Helping National Parks in Africa

The Fossey Fund helps national parks that are home to gorillas in Rwanda and Congo through direct protection and training African conservationists.

We work with park guards in Africa to protect gorillas, and we educate and train wildlife managers and other African conservationists so that they can make the best decisions about the long-term management of their wildlife and the forests where they live. 

Direct gorilla protection in Volcanoes National Park

In Rwanda, our trackers and anti-poaching teams work closely with the Rwandan national park authorities to protect the Rwandan portion of the mountain gorilla’s habitat, in Volcanoes National Park. This involves daily monitoring of the gorillas that are designated for study purposes,  as well as more widespread anti-poaching activities, such as removing snares set for wildlife and collecting information on the location of illegal activities in the park, such as cattle grazing and firewood collection.  All illegal activity data are entered into the park management database each month to guide park management decisions.

Karisoke's anti-poaching team, alongside staff from the national parks authority, provides added protection for mountain gorillas living deep in the forest. Team members set up campsites from which they jointly patrol Volcanoes National Park for extended periods of time. The location of the camp and team members are kept secret and changed frequently, enabling them to catch the poachers off-guard. Working closely with Rwandan authorities, and trusted by the communities in which they live and work, the Karisoke™ anti-poaching teams play a leading role in gathering the intelligence needed to catch poachers and those engaged in animal trafficking.

Rehabilitation of Maiko National Park

In Congo, the Fossey Fund supports the staff of Maiko National Park, which is located in the northern sector of the Grauer’s gorilla’s range. It is home to numerous other important species as well as the Grauer’s gorillas. Maiko was officially gazetted as a national park in 1970, but was largely neglected and did not receive any international support. After 1996, civil war in the Congo had prevented the few staff who had not fled the area from entering the park except on rare occasions

When the Fossey Fund's work with Maiko began in 2003, there was only one park warden and a handful of unpaid, unequipped park guards. Now Maiko has more than 140 staff, including 40 guards in each of its three sectors, who have received equipment, uniforms and training in security and biodiversity. They are provided with salaries and basic health care as well. The guards are now patrolling a significant portion of the park and have reopened a number of patrol stations. They have arrested poachers, seized illegal weapons, and located and dismantled numerous snares. In addition, we have also sponsored biological inventories of large mammals in the park.

Capacity building for staff at national parks 

In both countries where we work, we conduct training programs and workshops for the national parks staff to enhance their ability to protect threatened and endangered species and their ecosystems. The training covers all aspects of the parks and their conservation, including general conservation issues, primate ecology and behavior, and botany.  In Rwanda, we have also developed training manuals for tourist guides and trackers on these topics to ensure these conservationists are equipped with the latest research to further improve their knowledge and the quality of the tourist experiences they provide.

The Fossey Fund has created a biodiversity database for the Virunga Conservation Area which includes information on approximately 1,000 species of plants and animals found in Volcanoes National Park. This database is shared with the national parks service. We have held technical workshops for staff working in all three of Rwanda’s national parks focused on how to create and maintain a biodiversity inventory for Rwanda’s protected areas.