Virunga

Declared in April 1925 by King Albert I of Belgium after a visit to the United States inspired him to create a great nature refuge in what was then the Belgian Congo, Virunga is the oldest national park on the whole African continent. Its territory takes in Mount Nyiragongo, one of the most active volcanoes in the world and holder of the largest permanent lava lake known in its crater, along with roughly a third of the entire world population of mountain gorilla. For all its exceptional value, the park has been the setting of recurrent armed conflict and rebel activity since the 1990s, which has cost the lives of more than 200 rangers over the past few decades — the highest toll of conservation staff of any protected area in the world — forcing frequent temporary closures on security grounds, the most recent of which still stands across much of its territory.