African governments commit to protect gorillas

Rome, Italy -  The first meeting of the Parties of the Gorilla Agreement, to be held in Rome tomorrow, is expected to come up with practical proposals to further gorilla conservation work in Africa.

The meeting is being held against a backdrop of increasing humanitarian crisis from continuing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with the Virunga National Park home to nearly a third of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas.

The Gorilla Agreement came in to effect in June 2008 and is the first to legally oblige governments to work together to combat the threats faced by gorillas in the wild, and find coordinated solutions for gorilla conservation by requiring collaboration on issues such as anti-poaching and law enforcement.

“Ten countries will walk away from this meeting united under a single plan to save gorillas,” said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF International’s Species Programme. “In a time of global financial crisis, and terrible hardship for the people of Eastern Congo, we are heartened to see these governments coming together.”

Today’s meeting occurs on the eve of the United Nations announcement of 2009 as the ‘Year of the Gorilla’, part of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. “Getting the agreement signed was a great conservation achievement,” said David Greer, Coordinator of WWF’s African Great Apes Programme.

“It is now time for action, which is what today’s meeting is all about. Together, we will look specifically at what steps each government will take to ensure gorillas have a secure future in the wild—through direct conservation action in a way that also benefits local communities.”

All gorillas are listed as critically endangered on IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species with the exception of the eastern lowland gorilla, which is still listed as endangered due to a lack of recent data to support the critically endangered listing - researchers were unable to access a major portion of their habitat. Poaching, habitat loss disease, and intensifying civil strife are the main threats to these animals.

Mountain gorillas are a prime example of why today’s Gorilla Agreement meeting is critical. The mountain gorilla population in the Virunga Volcanoes area, which straddles Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, continues to face habitat degradation as well as the civil war unrest. Despite these difficulties, surveys indicate that the population is gradually increasing due to extensive conservation efforts, and the continued support of local communities in spite of all odds.

“Despite the success of mountain gorilla conservation thanks to the empowerment and awareness created with local people by the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP), we remain vigilant, as the recurrent conflicts in the region may still affect the survival of this species,” stated IGCP Director Eugene Rutagarama.

The IGCP is a joint partnership of WWF, African Wildlife Foundation, and Fauna and Flora International, and works specifically on mountain gorilla conservation. It has played an integral role in the recent increases in the mountain gorilla population in the Virunga Volcanoes area. The Gorilla Agreement meeting has the potential to help IGCP and the governments of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo work together to protect mountain gorillas.

“Plans are just plans – what is urgently needed is concrete follow up,” said Dr Lieberman. “ WWF will be calling for timelines for implementation of these actions, and for technical and financial support from the global community for this agreement.”