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Year of the Gorilla

The UN has declared 2009 the Year of the Gorilla. All four subspecies of gorilla are under threat - urgent protection is needed if we are to save some of our closest cousins from extinction.

The Year of the Gorilla (YoG) is an international campaign that aims to raise awareness and funds for the conservation of gorillas throughout Africa.

As one of the few conservation organizations working to protect all four gorilla subspecies, Fauna & Flora International is supporting the YoG campaign.

Donate now to help us continue our vital conservation work:

Latest News

Gorillas on thin ice
15/01/2009
UN Year of the Gorilla 2009 is launched at London’s Natural History Museum ice rink.

Gorillas on your mobile
13/01/2009
Understand what life is like as a gorilla by downloading this fun mobile phone game.

Read on to find out how we are protecting each of the world’s four subspecies of gorilla below:

Mountain gorilla - Gorilla beringei beringei

FFI was a founding member of the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP), which strives to protect the remaining 720 mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The IGCP works to reduce human impact on gorilla habitat, initiate community projects to benefit both humans and gorillas, encourage government collaboration to protect gorilla territory and ensure that income from ecotourism supports gorilla conservation.

Download the case study Silverbacks and Greenbacks: the broader value of the mountain gorilla and its habitat

LOWLAND GORILLAS

Cross River gorilla - Gorilla gorilla diehli
                                               
FFI is helping to conserve two of the last known populations of this subspecies in Afi Wildlife Sanctuary, Nigeria and Bechati-Lebialem forest across the border in southwest Cameroon, an area which currently lacks formal protection. We are supporting the training and professional development of the rangers in Afi and involving the local community in safeguarding the gorillas in Cameroon. We are also boosting cross-border collaboration between Nigeria and Cameroon to help improve the gene flow between the two gorilla populations.

DID YOU KNOW? Though not as famous as its iconic cousin the mountain gorilla, the critically endangered Cross River gorilla is actually more threatened, with just 250-300 left in the wild.

Eastern lowland gorilla - Gorilla beringei graueri

The population of eastern lowland gorilla has seen the most dramatic drop in numbers of all the gorillas recently, from 17,000 in 1994 to approximately 5,000 in just ten years. The drop is due to damage to its forest habitat and direct hunting for trade and for food. FFI has been working with the wildlife management authority of the Democratic Republic of Congo to improve protection of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, and has also been helping local communities develop sustainable livelihoods so they can survive without encroaching on the gorilla’s forest habitat.

DID YOU KNOW? Gorillas make a new nest from vegetation every night either on the ground or in a tree, depending on what kind of gorilla they are. Young gorillas share their mother’s nest until they are three years old.

 

Western lowland gorilla - Gorilla gorilla gorilla

FFI has been working with local stakeholders in Cameroon - especially with the local organisation Centre International d' Appui au Developpement Durable (CIAD) from 2003 to 2007 and with the African Conservation and Development Foundation (ACDEF) Cameroon from 2008 to date - to protect the Western lowland gorillas in and around the Dja reserve, a Man and Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site. Initially the project focused on developing a possible gorilla-based ecotourism to improve the rural livelihood and to raise environmental awareness in local communities, especially amongst the marginalised Baka pygmies. The project is now working to establish an early warning system against poaching supported by the recent advances in information technology.

Please consider making a donation to FFI today, to ensure we can continue with these vital gorilla projects and our other conservation work around the world.

To find out more about any of our gorilla work, please contact:
Rebecca Foges
FFI Communications Officer
Tel: +44 (0)1223 579 491
rebecca.foges@fauna-flora.org