WWF on the ground
Grauer's Gorilla (also known as eastern lowland gorilla)Efforts to protect Grauer’s gorilla are challenging after years of warfare have left places like Kahuzi Biega National Park in the DRC abandoned. But even with these difficult conditions, WWF is:
- Funding and equipping anti-poaching patrols of the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN), which are now able to protect parts of the park previously affected by illegal mining and poaching. Park staff are also monitoring more than 80 Grauer’s gorillas belonging to seven family groups
- Helping to develop a management plan for the Itombwe Massif, a currently unprotected area south of Kahuzi-Biega, which is thought to have a sizable population of Grauer’s gorillas
Cross River Gorilla
In the highland forests straddling the Cameroon and Nigeria boundary, WWF has teamed with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the governments of the two countries to help the Cross River gorilla.
Here are some of the actions done in the region:
- Strengthening protection and law enforcement measures and aims to improve cooperation between the two countries for protecting the gorillas. Future projects there will focus on establishing protected corridors of forest habitat that will allow safe movement of gorillas between different groups
- WWF is also supporting government efforts to supervise the management of Campo Ma’an National Park in Cameroon and encourage sustainable use of forest resources in its buffer zone
Western lowland gorillas
In the Republic of Congo, WWF is working to:
- Strengthen protected areas that harbor western lowland gorillas and other threatened species such as forest elephants and chimpanzees
Since 1997, WWF has supported the gorilla tracking program in
Dzanga Sangha Protected Area complex, in Central African Republic. The area is part of a trans-border initiative, covering 36,000km² of protected areas with neighboring Nouabale-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo and Lobeke National Park in Cameroon.
- Conservation and sustainable development of the Dzanga Sangha Protected Areas, including a National Park and a multiple use Reserve, where human activities and forest exploitation are controlled
- This “Sangha Tri-National” collaboration, supported by World Bank/WWF alliance, WCS, GTZ, CARPE (USAID) and the French Cooperation, aims to enhance the conservation efforts among the three countries
Mountain Gorillas
Since WWF's creation in 1961, the conservation organization has been working to save mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, and Uganda.
In collaboration with the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN), WWF has supported:
- Conservation initiatives including environmental awareness and education initiatives
- Promotion of sustainable livelihoods, reforestation projects, as well as equipping and paying salaries for Virunga National Park staff.
- In 2002, WWF provided additional funding to increase the numbers duration, and coverage of anti-poaching patrols in Volcanoes National Park, leading to the arrest of poachers and a drastic reduction in poaching
WWF is also active in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, the only other habitat harboring mountain gorillas.
