Gorilla Protection

Category: Press, Successes, Threats, Western Lowland Gorilla, Year of the Gorilla | Date: Jun 26 2009 | By: Daniel

This is to give you a better idea of the PALF project. They will start blogging themselves soon.

Following on from investigations co-ordinated by PALF in Brazzaville, a wildlife trafficker trading in panther pelts was identified in the capital’s main hotel. He was arrested on May 8th with the assistance of the local Department of Economic Forestry and police. There were two operations carried out on the 12th May, which led to the arrest of an ivory dealer and a wildlife trafficker selling chimpanzees (making this the second arrest of a chimpanzee trafficker since December 2008).

In November 2008, a young orphan gorilla was also seized from a police officer that was attempting to sell it. The gorilla infant, named Loketo, was taken into care by ‘Projet Protection des Gorilles’ (www.ppg-congo.org), the world’s only successful gorilla rehabilitation and reintroduction project. He has now joined a group of 5 other orphans who will be reintroduced into a protected reserve within the next few years. With the support of the three-year old male Kingoue, Loketo continues to develop well.

The other main focus of the project is to encourage high-profile media attention regarding any trafficking-related arrests, as well as the subsequent sentences delivered to the people involved. With regards to the latter, a trafficker dealing in chimpanzees was sentenced to a year in prison in March 2009, becoming the first individual to be prosecuted for wildlife trafficking in the Republic of Congo.

Thanks to intensive media publicity, the Congolese people are becoming more aware of wildlife protection laws and the risks associated with the trafficking of protected wildlife or derived products – such as live great apes, panther skins or ivory.  

Tags: bushmeat, fundraising, law enforcement, poaching, Threats, Western Lowland Gorilla, Year of the Gorilla

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Category: Community, Humanitarian Situation, Political situation, Press, Successes, Threats, Videos, Year of the Gorilla | Date: Jun 25 2009 | By: Daniel

World renowned conservationist George Schaller, one of the first to look at gorillas from a modern, enlightened perspective, gives a recount of his experiences and an outlook on the future and obstacles of gorilla conservation. A must-see!

There is also a higher quality version on Youtube, click here.

YoG Patron Dr. Jane Goodall (DBE) kindly supplied us with this video message of support to be shown at the Frankfurt Gorilla Symposium in Frankfurt, Germany, which took place from 9-11 June. We thank her for lending her voice to this main YoG event, whose attendees collectively produced a ‘Frankfurt Gorilla Declaration’, find out more here.

And here’s another message Jane Goodall recently shot in Africa (link to Vimeo).

Tags: awareness, George Schaller, Jane Goodall, Year of the Gorilla

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Category: Mountain Gorillas, Press, Rwanda, Successes, Trackers, Year of the Gorilla | Date: Jun 24 2009 | By: Daniel

Ian Redmond, Ambassador for the UN Year of the Gorilla, participated in the International Conference on Gorilla Conservation in Rwanda which preceded the annual Kwita Izina gorilla naming Ceremony. As well as being YoG Ambassador in 2009, he is also Chief Consultant for GRASP, the UNEP/UNESCO Great Ape Survival Partnership, aiming to conserve gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans - all of them endangered species. During his visit, The New Time’s Fred Oluoch-Ojiwah caught up with Ian Ambassador during the 5th Kwita Izina celebrations. This is a shortened version of the interview. FOO: Ambassador Ian Redmond, kindly share with readers the key focus areas of your ambassadorial duties. IR: It is 33 years this year since I first came to Rwanda to work with Nyiramatchabelli – the late Dr Dian Fossey – and I have spent much of my time since then talking about gorillas, writing about gorillas, studying and filming gorillas. Thus, my ambassadorial position has simply given more impetus to the work I already do, but on a higher level. The YoG is an international campaign in support of the new CMS Gorilla Agreement, a legally binding treaty agreed on by the 10 gorilla range states (most people don’t realise that out of nearly 200 countries in the world, only 10 have gorillas, and all of them are in Africa). It is fantastic how many people and organisations have joined in to make YoG2009 a success. All over the world governments, conservation organisations and zoos are organising conferences, fund-raising events, public lectures, gorilla film shows, etc. FOO: Do your efforts entail fundraising? If so, the global financial crisis has hit what could easily be your targeted sources. So what is your plan B if any? IR: Of course people all over the world are feeling the pinch financially, and this affects donations to charities, but many small donations can add up to significant amounts. The various partners are welcome to use the YoG to raise funds for gorilla projects, there is a list of priority projects for any donations to YoG itself – see www.YoG2009.org for details. As for Plan B – that should in fact be Plan A – there is a growing recognition that everyone on the planet benefits from the eco-system services provided by tropical forests – carbon storage, oxygen production, climate stability global rainfall and biodiversity – and yet none of us pay for them. More and more decision-makers agree this must change, and the UN Climate Conference to be held in Copenhagen this December will be where we hope the first steps will be taken by including tropical forests in the post-Kyoto climate agreement, which is currently being negotiated. If carbon finance is used to better manage and monitor tropical forests, it will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation, it should conserve endangered species such as gorillas so they continue to play their vital role in the ecology of their habitat. FOO: How do you intend to ensure a sustainable conservation for Gorillas is as far as creating a balance between tourism and conservation is concerned in Rwanda? IR: Rwanda seems to be striking that balance very well, with professional guides and calm, habituated gorillas giving an outstanding experience to every visitor who tracks what Dian Fossey used to call ‘the greatest of the great apes’. Our hope is that Rwanda, Uganda and Eastern DRC will be able to share their experiences with the other seven countries – perhaps by sending staff on secondment to work in, say, Gabon or Cameroon or Congo Brazzaville, or by inviting people trying to develop gorilla tourism in those countries to work here for a few weeks and see how you do it. Circumstances are different in each country, so methods will likely need to be adapted to fit, but the exchange of skills and experiences would be very valuable. FOO: Talk about the projects centred around giving back to the communities living close to gorillas in Rwanda. IR: The practice of revenue sharing is one of the keys to widespread acceptance by surrounding communities of the need for protecting the Virunga Volcanoes Conservation Area. We should remember, though, that it is not just about tourism dollars! Forests provide many services to everyone just by being there; water is a good example: The Volcanoes National Park is only about half of one per cent of Rwanda’s area, and yet it receives about 10 per cent of the country’s rainfall, and the forest stores that rain and releases it slowly during the dry season. Gorillas disperse the seeds of trees such as Pygeum Africana and so by protecting gorillas you also guarantee the next generation of trees and other plants that rely on them to spread their seeds. FOO: How would you rate gorilla tracking as a regional tourism attraction? IR: Over the years I have introduced hundreds of tourists to gorillas; some of them are wealthy people who have sailed up the Amazon, visited Antarctica and watched wildlife all over the world, and yet almost without exception they come down the mountain tired, wet, scratched and muddy saying that meeting gorillas is the best experience of their lives! At the same time, many of them say they were drawn to this region by the gorillas, but they fall in love with the people too – the friendly welcome and fabulous culture is just as important to visitors. FOO: You are just back from Akagera, I presume to see what Rwandan Tourism has to offer. What is your take about our destination? IR: It was wonderful to see the Akagera Lodge refurbished, and the views there are world-class. I was saddened a few years ago when Akagera was reduced in size, but from what I have heard of the government’s environmental policies today, the importance of rebuilding eco-systems outside of protected areas is well understood. Our challenge in the 21st Century is to help communities develop and improve their standard of living in a way that is compatible with a healthy planet, and that means adapting our farming methods to become more sustainable, and planting more trees (especially indigenous species, which also support bird and insect life). Tourists who fly increasingly want to offset the resulting carbon emissions; Rwanda is trying to reforest its denuded hillsides – why not put these two facts together and offer every visitor the chance to offset the greenhouse gas emissions from their travel by contributing to a community tree-planting project?

Tags: Ian Redmond, Rwanda, Threats, tourism, Year of the Gorilla

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Category: Threats, Western Lowland Gorilla, Year of the Gorilla | Date: Jun 23 2009 | By: Daniel

Today I would like to introduce a new YoG project: The PALF (Project to Apply the Law on Fauna) in the Republic of Congo. The input for this blogpost was provided by Luc Mathot of The Aspinall Foundation, and you will soon hear more from this exciting project.

PALF (Projet d’Appui à l’Application de la Loi sur la Faune Sauvage) aims to legally protect endangered species in The Republic of Congo by reinforcing the application of the law on wildlife protection and by discouraging potential hunters and wildlife traffickers. The main species targeted are gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants, leopards, parrots, mandrills and others.

The most immediate threat to protected species in the Congo Republic is illegal hunting for bushmeat and animal parts and the capture of young great apes. These activities are illegal, but the lax application of the law has not curbed commercial trafficking and the killing of these species. PALF was established as a collaboration between the Aspinall Foundation and WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), with the contribution of expertise from LAGA (Last Great Ape Organization). This NGO has been working in Cameroon for more than 6 years with very promising results which merit replication. The partners work in close collaboration with the Ministry of Forestry (MEF) and other government bodies (police, judiciary etc.).

• The objectives of PALF are as follows:
  –exposing all traffickers of ape meat, live apes, ivory and other illicit animal products, and collecting solid evidence for action against them
  –arresting the people involved in this illegal activity
  –guaranteeing that legal action will be taken, and assuring that all verdicts will be enforced
  –raising awareness in the population through media coverage concerning the application of the law on wildlife protection and the risks and penalties applied.

To attain these objectives, PALF has received financial support from USFWS (US Fish and Wildlife Service) and will receive more through this blog in YoG 2009, making possible the recruitment of investigators, two lawyers and a journalist – a team which will need to be built up gradually.

The results obtained in Brazzaville after little more than 9 months have been very positive. Nine traffickers of animal products have been arrested (three cases involving ivory, four involving leopard pelts, one involving a mandrill pelt, one involving a gorilla and one involving a chimpanzee). Despite corruption and blackmailing attempts, one trafficker of chimpanzee products has been brought to trial in the Congo. The defendant was sentenced to one year in prison and fined 1,100,000 CFA (1,679 Euro). Between September 2008 and May 2009, more than 170 articles have been published or broadcast in the Congolese media (press, television and radio), with the result that the Congolese population (particularly in Brazzaville) is now well informed about the dangers and consequences of trafficking animal products.

Law enforcement is a priority both in situ within the protected areas and in regard to the trafficking of animal products between the wild animals’ habitats and the urban areas. We are hoping that different sponsors, NGOs and government organisations, will all get involved in similar projects to apply the experience from PALF. In this way, the PALF slogan “zero tolerance for crimes against wildlife” will become a reality in Central Africa. In the words of Leonardo Da Vinci: “The day will come when the killing of an animal will be punished in the same manner as the killing of a human.”

Tags: bushmeat, fundraising, law enforcement, poaching, Threats, Western Lowland Gorilla, Year of the Gorilla

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Category: Uncategorized, Year of the Gorilla | Date: Jun 19 2009 | By: Daniel

Hello, this is Daniel writing to give you a quick update of what’s been happening over the last weeks.

The big news story is certainly the Frankfurt Gorilla Symposium from 9-11 June last week. It was a meeting of leading gorilla conservation experts with policy makers as well as corporate sector representatives. The meeting focused on the main threats to gorillas and their habitats and the steps that need to be taken to address them. To find out more about the meeting, the presentations and the Frankfurt Gorilla Declaration jointly developed and adopted by the meeting, click here (link to YoG website). We thank the German government for leading in the organisation of this major event.

Attention art lovers: several artist are helping the YoG raise funds for key projects. Their paintings, drawings and sculptures focus on gorillas and other wildlife. This way, you can donate and receive a beautiful piece of art at the same time. To find out more, click here (link to YoG website).

And finally, our very mobile Ambassador Ian Redmond is currently in Rwanda for the annual Kwita Izina gorilla-naming ceremonies, meeting Rwandan policy makers and giving lectures as he goes. We hope to hear from him soon on this blog, so stay tuned…!

Tags: fundraising, Ian Redmond, Threats, Year of the Gorilla

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Category: Community, Humanitarian Situation, Mountain Gorillas, Threats, Year of the Gorilla | Date: Jun 15 2009 | By: Daniel

Posted on behalf of Tuver Wundi of the Gorilla Organisation 

Hi, this is Tuver, Communications Manager of the Gorilla Organization.

Since the new technology for the production of fuel-efficient stoves has been popularised in the region, there is now a collective of local women producing and further popularising fuel-efficient stoves to fight against the excessive use of charcoal.

Women in Goma are now getting together to raise awareness of the fuel-efficient stoves made from clay in the city and its surroundings, and to themselves make clay dishes, one of the constituent elements of the stoves known as “Jiko Kenya” stoves, as pictured.

This practice is stressed following the popularisation of this technique by Aide Kivu, as supported by The Gorilla Organization in 2008. Although they need further funds to produce more, Aide Kivu is pleased that other partners in conservation have followed up the initiative and assisted some more mothers in Goma with the production of improved stoves.

The aim of Deocard Kalusi, Executive Secretary of Aide Kivu, is to see his organisation meet the growing needs for fuel-efficient stoves, which are now the main focus of his activities.

Please help us meet this need!

Tags: charcoal, deforestation, Mountain Gorillas, YOG

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Category: Community, Humanitarian Situation, Mountain Gorillas, Threats, Year of the Gorilla | Date: May 06 2009 | By: Daniel

I am posting this on behalf of Tuver, who works for the Gorilla Organisation Fuel-efficient stove project. 

Hi, this is Tuver

Mme. Solange Kavira, a resident of Katoy neighborhood in the city of Goma, arrived on Monday 4th May 2009 at the Office of Aide- Kivu on Masisi Avenue in the town of Goma to convey her thanks for her fuel-efficient stove.

She told Déocard Kalusi (Project Manager of Aide-Kivu), “Thanks for the stove that I purchased from Aide Kivu in July 2008 which allows me to be more efficient. I no longer use 4 bags of embers per month but 1.5 sacks. The performance of this stove is a relief for my home. “

Mme. Solange said that the stove, called “Jiko Beni”, works so well as it uses a model that reduces fuel use, which reduces costs and enables increased investment in other sectors of life. Ms. Solange also wanted to buy a new stove but was disappointed to see that no more stock is currently available from the Aide-Kivu Gorilla Organization project.

Please donate to enable the spread of more stoves! Thank you!!

Tags: charcoal, deforestation, fuel-efficient stoves, Gorilla Organisation, logging, Year of the Gorilla

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Category: Year of the Gorilla | Date: May 05 2009 | By: ian redmond

May 4, 2009: My apologies! It’s rather late in the year for the first YoG-blog from your roving Ambassador, but I’m seizing the moment en route for Graz in Austria, where I’m giving a talk tomorrow at a museum with a gorilla-themed art installation (see more info). 

My missions for YoG have been going well, but after successfully travelling all over Africa with ridiculously tight travel arrangements on two packed trips recently, today my luck ran out.  It was all going smoothly as I drove towards Stansted and at the appointed time of 0910, parked on a quiet slip-road off the motorway to do a 20 minute telephone interview with Brent Gregston of Radio France International.  Unfortunately, they didn’t call until 0920, and then spent several minutes doing sound-checks for all participants. In the studio were my goods friends Yvette Kabosa of UNESCO and Letitia Farris Toussaint, author of Gorillas – the Gentle Giants (see http://yog2009.org/index.php?view=article&id=110%3Agorillasthegentlegiantsbook&option=com_content&Itemid=67) and me were to record a ‘Crossroads Debate’ on the situation in the Virunga World Heritage Site in the light of the Year of the Gorilla.   The interview went well – and even included a few gorilla vocalisations (at Brent’s request) but it didn’t end until 0945 – quarter of an hour later than I’d expected.  You know how it is when one little delay leads to more and more – an incident on the M11 slowed the traffic, the bus from the car park sat still for ten minutes, then a staff change-over at the check-in queue meant… you guessed it - they closed the flight before I made it to the desk.  

It really is enough to make one do a hoot series and chest beat on the check-in desk!!  

For the next half-hour (during which time the plane sat on the tarmac a hundred yards away) I stood in another line to be re-routed via Linz, the nearest alternative Austrian destination served by Ryanair.  Still, the train journey to Graz, through wooded slopes topped by still-snowy peaks with an occasional roe deer at the forest edge, has given me time to blog for YoG.

My first engagement this year was in January - the UK launch of YoG, ‘Gorillas on Thin Ice’ at the Natural History Museum in London.  In recognition of it being only days before the 200th Anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth, I borrowed a Victorian frock coat and top hat (always useful having a father in the theatre) and had fun playing Darwin on Ice with a group of unnervingly talented gorilla skaters (OK, human skaters in gorilla suits, but still very impressive).  We were joined by Donal MacIntyre, the investigative reporter with whom I worked on a BBC documentary ‘Gorilla Kidnap’ in 2003, and who had just begun starring in the TV programme ‘Dancing on Ice’ (he made it to the final too – must have been the inspiration he gained by skating with gorillas and a wobbly Darwin!). 

It was a light-hearted occasion with a serious message:  gorillas are iconic species, emblematic of the Congo Basin forests – the planet’s second green lung.  They may be skating on thin ice metaphorically, but the survival of gorillas and their eco-system is central to the future stability of our climate.   In other words, the negotiators who are right now hammering out text for the post-Kyoto Protocol Treaty need to factor in the role of tropical forests, and we in the developed world need to begin paying for the eco-system services they provide. This is why gorillas (and other keystone species such as elephants) need to be protected across their range so they can continue dispersing seeds and pruning trees as they go about their lives.  They are the gardeners of the forest, and if we value the forest we shouldn’t shoot the gardeners!

I have to say that so far, my Year of the Gorilla has involved disappointingly few gorilla encounters!  A few weeks ago, however, I did visit the Limbé Wildlife Centre in Cameroon (http://www.limbewildlife.org/ and http://www.yog2009.org/YoG_Downloads/Update_LimbeWC_March_09.pdf).   Although in a captive setting, the rescued gorillas there are always a delight to watch because their behaviour is so interesting.   I spent a couple of hours communing with a group of four – a blackback male known as Arno, who looks as though he hasn’t yet grown into his nose – it seems two sizes too big for his face! – plus two adult females and an infant called Adjibolo, who was exploring the properties of the volcanic rocks in her enclosure.

Some gorillas are very inventive in their play, and Adjibolo was tapping a smaller stone on a larger one, then scraping it and tasting the resulting dust, then squiggling on her back cradling the smaller rock on her tummy. Limbé is one of three official ape sanctuaries in Cameroon, all government owned but managed in partnership with different NGOs – a system that works very well.  Law enforcement is improved because there are suitable places to care for confiscated animals, and the sanctuaries have active conservation education programmes with living animals to inspire people and discourage them from having anything to do with the illegal wildlife trade.

I was at Limbé to help open the new Born Free Foundation Rescued Chimpanzee Enclosure (http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/primates/campaign-action/limbe-sanctuary/chimp-enclosure/) which had freed up the space for the smaller group of gorillas to live separately from Limbé’s larger group – necessary now that puberty is kicking in with some of the older males!   There was a strange symmetry to the above apparently unrelated events, because I had first seen the two female gorillas – Abby and Tinu - in Taiping Zoo when filming ‘Gorilla Kidnap’ with Donal MacIntyre.   They were among the Taiping Four – gorillas who were illegally captured in Cameroon, smuggled to Ibadan Zoo in Nigeria then sold to Taiping Zoo as ‘captive bred’ reportedly for $1.6 million.  The whole tawdry affair was exposed by the International Primate Protection League in 2002, and Malaysia eventually sent them to Pretoria Zoo in South Africa;  after years of requests by the Cameroon Government for their return, they finally came to Limbé with much fanfare in 2007 (http://www.ippl.org/taiping-four-home.php).  

Sadly, after apparently settling in well for several months, one fell ill and died.  A few months later a second died, and there is much anguished debate as to the causes and what lessons might be learned.   For all their physical strength, gorillas are surprisingly fragile and their immune systems seem affected by stress, which may have played a role in this case.   Abby and Tinu, the two surviving females, certainly seem well and relaxed in their new enclosure, and perhaps they will be among those in future that meet the criteria for rehabilitation back into the wild?   The Director of Wildlife for Cameroon, Mr  Philip Takor Eta, reaffirmed in his speech at the Born Free enclosure opening that Cameroon’s long-term plan is to identify a suitable forest site for rehabilitation of confiscated animals, but no-one is under any illusions as to how difficult and expensive that long process will be.

May 5, 2009: One of the other Cameroon sanctuaries is already in a forest in Mefou National Park near Yaoundé (http://www.cwaf.org/gorillas-mefou-national-park.htm ; Mefou is co-managed by CWAF, which has just re-launched as Ape Action Africa, see http://www.apeactionafrica.org/index), with gorillas and other primates in electric-fenced enclosures.  These give the orphans an opportunity to forage for some of their own food, but the enclosures are not big enough to sustain the number of animals without supplementary feeding.  It is wonderful to be able to watch gorillas in their natural habitat, even behind a fence.  

An artist named Diana Thater was so inspired by her visit to Mefou, she created a video art installation which is currently displayed at the Kunsthaus Museum in Graz, Austria - http://artipedia.org/artsnews/exhibitions/2009/01/27/gorillagorillagorilla-diana-thater-at-kunsthaus-graz/ - which is – as you might have guessed - why I am in Graz today, to give a YoG lecture and encourage Austria to support our efforts.

Cheers, I will try to blog again soon,

Ian

Tags: events, Ian Redmond, lectures, publication, Year of the Gorilla, YoG Ambassador

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: May 05 2009 | By: paula

A new and shocking report by the Endangered Species International (ESI) reveals that over 300 gorillas are killed and sold for meat annually at Pointe Noire in the Republic of the Congo.  Using undercover methods at key markets in the city of Pointe Noire in 2008 and early 2009, ESI found that 95 percent of the illegal bushmeat sold originates from the Kouilou region about 100-150 km northwest to Pointe Noire where primary and unprotected rainforest still remains. The Kouilou region is one the last reservoirs of biodiversity and endangered animals in the area.

Gorilla meat is sold in the form of smoked meat already cut in pieces. A piece of hand size smoked gorilla is usually sold for 2,500 CFA (6 USD).

Other wildlife species sold in the local markets include mandrill, African rock python, spotted hyaena, great blue turaco, Nile monitor, and black-and-white-casqued hornbill.

Help us to stop the illegal trade in gorillas, make a donation today to support the year of the gorilla.

Tags: Congo, Endangered Species International, gorilla, illegal trade, pointe Noire, trade

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Apr 29 2009 | By: paula

Earlier this year we (WildlifeDirect) were approached by someone commissioned by a rich citizen of a middle eastern country, who wanted to know how to go about purchasing a baby gorilla. We were very disturbed at the request, and explained as politely as possible, the legal and ethical implications and consequences. Well, it’s obvious that there is a market for baby gorillas as has just been reported by the ICCN.

On Sunday a suspected gorilla trafficker was caught and arrested at Goma International Airport.  He arrived from Walikale with a baby eastern lowland gorilla hidden under clothes at the bottom of a bag.  This baby came from Congo which is the only place where this species is found. The baby was stressed and was “suffering from over-heating and dehydration after spending over 6 hours in transit”.

This video shows how the operation was conducted by the Virunga National Park. WildlifeDirects former CEO Emmanuel de Merode led the 3 month opearation. Congratulations to everyone at the ICCN - lets hope that justice will be served and the baby gorilla returns to it’s natural habitat.

Read the ICCN press release here

Tags: Congo, DRC, gorilla, ICCN, lowland gorilla, mountain gorilla, wildlife trade, wildlife trafficking

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