Supporting Gorilla Nature Reserves in Africa

Community-based conservation in Africa helps local people protect and preserve their forests, home to endangered gorillas and other important species.

Beginning in 2000, The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International initiated a program of community-based conservation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has now expanded to include a unique eco-region of some 26,000 square miles. We now work with a network of community-based reserves that link two national parks in the area, forming a wildlife corridor that encompasses nearly the entire range of the Grauer's gorilla (formerly known as the eastern lowland gorilla). This area is also home to many other rare, important species, such as forest elephant, okapi, and eastern chimpanzee.

Based on traditional African land ownership and governance, local chiefs and villages create nature reserves that are managed and maintained by communities.  Local communities are directly involved in the development of a reserve’s management plan and implementation.  Reserves are operated by a director who reports to a board of directors composed of the original founders.

Currently, two community conservation areas — Tayna and  Kisimba-Ikobo — have been approved by the Congo Ministry of Environment, making them the only government-authorized nature reserves managed by local communities in the Congo.  An additional seven communities are currently seeking government recognition.  Once in place, these community reserves will form a large-mammals corridor between two national parks — Maiko and Kahuzi-Biega. This area is rich in biological diversity and has been identified as one of the most important forest blocks in the Congo Basin.

These community reserves work together through a federation called UGADEC (Union des Associations de Conservation des Gorilles pour le Développement Communautaire à l'Est de la République Démocratique du Congo).  Their goal is to build community-managed reserves while at the same time developing their local economies in well-defined zones outside the reserves.

UGADEC is the Fossey Fund’s primary partner in implementing the community reserve approach to conservation.  Due to years of political instability, agricultural expansion, mining, poor economic conditions and other factors, conservation in the area has become critical and the Fossey Fund has committed to helping provide long-term solutions.  We operate in Congo in conjunction with Conservation International (through a USAID agreement and through other funds), and with other partners.   We help pay salaries for UGADEC staff and conduct training sessions for community conservationists aimed at teaching about the biodiversity of the area and techniques for surveying and monitoring wildlife.