Organization: Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
Mission: Helping People, Saving GorillasSee Schedule OThe Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, Inc., is dedicated to the conservation of gorillas and their habitats in Africa. We are committed to promoting continued research on their threatened ecosystems and education about their relevance to the world in which we live. In collaboration with government agencies and other international partners, we also provide assistance to local communities through education, food security and economic development initiatives.
Activities: (Protecting Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda, Karisoke Research Center) The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (the "Fossey Fund") work in Rwanda takes place through its Karisoke Research Center. Founded in 1967 by Dr. Dian Fossey in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park, Karisoke has since expanded to include a variety of programs aimed at saving gorillas and their unique ecosystem, as well as helping local communities in the area. Currently, Karisoke's 80 field staff provide daily protection to half of the gorilla families found in Rwanda. They also conduct anti-poaching patrols aimed to minimize threats of snare and other illegal activities to gorillas and the larger wildlife. Between October 2019 and September 2020, a total of 200 anti-poaching patrols were conducted and our teams removed 357 snares. Through daily monitoring and anti-poaching patrols, research by an international team of scientists, and collaboration with local partners, the mountain gorilla population in the Virunga mountains area has almost doubled, from a low of 240 in the 1980s to a population of 604 according to the latest census. It is the only great ape whose numbers are increasing. However, this tiny population remains in need of continued protection and continues to face numerous challenges, including limited habitat, threat of disease, and pressures on the forests where they live. The Fossey Fund also manages programs aimed at providing food and water security and livelihood opportunities. In 2020, these focused on livestock distributions, kitchen gardens and improved farming techniques, bamboo propagation, mushroom cultivation, and water infrastructure improvements.The Fossey Fund initiated a major project to construct a new facility in Rwanda to expand its research, education, community outreach activities and visitor engagement (the "Project"). The Project secured major funding through the Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund (the "Ellen Fund") and other donors, and is named the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. The Fossey Fund previously acquired approximately twenty acres of land for the Project. Construction of the Project commenced in October 2019 and is projected to be completed in the summer of 2021. The Project will replace the currently leased facility in Musanze, Rwanda.
(Grauer's Gorilla Conservation and Research Program)Critically endangered Grauer's gorillas are unique to the eastern portion of the Democratic Republic of Congo but have received little study or protection, especially in the last two decades, due primarily to civil unrest in the region. They have suffered tremendous declines during this time and are estimated to have fewer than 4,000 individuals remaining and are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The Fossey Fund started working in this area in 2001, to help create a corridor of community-managed nature reserves in Congo. In 2012, the Fossey Fund established a permanent research and conservation field station in the village of Nkuba, at the edge of a pristine but unprotected forest that is home to Grauer's gorillas and other highly endangered wildlife. Working through the traditional landowner structure, we now provide protection to a 330,000 acre area of primary forest. This work protects an estimated population of 150-200 Grauer's gorillas and also helps many other species of wildlife living in this area, including eastern chimpanzee, bongo, and leopard. In addition, we support the Congolese wildlife authorities by studying additional areas where these gorillas may still be found and require protection. In 2020, we started identifying expansion opportunities with the goal of protecting 500,000 acres in the next five years. Our community work in Congo focuses on working with landowners to provide alternative livelihood sources and food security. We provide technical training and support to encourage communities to develop fish farming, animal husbandry initiatives, and agro-forestry and farming in order to help communities from Nkuba and nearby villages reduce their dependence on bushmeat. We work with 30 families and are now reaching close to 2,000 people.
(Education, Capacity Building and Awareness)One of the Fossey Fund's primary goals is to build conservation capacity and awareness in the areas where we work, among our staff, students, local scientists, and communities. More than 98% of our 210 staff in Africa are African and we have supported university and graduate-degree studies for more than 60 of our team members. The Fossey Fund also supports the capacity of our staff through education opportunities. In 2020 alone, we supported 27 African staff members in earning bachelor's degrees, while five were earning master's degrees and one is earning a doctorate degree. For more than 15 years, we have collaborated with the University of Rwanda (UR) to bring hundreds of students to Karisoke for field courses, research projects and completion of their undergraduate senior research projects in biology; in recent years, we have expanded to include other universities in Rwanda as well as in Congo. We annually host roughly 400 students for courses in the primatology and conservation biology field. We also provide financial and supervisory support for UR students to conduct their senior thesis research on site at Karisoke, a program that has been ongoing since 2003, and we now also offer both academic and professional internships to local students and graduates. More than 85 percent of our students go on to careers in conservation and science within Rwanda. The Fossey Fund also supports the capacity of our staff through education opportunities. In conservation education, the Fossey Fund's programs help primary and secondary school children learn about the richness of their natural heritage and the unique species that share their ecosystem. In Rwanda, this includes training for teachers and headmasters, working with 15 environmental clubs we established at local schools, field visits for school children, and school supply support for a local primary school. In 2020, we trained 60 teachers on environmental curriculum and worked with the nature clubs to plant and distribute 15,000 trees within local communities around the park. In Congo, we support the educational fees of more than 220 students, 38 of whom received their secondary school degree this year, and have established two nature clubs to support school gardens at a local primary school. Thousands of visitors now attend the Fossey Fund's unique gorilla-conservation exhibit at the Karisoke Research Center, which provides additional learning opportunities for both local people, schools, tourists, and other visitors. This exhibit opened in December 2016 but because of the pandemic was closed and served very few people this year. Globally, the Fossey Fund's website at gorillafund.org, our news-blog, our enews, our newsletters, and our social media sites are a main outreach tool to inform and engage the public by describing our work, providing basic information about gorillas and their conservation as well as educational materials, and reporting on important findings and research, and suggesting ways to help. There are more than 500,000 page views on our website each year and we have more than 600,000 followers on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media channels.
NTEE category: International, Foreign Affairs & National Security
Secondary category: Animal-Related