Last night I was scrolling through Instagram and came across a post from Pheobe Tonkin and it was about how this documentary was one of the best she had ever seen, so I went on Neflix and watched the trailer and I was mesmerized. I googled the movie and found out that it was actually nominated for an Oscar this past weekend and it had 100% on Rotten Tomatoes so naturally, I needed to watch it immediately.
I am a lover of nature documentaries. I am always looking for good ones to watch, especially if they are about African animals because they are my favourite, so this was right up my alley. It is about a team of rangers in the Congo who have dedicated their lives to protecting the last mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park against war, poaching, and the threat of oil exploration. 130 park rangers have been killed over the past 20 years protecting these endangered gorillas, among other wildlife. Emmanual de Merode, the park director, said in an interview with The Guardian, "Every war in the last 20 years in eastern Congo has started in or around the Virunga national park. It is the incredibly rich resources in the park which has attracted the armed groups and which has led to the death of six million innocent people." This movie brings to light the fact that greed will ultimately be the end of the human race. Without these brave individuals fighting for the rights of animals, species would become extinct faster and more frequently than ever, and to think that human beings can live without wildlife is to be completely misinformed. Jane Goodall called it a wake up call, “Everyone who cares about the future of the planet must see this movie."
I have so much respect for these men who are willing to sacrifice themselves for something bigger. Virunga is one of the most biodiverse places on our planet, and to lose it would be an incredible tragedy.
Virunga can be streamed on Netflix.
