Send our email to Caroline Spelman to release emergency funds under Darwin to rebuild Epulu Station

An okapi at Marwell Wildlife, Hampshire, England.

As we reported yesterday there was a devastating attack on the Epulu Station in the D. R. Congo. This left the headquarters of the Institute in Congo for the Conservation of Nature in flames and equipment and vehicles stolen.

Once again the D. R. Congo ranger services paid a heavy price with 2 of the 6 killed being rangers. The attack was a result of the success of the service in their fight against elephant poachers and illegal miners.

The Epulu Station is in the World Heritage Site of Okapi Wildlife Reserve and as an internationaly important region the D. R. Congo government should be able to rely on international help in emergancy situations such as these.

We’d like you to help encourage the UK government to release emergency funds under the Darwin Initiative to help rebuild the both the Epulu Station and also the facilities of the Okapi conservation Programme that was destroyed and also to help fund the re-equipping of the station.

Each day the rangers of D. R. Congo put their lives on the line to protect the wildlife that is internationally important. It’s important that funds are given to this impoverished country to ensure that they can continue in their highly dangerous job.

Please email the letter below. If you have time you can reword the contents and help make it more personalised to your own thoughts on the matter.

While it’s not going to be a lot of money Wildlife News will be donating all our Amazon commissions for July to the fund set up to help rebuild the Opaki Conservation Project.

As requested here is our Amazon US link and here’s a quick link to Amazon UK

Emergency funding under Darwin Initiative to rebuild the Epulu Station

First Name

Last Name

City

Country

Dear Ms Spelman MP

As Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs I ask that you consider making an emergency funding grant through the Darwin Initiative to help rebuild the Epulu Station and headquarters of the Institute in Congo for the Conservation of Nature following its destruction by rebels.

The Epulu Station was attacked last Sunday by a large band of rebels resulting in the deaths of 6 people and the destruction of the Station in the World Heritage site of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Ituri lowland tropical forest in D.R. Congo.

The attack and destruction of the centre was in retaliation for the increasingly successful fight of its wildlife rangers against the rebels elephant poaching and illegal mining in this internationally important biodiversity hotspot.

The attack by the rebels led to 6 dead, women raped, the destruction of the centre and its equipment and the theft of its transport. An attached NGO conservation project, The Okapi conservation Project, also saw its facilities and equipment either destroyed or stolen. 13 of the 14 okapi kept at the site which were used for education and conservation were also killed.

While the Darwin Project releases funds to applications throughout the year I believe that the loss of this important conservation centre and base for wildlife rangers warrant an exemption to the normal application rules. The D. R. Congo is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a wildlife rangers.

The rangers who protect this World Heritage Site put their lives on the line on a daily basis. It is important that all governments play an active role in supporting wildlife rangers who look after internationally important sites when the need arises.

I also ask that if possible you liaise with the Overseas Aide minister to see if extra funding can be made available to support the rebuilding of the station through it's contingency funds also.

Yours Sincerely

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