Gorilla Protection

Category: DRC, Gorilla Range States, Mountain Gorillas, Patrols, Political situation, Press, Rangers, Threats, Year of the Gorilla, law enforcement | Date: Aug 24 2009 | By: Daniel

Posted on behalf of Ian Redmond, Year of the Gorilla Ambassador. 

These past few days since my last blog have been an extraordinary journey, not just geographically but between the extremes of human nature – great joy and inspiration contrasting with harrowing stories of our species’ ability to inflict great suffering.  Email access has been intermittent and time short, but let me bring you up to date day by day:

15^th - Lake Kivu is a beautiful lake, dotted with islands and dug-out canoes.  Crossing it on the deck of a high-speed ferry is a delightful experience on a fine day.   Inside, the passenger cabin has rows of comfortable seats on either side of a central aisle and a wide-screen TV which usually shows videos.  Unfortunately the DVD player had malfunctioned so we had to make our own entertainment (reviewing rushes with the Australian Network 7 crew).  This was a particular disappointment to me because the videos most often shown nowadays are documentaries provided by the Great Apes Film Initiative (http://www.gafi4apes.org) in association with the Gorilla Organization (GO).  

GAFI aims to rectify the iniquitous fact that films made about wildlife by TV companies in UK, Europe, America and Japan are unaffordable to most TV stations in the developing world where so many of those documentaries are made.  Thus, the average man, woman or child in the street in UK or USA knows more about gorillas than their counterparts in Africa.  GAFI has begun to rectify that by negotiating broadcast rights for films about great apes on TV stations in great ape range states.  And with the help of partner NGOs, also organises public screenings and provides a library of such films to education centres.  

The screenings on the Lake Kivu ferries have been a great success, educating all those able to afford the $50 fare (politicians, aid workers, businessmen and -women) about the importance of conserving Congo’s forest eco-systems.  As the steward served drinks and sandwiches, I asked if he had the GAFI films and he immediately opened the cupboard under the screen to show me the BBC’s award-winning three-part series on the Congo basin.  Shame the DVD player was broken today…

As we pulled up to the Goma jetty, I was met by Tuver Wundi, a journalist who works with GO;  we did a quick YoG interview with Captain Amisi about the GAFI films (sorry, video uploading not yet sorted, so plan B is to send DVDs to colleagues at the Convention on Migratory Species – thank you, Gentle Reader, for  your patience.  If that fails, I guess I’ll try tying them to the leg of a pigeon!!).   Tuver bounced me to the border on the back of his trail bike, negotiating volcanic rocks and the famous lava flow through the middle of the town, to meet Jillian Miller, GO CEO. She was waiting in line at the DRC border-post, crossing into Rwanda, after showing a BBC World team a GO project that had been nominated for an award (see http://www.gorillas.org/worldchallenge09 ). 

Before I crossed, however, I wanted to visit the GO Resource Centre and interview some Goma conservationists about the Year of the Gorilla.  I rang Pierre Peron, a former Ape Alliance volunteer now working for ICCN, the Congolese Wildlife Dept, and received some shocking news.  The previous day, a patrol of Virunga Park rangers had come across some hippo poachers near Lake Edward.   The poachers had opened fire and in the ensuing fire-fight, one ranger had been killed.  Without doubt, the rangers patrolling DRC parks are among the most courageous protectors of Nature on the planet.  Senior staff were understandably busy dealing with the aftermath and unavailable for a YoG interview, so I talked to my old friend Vital Katembo and the GO team instead, before crossing into Rwanda to meet up with the Australians again.

Read Ian’s previous post here.

Tags: conservation, fuel-efficient stoves, gorillas, great apes film initiative, Ian Redmond, lake kivu, media, militias, range states, Threats, Year of the Gorilla

2 responses so far

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

One response so far

Category: Community, Mountain Gorillas, Threats, Year of the Gorilla | Date: Apr 27 2009 | By: Daniel

I post this on behalf of Tuver, the communications manager of the Gorilla Organization, and blogger for the stoves project.

Hi, this is Tuver,

Madame Helena, a charcoal seller in the little TMK market in Goma, came to complain last Friday about the fall in customers, now that many people in her area are using fuel-efficient stoves distributed from the display room of AIDE-Kivu located in Katindo. She accuses AIDE-Kivu of providing good fuel-efficient stoves to residents of Goma, who are now using less charcoal since they have improved their lifestyle by using these stoves, and in this way reducing the consumption of charcoal and wood coming from the Virunga National Park and its surroundings. This seller told Madame Habamungu Maisirika Docile, who is in charge of promoting and selling the fuel-efficient stoves for AIDE-Kivu, that they are not meeting the demand at the store, as many women are trying out the special “Kenya Jiko” and “Bembeleza” stoves produced through the Gorilla Organization - AIDE-Kivu partnership.

However, she was pleased to see that the stock of these stoves had noticeably reduced at the display room, and told herself to get ready to corner the market during the drop in supply, because these families will not realise how to get themselves this technology that reduces the harmful effects on the natural habitat of our close cousins the gorillas. It is therefore time to act so that AIDE-Kivu are not lacking the materials to produce these modern stoves. Act now!

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

3 responses so far