Communities Go All in to Protect Their Lands… and Their Gorillas!

Communities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo play a crucial part in saving endangered species such as the mountain gorilla, and through a community-protection initiative, more primate species will be better protected, including the Grauer’s gorilla.

“The wildlife there would be gone if it weren’t for community involvement and management,” says Richard Bergl, a primatologist and director of conservation at the North Carolina Zoo. “If we’re going to be successful, it’s going to be because of efforts to support the communities to manage their forests.”

Since 2016, communities can apply for rights to manage their traditional lands. The nonprofit Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund has expanded the program by 796 square kilometers, so a total of 2,379 square kilometers of land are now being watched by some 20 families. The Fossey Fund offers these local communities assistance, training, education, and funding to manage their territory sustainably. Therefore, they monitor the biodiversity of the forest – biological inventories, gorilla tracking, and plant biomass for estimating carbon capture. The positive effect community-based conservation schemes have on slowing or reversing the decline of endangered species has been proven in other countries already, such as Nigeria and Namibia.