Established in 1967 by famed primatologist Dian Fossey, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund works to protect and study wild gorillas and their habitats, and to empower people who live nearby. With a team of more than 300 staff working in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Fossey Fund is the world’s longest-running and largest organization dedicated entirely to gorilla conservation. When Dian Fossey began her groundbreaking work, it was predicted that mountain gorillas would be extinct by the year 2000. Instead, they are recognized as one of the world’s few conservation success stories and have moved from “critically endangered” status to “endangered,” one step further from extinction.

The Fossey Fund’s people-centered approach to conservation is focused on four pillars: 

• Daily protection of individual gorillas and their families.
• Conducting critical science needed to develop conservation strategies.
• Training future leaders to address conservation challenges.
• Helping communities living near gorillas through education, livelihoods, and food and water security initiatives.