Fauna & Flora International case study:

Silverbacks and greenbacks

Marooned on two small islands in a troubled sea of humanity, the worlds last mountain
gorillas, 720 at the last count, cling to survival in the Virunga Volcanoes Region and Bwindi
Impenetrable National Park in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
This is an area beset by conflict. At least five million people are estimated to have died as a
result of the recent civil strife in DRC. This appalling tragedy has not left the mountain gorillas
unscathed. During 2007 at least 10 individuals were killed in DRC and regional insecurity
has hindered the conservation efforts of protected area staff. The plight of the gorillas is
inextricably linked to the plight of the people living around the gorilla sanctuaries.

Female
mountain
gorilla hides
from the rain
in Mount
Karisimbi, in
the Volcanoes
National Park,
Rwanda.

The human population density

beyond the park boundaries reaches
500 per square kilometre in places. In
a rural setting where the economy is
based predominantly on subsistence
agriculture, such an extremely high
density puts intense pressure on
natural resources and makes it difficult
for park staff to control illegal activities
such as fuelwood and water collection,
charcoal burning, honey hunting
and poaching for meat. Although
gorillas are rarely targeted for
bushmeat, they are sometimes
inadvertently caught in snares set
for antelope or buffalo.

Founded in 1979, the Mountain

Gorilla Project was the brainchild
of Fauna & Flora International (FFI).
Focusing initially on
Rwanda, it combined
anti-poaching measures
with the introduction of an
education programme to help
change local attitudes towards
gorillas and forest conservation.
Previous conservation initiatives
had tended to focus exclusively
on the gorillas themselves and
were marginalising the very
people in whose hands the fate of
these great apes ultimately lies. FFI

recognised that long-term success was

contingent on persuading the local
communities of the broader value of
the mountain gorillas and their habitat.

... the forest habitat has a

much wider social and
economic value beyond its
importance as a gorilla refuge.
The project has since metamorphosed
into the International Gorilla
Conservation Programme (IGCP), a
more formal coalition that includes
the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF)
and the World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF), and which covers the entire
mountain gorilla range in Rwanda,
Uganda and DRC, working closely
with the respective protected area
authorities.

J P Morieras/FFI

As well as developing a shared vision

on mountain gorilla conservation at
policy level, IGCP works to reduce
local community dependence on park
resources, minimise human-gorilla
conflict and support a more equitable
distribution of the benefits of gorilla
tourism.

For more information, please contact Jilly McNaughton at 01223 579 473

At Nkuringo in Uganda, for example,

where a commercial operator is
constructing an eco-lodge, the
contract stipulates that a proportion
of tourist income will be paid directly

www.fauna-flora.org

Fauna & Flora International

By Bruce Liggitt and Tim Knight

Afro-montare forest helps stabilise

climate and regulate rainfall. It also
provides vital habitat for mountain
gorillas.
The forest is preserved to protect
the remaining gorillas which,
in turn, generate money from
tourism.
The forest protects soil and
regulates rainfall run-off, increasing
the sustainability of crops grown
on the lower slopes.

Illustration: Jade Jones

Many different communities,

including refugees and displaced
peoples, depend on this ecosystem
and the services it provides.

Tourism can help to

change local perceptions
by providing an
economic rationale
for mountain gorilla
conservation, but the
forest habitat has a
much wider social and
economic value beyond
its importance as a gorilla
refuge. In Rwanda, gorilla tourism is the
third largest revenue earner after tea
and coffee production, but the steep
topography of the area also dictates
that these two revenue streams, not
to mention the subsistence farming
carried out in the shadow of the

Without the gorillas, the forest would not survive.

Without the forest, the gorillas would not survive
and the communities would be a lot worse off.
The three are utterly interdependent.
to the community. In addition to
direct employment at the lodge, IGCP
is promoting associated economic
activities such as bee-keeping,
production of tourist souvenirs and a
community walk. Local farmers may
also grow food for the guests.

Virungas, ultimately depend on the

ecosystem services provided by the
gorillas habitat. Deforestation of these
steep slopes would not only condemn
the mountain gorilla to extinction,
but also have disastrous human
consequences, as soil erosion, flooding,
erratic rainfall and local climate change
precipitated wholesale crop failure
and complete collapse of the local
economy. Without the gorillas, the
forest would not survive. Without the
forest, the gorillas would not survive
and the communities would be a
lot worse off. The three are utterly
interdependent.

For more information, please contact Jilly McNaughton at 01223 579 473

www.fauna-flora.org