My boss, a legend of a guy, is off to Goma DRC and Gisenyi Rwanda for one week to coordinate the Virungas Summit. This is mediated by the Assistant Secretary for Oceans, Environment, and Science of the US State Department, and coordinates efforts between relevant forestry ministers from DRC, Uganda, and Rwanda. There is a lot of political baggage between these 3 countries, so this high level meeting has a lot riding on it. NG ran a great article about the crazy realm that is the Virungas, linking the execution of gorillas last year to a lucrative charcoal trade in this densely populated, lawless area. Check it out here:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/07/
virunga/jenkins-text
After all the grand fetes for Independence Days, it is nice to get back to work! I will miss my boss, but will have to carry on!
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