22 Feb 2008
- Borders will matter less to central Africa’s
mountain gorillas, following the launch
of a strategic conservation plan and an
associated project which covers adjoining
areas of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
There are only about
720 gorillas left in the tropical mountain
forests shared by the three countries, the
Central Albertine Rift Area Network. The
gorillas’ natural habitat is threatened
by the destruction of these forests and
the great apes themselves are victims of
poachers.
Protected area authorities
of the three countries launched their 10-year
Transboundary Strategic Plan for the Central
Albertine Rift Protected Area Network on
20 February 2008 in Kampala.
The project is part
of the 10-year strategic plan developed
by the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation
de la Nature (ICCN), the Office Rwandais
du Tourisme et des Parcs Nationaux (ORTPN)
and the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA),
and is supported by the International Gorilla
Conservation Programme (IGCP). IGCP is a
coalition of the World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF), African Wildlife Foundation (AWF),
and Fauna & Flora International (FFI).
The project secretariat is to be hosted
by IGCP.
Also launched was a
4 million euro transboundary conservation
project funded by the Dutch Government through
the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Kigali
Rwanda.
The new transboundary
strategic plan aims to improve community
livelihoods and contribute to the stability
of the region. It will also assist in strengthening
and making similar the three countries‘s
policies and laws on the conservation and
management of the protected areas.
“This is an exciting
development”, said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director
of WWF International’s Species Programme.
“We applaud this tremendous contribution
of the government and people of the Netherlands,
which recognizes that species conservation
and sustainable development and poverty
alleviation go hand in hand.”
Saving the endangered
mountain gorillas of Africa will be a key
component of the 4-year project.
Mountain gorillas are
the main tourist attraction in Congo, Rwanda
and Uganda, earning these countries about
US$ 5 million every year, and are thus a
critical element of livelihood programmes
in the region for local communities.
WWF joins the chief
executives of the three partner organizations
(ICCN, ORTPN, and UWA) in calling for enhanced
political support from their respective
governments.
Kimunya Mugo, Communications Manager, WWF
Eastern Africa Regional Programme Office
(WWF-EARPO)
