No 11 July 2015
The SilverBack Standard The return
Note from the IGCP Director
IGCP continues to build on our decades of collaborative and solution-oriented work for the conservation of mountain gorillas and sustainable livelihood development, while also nurturing new partnerships and piloting new approaches, and even recruiting new staff to do it. I am pleased to share with you some of this recent work in the pages of this newsletter. Collaborative approaches are much talked about and rarely realized. But collaboration is firmly grounded in the way IGCP is set up – currently as a coalition programme of Fauna & Flora International and WWF – and in how mountain gorilla conservation gets done - across borders and coordinated among many different governmental and civil society organizations. Not to mention the emerging Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration which forms an umbrella for all within a landscape that spans even more area than the flagship mountain gorilla. Thank you for being part of this work, in whatever capacity. I hope it makes you as optimistic for the future of the mountain gorilla and people of this region as it does me.
Anna Behm Masozera
Photo courtesy of TEAM Network.
TEAM Site Camera Traps Re-deployed
African Golden Cat
Silverback Mountain Gorilla
Bush Buck Photos courtesy of TEAM Network.
After initiating the global-standard Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring (TEAM) site in the Virunga Massif in 2015, camera traps are being re-deployed again to capture additional information on distribution and frequency of terrestrial vertebrates. Nearly 60,000 images were collected in 2015 capturing 19 different species, including the rare African Golden Cat. More information and to access TEAM data: http://www.teamnetwork.org/network/sites/virunga-massif
Counting Our Blessings, Not Once But Twice Last conducted in 2010, IGCP is supporting the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration (GVTC) in planning another population survey in the near future of the mountain gorillas in the Virunga Massif. The primary purpose of this exercise is to estimate the number of mountain gorillas throughout the three National Parks forming the transboundary Virunga Massif with the associated objective to understand whether the population
is increasing, decreasing or stable. The DNA-mark-recapture method to be used will allow the scientific team to estimate the detection probability - that is - not just how many gorillas were found, but also how many were probably missed during the survey. The ‘capture’ is repeated through multiple systematic sweeps of the forest, and two sweeps are tentatively planned for the next survey.
Jena R. Hickey, PHD & Representatives of participating Institutions Pre-testing the equipment and Methods in the field
This level of effort involved is why this population survey is sometimes referred to as a census, and will provide a robust estimate of the population. The census as currently being planned is going to be conducted by over sixty (60) staff members from Uganda Wildlife Authority, Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature, Rwanda Development Board, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, Gorilla Doctors, Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, and the International Gorilla Conservation Programme and at least ten (10) members of the community as porters and cooks. The North Carolina Zoo is providing technical support on the application of electronic data collection. Stay tuned to the IGCP blog (www.igcp.org/blog) for details as the planning process is finalized and the teams take to the forest for data and sample collection.
Toward a Mountain Gorilla DNA Library Underpinning the planning for the upcoming census of mountain gorillas in the Virunga Massif is a joint effort to establish unique genetic identifiers for every known habituated gorilla. The genetic
identifiers which will be analyzed from collected fecal samples by the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology will be added to the information which is collected for habituated mountain gorillas and kept within a demography database, adding another set of data which is systematically collected for these known individuals. The results of the library will be used to cross-check samples collected during the upcoming census and can be used more broadly to monitor dynamics within this population which has frequent group splitting and merging, and individuals migrating among family groups. IGCP and Max Planck Institute staff have trained and supported park staff thus far in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda and samples will soon be shipped for analysis. The process of building the library will continue with sample collection in Virunga National Park in DRC in the coming months. Training involves learning the process of closely observing an individual gorilla which has been correctly identified and using a technique referred to as a “focal follow.” The tracker continues to follow a gorilla with his/her eyes until the gorilla defecates and then the sample is collected and recorded to the individual gorilla.
Thank You, Brian Lee, PCV In November 2014 IGCP was joined by Brian Lee, a Peace Corps Volunteer, who had finished his service at GSBare Secondary School in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. Brian was deployed to the IGCP Musanze field office to support the IGCP science team on two main tasks: preparing for the upcoming census of the mountain gorillas in the Virunga Massif and development of the mountain gorilla DNA Library. After a job well done and the end of his six months service, Brian has left Rwanda for his home in the USA. IGCP on 29th April 2015 organized a dinner at Best View Hotel in Musanze to honor Brian’s service to IGCP and to bid him farewell. The staff who described Brain as a hardworking, selfless, committed, friendly, knowledgeable and a resourceful person acknowledged that they would miss him dearly. Brian thanked the IGCP family for their team work and acceptance into the family, saying, it made him feel at home.
Community Group Takes Lead in Reducing Human Wildlife Conflict Human wildlife conflict is one of the biggest challenges faced by communities adjacent to protected areas. Throughout the Virunga Massif spanning Uganda, Rwanda, and DRC, IGCP has supported park authorities and other partners over the last decade to establish physical deterrents along the boundary. In Gitenderi, Nyarusiza Sub County, Kisoro District, Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) under the revenue sharing fund and the coalition International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP), guided and facilitated the community to explore long term solutions to this challenge that had apparently created a bad relationship between the Park and the community, increased food insecurity and also frustrated conservation efforts. Because of its outstanding work, commitment and vigilance, UWA selected Gitenderi Environment Project Group to lead in the erection of the 1.5 km buffalo wall with a small pay for their labor. The group, among others, collected, and carried stones to the construction venue and also constructed the wall. The community on the other hand provided the stones from their farms and homesteads.
Explaining their work, the group Chairperson Mr. Sebutozi David says “the beginning was not easy, we faced resistance from some community members. They wanted us to pay for
Gitenderi Environment Projet Community Group at work
the stones because they thought UWA had paid us handsomely to do the job, but we managed to win their support through sensitization meetings conducted with the Local Councils and park authorities. It was a tiresome task, especially collecting and carrying the stones uphill to the site, a distance of approximately 2 Kilometers. But we are glad that we did not give up; completing the buffalo wall is a big milestone to us, because we can see the fruits from our labor. That is why we have organized this party today 18th April 2015 and invited everyone (the community and
local leaders) plus our friends (UWA, IGCP and other NGOs) to thank them for their support and to celebrate this achievement with us”. Sebutozi revealed that in addition to constructing the wall they also sensitized the community on the importance of conserving the park and tree planting. And today approximately 50% of the community is knowledgeable about the importance of conservation while 5,000 trees have also been planted in the community.
Gorilla FriendlyTM explore with conservation and tourism stakeholders in the region the development of a Gorilla FriendlyTM ecolabel for tourism.
International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) has partnered with the Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network to
The ecolabel initiative is complimented by the Gorilla FriendlyTM Pledge (www.gorillafriendly.org) launched in 2014 to empower the average tourist to play their role as a gorilla protector before, during and after their visit. The emerging ecolabel, grounded in best practices documented by the IUCN and Global Sustainable Tourism Council, offers the possibility to distinguish and reward the private sector – tour operators and hotels; for example, that through their policies and actions they provide direct benefits to mountain gorillas and support the park edge communities as part of their business model. Stakeholders are currently providing input into draft standards developed by WFEN, which will be made publically available later in 2015 before being finalized for the launch of the pilot phase.
Channeling Money from Tourism to Priority Community Needs – A Grass Roots Approach In line with one of IGCP’s strategic objectives which stipulates that by 2020, mountain gorilla tourism poses minimal risk to the gorillas and provides direct and equitable benefits to communities living around the protected areas; IGCP supports policy and capacity development to help local communities to benefit from gorilla tourism and develop livelihood alternatives to park resources. With funding through the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), IGCP conducted trainings in Nkuringo and Rubuguri sub counties to educate the village residents how to analyze the situation in their villages, identify development needs, strengths, weaknesses and opportunities; to prioritize them and lay down strategic action plans which involve translating their own visions into reality. Village members also received training in proposal writing. They gained knowledge and skills that will enable them to mobilize resources from different partners (local government and NGOs) to legitimize the community action plans. In total eight (8) proposals have so far been developed. Sharing her experience, one woman noted that “The profiling exercise helped us to understand our own problems but also raised awareness on what we can do. We did not know how to associate our problems with proposal writing, now we are aware. We have started a women savings group to help us meet our different household needs.”
Participants doing Group work on proposal writing Similarly, the civil society representatives from Nkuringo Community Conservation and Development Foundation (NCCDF) and other CBOs that attended the training and the profiling exercises confessed to have gained knowledge on how best they can support the community to address their challenges, say, through injecting revenue from community lodges into projects that address real problems in their respective villages. Another available resource is the “Gorilla Levy” and revenue sharing funds.
Who is Who in IGCP
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Senior Management Team
1. Anna Behm Masozera - Director 2. Wellard Makambo - Programme Manager 3. Celestin Niyonteze- Finance and Administration Manager
Country Coordinators 4. 5. 6.
Altor Musema - Coordinator, DRC Stephen Asuma - Coordinator, Uganda Benjamin Mugabukomeye - Coordinator, Rwanda
Program and Field Staff 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
Jena Hickey - PhD - Conservation Scientist Salvatrice Musabyeyezu - Tourism Specialist Alice Mbayahi - Communications Officer Charles Kayijamahe - Field Officer Eustrate Uzabaho - Field Assistant - TEAM site
Finance And Administration
12. Richard Chota - Finance& Admin Officer, Uganda
13. Rosy Kabeya - Finance& Admin Officer, DRC 14. Emmanuel Ntivuguruzwa Finance & Admin Officer, Rwanda
Interns
15. Gaspard Nzayisenga - DNA Library 16. Erithe Mukamurangwa - Finance & Administration 17. Zoraya Hightower - Energy & Water
Transport & Admin 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.
Jerome Baguma - Driver, DRC Diogene Kamezusenge - Driver, Rwanda Wilbur Kaiire - Driver, Uganda Jean Jacques David Ngenzi - Driver, Rwanda Andre Nzasebera - Office Assistant, Musanze Emily Tumubweine - Office Assistant, Kabale Solange Masika Saasita - Office Assistant, DRC Jeannette Murangamirwa - Office Assistant, Kigali