An estimated 25 of these animals remain, making them among the most endangered sub-species on the planet. The Great Lakes region also is home to many other rare and endangered species, including forest elephants, chimpanzees, golden monkeys, black fronted duikers, okapis, golden cats, ruwenzori touracos and many others. Afromontaine forest found in national parks such as Bwindi, Mgahinga, Virunga and Volcano is considered to be one of the rarest types of vegetation on the continent. The Great Lakes region is home to some of the world's poorest people. In eastern Congo, most people live at a subsistence level.
Population densities surrounding many national parks are some of the highest in Africa.
In communities surrounding the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, for example, the average family size is six people and the population is growing at 2.5 percent each year. Tourism at Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park accounted for 70 percent of the Ugandan Wildlife Authority's total revenues. Insecurity, such as the recent attack on tourists and rangers in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, has limited access to many protected natural areas throughout Burundi, Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, with dire consequences for humans and animals alike. The fate of these animals depends on the well-being of the people that surround them, and that depends on regional stability and security. The three agencies working together in Bwindi warned that insecurity in Burundi, Congo, Rwanda and Uganda have frightened tourists away from the region and have, in the process, cut off an important source of revenue for both government and local communities.