Gorilla Project Unites Uganda, Rwanda And Congo

Francis Kwera, PlanetArk 21 Feb 08;

KAMPALA - Uganda, Rwanda and Congo launched a joint effort on Wednesday to protect endangered mountain gorillas that roam the three nations' jungle borders.

Fewer than 720 of the primates -- famous for the shimmering silver hair on the backs of males -- are believed to exist in the wild, spread across the remote Virunga hills where Democratic Republic of Congo meets Uganda and Rwanda.

They are a lucrative source of income from tourists, many of whom are high-end visitors paying $500 a day for tracking permits.

"For the first time, the three countries have decided to protect the great apes which are threatened with extinction and insecurity in the region," Moses Mapesa, the head of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), told a news conference in Kampala.

His Rwandan counterpart, Rosette Rugamba, said gorilla numbers were at risk from poaching, encroachment by humans and insecurity. Eastern Congo is a hotbed of militia groups, some of which have been accused of hunting mountain gorillas.

"The 10-year trans-boundary strategic plan will identify groups and communities which affect the life in the Virunga area and directly address encroachment and poaching," she said.

The first four years of the plan, costing 4.1 million euro ($6.03 million) is being funded by the Dutch government.

According to the UWA, the number of gorillas in southwest Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, a stand-alone enclave for the primates, is 340 -- making it the single largest population.

Another 250 are thought to roam on the Rwandan side of the border. A smaller number are in Congo, where wildlife officials say at least 10 were killed last year.

Gorilla numbers across the region fell to a low of around 370 in the 1980s. But renewed conservation efforts, coupled with the primates' growing value as tourist attractions, has seen numbers recover. Bwindi has seen 12 percent population growth over the last decade due to better protection from poachers.

(Editing by Daniel Wallis)

Africa's Great Lakes nations launch project to protect rare gorillas
Yahoo News 21 Feb 08;

Three Great Lakes nations on Wednesday launched a joint project to protect the rare mountain gorillas that are threatened with extinction in the east central African region.

About 720 critically endangered mountain gorillas remain in the wild, all of them in the mountain forests of Rwanda, Uganda and the volatile east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The first four years of the "10-year strategic project" is funded by the Dutch government and is aimed at protecting the mountain gorillas and their habitat as well adressing poaching and encroachment that have blighted the rare species.

The scheme will include measures to improve the lives of the communities who depend on the nearby national parks for survival, said Uganda Wildlife Authority spokeswoman Lillian Nsubuga.

"About four million euro (5.8 million dollars) will go into this project," she told AFP, adding that the three nations derive about five million dollars (3.4 million euros) a year from interest in the mountain gorillas, including tourism.

Officials said project will seek strengthening and harmonisation of the three countries' policies and laws on the conservation and management of protected areas and the associated natural resources.

In addition, they called for political support from their respective governments to the ongoing transboundary conservation initiatives.

"The International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) is to ensure the conservation of mountain gorillas and their regional afromontane forest habitat in Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC," according to a joint statement by wildlife officials in the three nations.

Ten mountain gorillas have been killed and two have gone missing in the DRC Virunga park since January 2007. These deaths, some blamed on fighters loyal to cashiered DRC general Laurent Nkunda, have sparked outrage among conservationists.

After two were killed and eaten in January last year, the renegade troops pledged to halt the killings in a meeting with Virunga park officials mediated by the United Nations and Congolese army, but the deal fell apart.

Local and foreign militias as well as Congolese soldiers, poachers and illegal miners regularly cross this area of the park, one of Africa's largest.

According to conservationists, about 720 critically endangered mountain gorillas -- estimated figures as follows: 340 in Uganda, 250 in Rwanda and 130 in eastern DRC -- remain in the wild, all of them in the mountainious forests in the three countries.

There are 1,100 rangers protecting five national parks -- four of which are classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites -- in eastern DRC. Some 150 rangers have been killed while on duty in the past decade.