From the Blue Community Environmental Defenders, Uganda/DR Congo:
Environmental Defenders is proud to spotlight a powerful investigative feature by journalist Gerald Tenywa, published in New Vision on April 30, 2026, exposing how gold mining is silently dismantling the cross border wildlife corridor that links Uganda’s Kyambura Wildlife Reserve and Queen Elizabeth National Park to Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. His reporting reveals stripped vegetation, contaminated waters draining into Lake George, shrinking elephant migratory routes, and weak regulatory enforcement that allows exploration permits to slide into full scale extraction inside protected areas governed by UWA and NFA. Produced with support from our Community Media Program, this story brings hidden environmental injustices into national and regional view, pressing NEMA, UWA, and NFA toward accountability while amplifying the lived realities of frontline communities in Rubirizi, Kasyoha-Kitomi, and the wider Albertine landscape. By backing fearless reporters like Gerald Tenywa, Environmental Defenders affirms that journalism is itself a form of environmental defense, giving threatened ecosystems, indigenous voices, and forest dependent communities a place in the public conversation about Africa’s biodiversity future.
