor of the book Virunga: The Survival of Africa's First National Park.
On 1 August 2008, he was appointed by Congolese Government as Director for Virunga National Park
. 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 fall under his command 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 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.
Given the chronic absence of adequate funding for the park, he has worked on building support through the Internet, specifically through an innovative social networking website www.gorilla.cd. This has helped augment the vital funding the park receives from the European Commission. His work also includes the promotion of sustainable energy for poor households, as an alternative to forest destruction for charcoal, through the development of combustible biomass briquettes
, a new industry that is projected to create 30,000 jobs in post-conflict areas of eastern DRC.
At his swearing in ceremony, Mérode 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,"
in 2003, a paleontologist from Kenya
. They have two daughters:
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
(DRC).
Background
Mérode was born at Carthage, the second son of Charles Guillaume, Prince of MérodeHouse of Merode
The princely house of Merode is one of the most important houses of the Belgian nobility.The surname of the family and the name of the House is mostly written de Mérode in but was originally von Merode due to the German descent of the House...
, and of his wife Princess Hedwige de Ligne (sister of Charles-Antoine, Prince de Ligne de La Trémoïlle
Charles-Antoine Lamoral, prince de Ligne de La Trémoïlle
Prince Charles-Antoine Marie Louis Eugène Lamoral of Ligne-La Trémoïlle co-founded a company, Larex, Inc., that promoted development along the riverfront of the Los Angeles River corridor, including a possible high-speed train from San Francisco to San Diego.-Background:Charles-Antoine was born in...
). His parents belong to two of Belgium's historically most ancient and influential families. Emmanuel de Mérode does not use his hereditary title
Title
A title is a prefix or suffix added to someone's name to signify either veneration, an official position or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may even be inserted between a first and last name...
in professional contexts, however he is legally
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
a prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
in Belgium's nobility
Belgian nobility
In the Kingdom of Belgium there are at the moment approximately 1,300 noble families. Some 20,000 individuals are titled. The noble lineage of only ca. 400 families dates back to the 17th century. As Belgium is a democratic constitutional monarchy there are no legal privileges attached to bearing a...
, the title having been conferred upon the family in 1929.
Career
Anthropologist, conservationistConservationist
Conservationists are proponents or advocates of conservation. They advocate for the protection of all the species in an ecosystem with a strong focus on the natural environment...
, pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
, he worked to control the bushmeat
Bushmeat
Bushmeat initially referred to the hunting of wild animals in West and Central Africa and is a calque from the French viande de brousse. Today the term is commonly used for meat of terrestrial wild animals, killed for subsistence or commercial purposes throughout the humid tropics of the Americas,...
trade and protect endangered wildlife
Wildlife
Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
in Central and Eastern Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. 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. Author of fourteen scientific papers and co-editor of the book Virunga: The Survival of Africa's First National Park.
On 1 August 2008, he was appointed by Congolese Government as Director for Virunga National Park
Virunga National Park
The Virunga National Park , formerly named Albert National Park, is a 7800 square km National Park that stretches from the Virunga Mountains in the South, to the Rwenzori Mountains in the North, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, bordering Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Rwenzori...
. 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 fall under his command 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 was to broker an agreement between the Congolese Government and Rebel Leader Laurent Nkunda
Laurent Nkunda
Laurent Nkunda or Laurent Nkundabatware, or Laurent Nkunda Batware, or as he prefers to be called The Chairman — is a former General in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo and is the former warlord operating in the province of Nord-Kivu, sympathetic to Congolese Tutsis and the...
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.
Given the chronic absence of adequate funding for the park, he has worked on building support through the Internet, specifically through an innovative social networking website www.gorilla.cd. This has helped augment the vital funding the park receives from the European Commission. His work also includes the promotion of sustainable energy for poor households, as an alternative to forest destruction for charcoal, through the development of combustible biomass briquettes
Biomass briquettes
Biomass briquettes are a biofuel substitute to coal and charcoal. They are used to heat industrial boilers in order to produce electricity from steam. The most common use of the briquettes are in the developing world, where energy sources are not as widely available...
, a new industry that is projected to create 30,000 jobs in post-conflict areas of eastern DRC.
At his swearing in ceremony, Mérode 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,"
Personal life
Mérode married Louise LeakeyLouise Leakey
Louise Leakey is a Kenyan paleontologist. She does research and field work related to human fossils in Eastern Africa. She first became actively involved in fossil discoveries in 1977, at the age of six, when she became the youngest person to find hominid fossils...
in 2003, a paleontologist from Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. They have two daughters:
- Seiya (born 2004)
- Alexia (born 2006) http://books.google.com/books?id=6LmiKnyVAxgC&printsec=frontcover&dq#PRA2-PR16,M1.
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). Emanuel 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.