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What We Do

Our more than 55 years of successful conservation work in saving gorillas is based on a holistic model with four key pillars:

  • Gorilla Protection
  • Scientific Research
  • Training Conservationists
  • Helping Communities

Gorilla
Protection

Daily, sustained protection of wild gorilla populations is the foundation of our work and has helped bring mountain gorillas back from the brink of extinction

Scientific
Research

Operating since 1967, we are the world’s longest-running gorilla research project. Our research also focuses on understanding many of the unique animals and plants that share the gorillas’ forest home and providing the cutting-edge science needed to develop effective conservation strategies.

Training
Conservationists

Education is key to empowering people and creating the next generation of conservationists. We work directly with educational institutions in Africa and around the world to train hundreds of young scientists each year.

Helping
Communities

We believe that working with local communities is crucial for effective and sustainable conservation. Only when people are thriving can gorillas thrive too. That’s why our motto is Helping People. Saving Gorillas.

The Value of
Our Work

Saving gorillas is an important mission, but the value of this work is even more far reaching. When gorillas are protected, so are their forest habitats, which are critical ecosystems that support our planet and all life on earth.

Our holistic conservation efforts also directly help people and communities, improving the health and livelihoods of people who live near the gorillas and helping to build the next generation of conservationists in Africa.

Where We Work

The Fossey Fund protects two of the four gorilla subspecies — the critically endangered Grauer’s gorillas in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and the endangered mountain gorillas in the Virunga mountains of Rwanda. 

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Help us help gorillas.

Meet the great-granddaughter of gorilla royalty

Just over 1,000 mountain gorillas remain.

Ensure their future on World Gorilla Day!