Rodrigue Katembo put his life on the line to fight the British oil company that had purchased the right to drill for oil in the oldest national park in Africa where he was a Park Ranger. Rodrigue went far and beyond his role as a ranger in Virunga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, facing down poachers, armed thugs. Rodrigue documented SOCO International’s corruption and misdeeds until international outrage forced the corporation to withdraw from its proposed project.

Rodrigue and the footage he gathered during his undercover investigations were heavily featured in the documentary film Virunga. The film gained a massive international audience through Netflix and in late 2015, SOCO announced it was giving up its oil license. Rodrigue won.

He paid an enormous price for his activism. In 2013, just days after he had stopped a SOCO team from building a telecommunications antenna inside the park, Katembo was arrested and tortured for 17 days.

Since his unlikely victory, Rodrigue has been promoted to Director of Upemba National Park, where he continues to protect the park and wildlife from poachers, militia, and the extractive industry.

Please send a message thanking Rodrigue for protecting the priceless Virunga National Park.