I want to introduce you to Pili-Pili. He is truly one of the unsung heroes of gorilla conservation. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Kahuzi Biega National Park you will meet Pili-Pili at the Tshivanga station – the entrance to the park. It is here that Pili-Pili greets visitors and shares his knowledge with today’s rangers.

Pili-Pili worked alongside Kahuzi Biega National Park’s founder, the late Adrian Deschryver, in the 1960s and was the first ever ranger to habituate gorillas in the park. As you can imagine he knows everything about the park and has more experience with gorillas than anyone I know.

Pili-Pili is now too old to make the trek in to the forest to see the gorillas (he is not sure himself how old he is), but he is a fountain of knowledge. The chief warden at the park, Mr Radar Nishuli, calls him the living library of gorilla conservation as he knows so much about the gorillas and is happy to share his vast experience with anyone who has the time to talk to him.

Here is a photo of me with Pili-Pili!

I have just got back to the office in Goma after a trip to Kahuzi Biega National Park. I was hoping to get some photos of the new baby twins that were born into Chiminuka’s group in November. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to see the twins, their mother is being very protective of them and is keeping them away – which is great as she is keeping them very safe, but a shame that we don’t have any photos to show you.

I did however see Chiminuka (this is a photo of me with Chiminuka) – I have had the privilege of meeting him many times but I am always amazed at how strong and handsome he is. We were also delighted to see one of the other sets of twins in Chiminuka’s family. The photo below is of one of the twins up a tree – the rangers say the twins are now two years old and although they don’t yet have names they are looking forward to naming them soon.

Fingers crossed we will get some photos of the new born twins very soon!

I have some exciting news. Our rangers at Kahuzi Beiga National Park have reported that twin baby gorillas were born a few weeks ago! The twins have been born in to the Chimanuka group and are the fourth pair of twins born in to this family.

There are fewer than 5,000 eastern  lowland gorillas remaining in the wild and Kahuzi Biega National Park, on the eastern edge of DRC, is home to one of the largest populations. The birth of the twins brings the number of gorillas in Chiminuka’s family to a grand total of 30, which is wonderful!

At the moment I don’t have any photos of the newborn twins but as soon as I do I will post them on the blog. In the mean time here is a photo of the magnificent Chiminuka – the proud father!

Last week I joined the entire Gorilla Organization field team, and our director Jillian Miller, for the Gorilla Organization’s annual strategy meeting. Every year in October we get together to discuss the year that has just passed and to make plans for the following year. It is a great opportunity to share experiences with our colleagues from other countries, who are working with different gorilla populations, and we always come away with new ideas!

Here is a picture of us at the meeting. You can see Jillian, our director, to the right of the photo. Next to her is Aimee, who fundraises in our London office and did an amazing job of taking the minutes. At the end of the table is Emmanuel, our Rwandan Programme Manager,  Sam, our Ugandan Programme Manager and Henry, our Congolese Programme Manager.

We began the meeting by discussing the work that had taken place in 2010. The current economic climate has meant that it has not been the easiest of years but despite this we were all proud of what we have achieved. Our gorilla conservation work has continued, and all our African partners have completed their targets for the year with our support.

There are great plans for our projects for 2011, which will make a huge impact on the protection of the gorilla habitat and the gorillas’ long-term survival projects. 17 project partners hope to receive our support in 2011, as do the wildlife authorities of Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo. For all these plans to materialise we need to raise over US$800,000 – it is going to be a busy year!!

Please do get in touch if you would like to find out more about the specific plans we have for 2011 or if you are able to support our work during the coming year.

Thank you!

The trees were provided by our resource centre and I joined the women on their 7km march to the site of the tree planting, where the Vice Governor of North Kivu Mr. Feller Lutaichirwa Mulwahale planted the first tree. These trees are not only a symbol of peace but also reinforce the reforestation of the area that began last year.

The World Day of Peace celebrations continued in Bukavu, where we also run projects to protect the gorilla habitat. President Joseph Kabila joined local women to deliver the torch of peace and all in all there was a very positive feeling surround this special day.

Have a look at some of the photos of the tree planting – it was a wet day but we were happy about rain as it is good for the trees!

This coming Saturday is the annual Great Gorilla Run in London, UK. Hundreds of people dress up as gorillas and run around the city to raise money for our projects out here in Africa – it is an amazing event.

Three years ago I was given the fantastic opportunity to travel to London and take part in the Great Gorilla Run – it was one of the best days of my life!

When I was told that I was going to London It was difficult to imagine what it would be like. And when I was told that I would be running 7kms around London dressed in gorilla suit … well, that was another point. I think my neighbours still remember seeing me running through the streets of Gisenyi, my town in Rwanda, as I trained for the Great Gorilla Run.

September arrived and I travelled more than 6000km to reach London. I was really excited to see what this town, which I have heard so much about, was really like!

The D-day arrived, and I met all the other gorilla runners at Minster Court and started putting on my gorilla suit. I was happy to wear number 700, the number of Mountain gorillas living in the world at the time.

Until then, I was confident with my training, my thoughts were to win it. However, I realised that this was not going to be an easy run. As I waited at the start it was so strange seeing many different people excited about dressing as gorillas and trying to imitate their behaviours by either eating a banana, roaring or charging!

Each time, I was wondering what would happen if they saw real gorillas. Or, if those gorilla statues at Minster court were real gorillas seeing them!?!  Surely they would be delighted to see a human struggling to become a gorilla!!

Once the kick off was given, I started running following others and holding a collection bucket, which I was using to collect money from viewers enjoying the Sunday sun! I can remember being stopped by a couple, probably, they wanted to check if I was a real gorilla and to prove this I charged!!! They ran away but immediately came back and put some coins into the bucket before wishing me success!

Although I had studied the map of the run, I couldn’t locate myself between the high buildings. It was difficulty to see the sky and the sun which is how we traditionally find our way in Rwanda. I was simply following others!!

I can not remember how many bridges I crossed, I could not even remember how long it took me, what I remember is that I did it, it was amazing and raised I collected £75 in my bucket during the run!!

Can you spot me in the photo!

I am the manager of the Gorilla Organization’s Resource Centre in Goma, DRC and I oversee all of our Congolese projects. The gorillas in DRC are threatened with extinction because of habitat loss, hunting and disease. We are facing these threats with a programme of conservation, education and socio-economic development in communities bordering the national parks. Goma is the ideal base for our work as it is between Virunga National Park, Kahuzi Biega National Park and the Walikale Forest Reserve – all of which are home to endangered gorilla populations.

We work very closely with the local authorities and the wildlife authorities. Thanks to these strong

relationships, a dedicated team of local staff and the close proximity of the resource centre to the gorilla habitats, we have able to continue our gorilla conservation work through the most turbulent regions in the history of the region.

The emphasis of our work is on small quick-impact projects but also on capacity building of local partners. I will tell you more about our different projects on this blog!

Henry

Every Monday evening at 19:30h (Goma time) I broadcast the Gorilla Organization’s radio show – Cosmos, Our World. Today I am preparing for tonight’s programme, which will discuss climate change in Eastern DRC. I am interviewing one of or partners, Dominique Bikaba, who works with the Pole Pole Foundation on our tree- planting project.

(Here is a photo of me interviewing a ranger and one of me in the studi0)
The first Gorilla Organization broadcast was 11 years ago and they have become really popular – we now have a very dedicated following. I really think it is great way to communicate with people living in the area and it is important to me to hear what people have to say about conservation and the environment. I invite as many people from the local communities to talk about the issues as I can and we listen carefully to what they have to say.

Every week there is a different topic so if you are based in Eastern DRC please listen in. Cosmos, Our World 19h30 to 2000h, on 90FM RTNC Goma.

The majority of our work is based in the communities living just outside the gorilla habitat. We work with local African NGOs and partners to help communities access all the resources they need outside of the national park. By giving communities access to fresh water, fuel and nutritious food, and helping them to lift themselves out of poverty we are able to relieve the national parks from human pressure and greatly reduce the damage caused to the gorilla habitat – one of the main threats to the gorillas’ long-term survival.

To support this work we run an education scheme that gets the communities involved with conservation and we also work with the wildlife authorities and a number of specialist teams of gorilla rangers. There is loads of information on our website www.gorillas.org so do have a look if you would like to find out more.

Introducing the GO team!

Henry Cirhuza

Henry is our Congolese programme manager and is based in Goma. He looks after projects over a large area in Eastern DR Congo spanning from Rutshuru on the edge of Virungas National Park to the communities in and around Kahuzi Biega National Park – home to one of the largest eastern lowland gorilla populations.

Emmanuel Bugingo

Emmanuel manages our Rwandan programme and runs our lively resource centre in Ruhengeri, on the edge of the Volcanoes National Park and Rwanda’s mountain gorilla habitat. The projects here range from water cisterns and organic farming to wildlife clubs in schools so there is always a lot going on!

Sam Nsingwire

Sam heads up the Ugandan programme and is based in Kisoro on the edge of Mgahinga National Park which is part of the Virungas Massive. The projects here are all tailored to this unique area and I am sure Sam will tell you more!

Tuver Wundi

Last but certainly not least is Tuver, who you will have met before on this blog. Tuver is the Gorilla Organization’s field communication manager and while he is based in Goma he travels throughout the region regularly, keeping on top of everything that is going on and collecting news for his weekly radio broadcast.

Right I will hand you over to the team, but do keep in touch, we would love to hear your comments!

Here is a video of Buhanga in happier times