Gorilla Protection

Category: Community, DRC, Eastern Lowland Gorilla, Gorilla Range States, Grauer's Gorillas, Humanitarian Situation, Patrols, Political situation, Press, Rangers, Threats, Trackers, Year of the Gorilla, law enforcement | Date: Aug 14 2009 | By: Daniel

Posted for YoG Ambassador Ian Redmond.

The excitement was palpable on the drive up to Kahuzi-Biega National Park HQ.  For several of the Australian Network 7 TV crew, this was to be their first gorilla encounter and they had been planning for months and travelling for days to get here. The chief warden had agreed to give an interview, and I wanted to ask him to give the first of my YoG Blog interviews.   Only then would we head into the forest in search of gorillas.

The warden, Mr Radar Nishuli, was ready for us and I guess we expected a typical warden’s interview about the problems of running a World Heritage Site over-run by militias and rebels.  Standing in front of a pile of elephant and gorilla skulls, evidence of bushmeat poaching from the vicinity of the HQ during the war, the camera started rolling.  Radar didn’t disappoint, but it was pretty standard fare until he was asked why he did what he did;  he thought for a moment (English being his fourth language) and explained that he had been working in the park for 25 years and had come to know and admire the gorillas; it would be difficult to express to someone who had not experienced a gorilla encounter but – and he searched for the words – there is something about the way they behave with each other and how they use the forest, “God gave us intelligence and what do we do?  We destroy things.   Gorillas don’t have the intelligence to make cars and guns and things, but they have their families and live in harmony with nature…”   I’m paraphrasing here, but the meaning was so clear and so profound, we were all taken aback by his eloquence.   Afterwards I asked him to summarise what he thought of the UN Year of the Gorilla in the light of what he had said… as soon as I have worked out how to compress a massive HD video file down to a size that can be up-loaded to the internet you’ll see what he said.

Afterwards, I was delighted to greet one of the unsung heroes of gorilla conservation, the venerable old pygmy tracker Pili-Pili.  He began working with the Park’s founder, the late Adrian Deschryver, in the 1960s and although long retired and now showing his age, he still seemed fit – indeed after our chat he began picking weeds off the stone steps to the park visitor centre.   When I asked about his health, he told me he is usually hungry (there being no such thing as a pension scheme) but the weeds he was picking had medicinal value;  I paid him something for his weeding and asked a friend to take my photo with him – I hope someone sits down with him and takes down his oral history, for he has lived an extraordinary life.

It was then just a short drive along the road through the park to a trail leading to where the advance party of trackers had already located Chimanuka’s Group.   Perhaps it was because we were so late starting, but the trek was long and it was mid-afternoon before we reached the gorillas.   For the producer’s and presenter’s first gorilla sighting it was pretty impressive – Chimanuka the silverback and several females and young were high up in a Myrianthus tree feeding on fruit.   As we peered upwards and dodged falling fruit, Chimanuka clambered to the main fork and carefully embraced the trunk for a controlled slither down to the ground.   At a leisurely pace the females followed, some finding more acrobatic routes down, and one reaching to a neighbouring tree with a long slender branchless trunk and sliding down like a fireman’s pole (video to follow).   So much for the wildlife books that still talk about gorillas being too heavy to climb trees – they are excellent if careful climbers and do so whenever there is fruit or other food to be had in the canopy.   The group continued travel-feeding on the ground for a while as we struggled behind untangling tripods and buckles from vines and thickets.

The vines are very thick nowadays, it is thought, because of the absence of elephants. As John Kahekwa of the Pole-Pole Foundation explained in my second YoG interview, the vines are now over-running fruit trees, bamboo and other favourite gorilla food-plants.  A few elephants were recently spotted for the first time in a decade, but before the war this part of the park was home to about 350 and it will likely be a long time before numbers recover to the point where the ecological balance is restored.  We can only wait and see how the gorillas cope with this degraded habitat.

Eventually the group settled down and the cameraman got some beautiful shots of Chumanuka grooming an infant (silverbacks often babysit with the kids while the females have a quiet nap – very ‘new-man’ in their approach to family life!). John explained that the infant has been named Pili-Pili after the retired tracker.

Soon after the group moved off, searching for food plants, we came across an old antelope trap just where they had passed.   Fortunately, the trigger mechanism had rotted and the pole had no noose on the end, but I cut it with my trusty panga to prevent anyone re-setting it – many young gorillas and chimpanzees have lost hands or even died from gangrene after being caught in these indiscriminate snares.  It highlighted the dangers gorillas still face, even in patrolled areas.  And as Dominique Bikaba, coordinator of PoPoF pointed out, it is also why surrounding communities need to be engaged in the protection of their park – patrols can never cut every trap if there is a constant setting of new ones – we need potential poachers to understand how the rain that waters their crops comes from the forest, and that by protecting it they will get more benefits in the long run.  As we left the park, however, we saw the dangers the local communities face too.   Right where we had left our vehicles we found broken glass and empty brass cartridge cases where only two months ago, a band of ‘negative forces’ (as militias are referred to here) ambushed a lorry.   Ten people died and many others were injured and traumatised.   It is not easy living in such insecurity, but some of my oldest friends continue to protect the gorillas and the forest despite the danger.   Their dedication is an inspiration to me - surely they need our support now more than ever?

Read Ian’s previous post here.

Tags: DRC, Elephants, gorillas, Ian Redmond, kahuzi-biega, poachers, Rangers, YOG

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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 | Date: Mar 26 2009 | By: Daniel

Today, I would like to feature another Year of the Gorilla project, this time for Mountain Gorillas. The project is a low-cost high-impact project benefiting the gorillas and their habitat as well as the local human population. The Gorilla Organisation runs it, and you will hear from them on this blog soon.

Fuel-efficient Stoves to reduce Firewood Harvesting in Mountain Gorilla Habitat

Trespassing into the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) national parks to collect firewood and charcoal is destroying the forests and threatening the survival of the gorillas that inhabit them. The use of fuel-efficient stoves reduces firewood consumption by up to 70%, reducing the demand for fuel and therefore decreasing the local communities’ reliance on the forest resources. These stoves not only benefit the environment, but also reduce the cost of fuel, as less is required and produce less smoke than traditional stoves, improving the health of those within the household. 

Objectives: The overall objective of the project is to reduce reliance on the resources of the Virunga National Park through the production and distribution of fuel-efficient stoves in North Kivu Province, DRC. The specific objectives are:
- To produce and distribute a minimum of 1,000 fuel-efficient stoves.
- To improve health by reducing the volume of harmful smoke produced by stoves.
- To increase community awareness of the consequences of deforestation and the need to conserve DRC’s forests.

 Activities: The project began in January 2008 and is already having a very positive impact on the communities living around the Virunga National Park. A workshop where stoves will be produced has been installed on the main Goma - Bukavu road where communities lack electricity and therefore rely solely on charcoal and firewood, and by the end of the year 500 stoves will have been produced. These are being sold for $3 each, helping to generate a small profit, which is being reinvested in the project. Regular workshops are held to sensitise both the communities and the local authorities on the importance of using fuel-efficient stoves and the need for forest conservation. During 2009 the project is set to produce a further 500 - 1,000 stoves and will continue all sensitisation activities.

2009 Budget : $ 21,258 (£ 12,503)
This includes staff, office and travel expenses as well as the costs for tools, materials and workshops.

This is a sustainability project par excellence and benefits all sides: the gorillas and other animals of the forest, the forest itself and the local population. Speak of a win-win…Please donate for this great project!!

Tags: mountain gorilla, sustainability, Year of the Gorilla, YOG

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