Welcome to the IGCP Gorilla Blog

IGCP March 10, 2009

About the Author

The International Gorilla Conservation Programme was established in 1991 by a coalition of wildlife conservation organizations. African Wildlife Foundation was a founding member and provided technical expertise for more than 20 years. Since its inception, IGCP has worked closely with wildlife… More

Greetings everyone!  Jamie Kemsey here, and welcome to the new IGCP mountain gorilla blog. I am the Communications Officer at IGCP, and I am excited to share information with you on the dynamic world of the mountain gorilla and our efforts for conservation of this strong, noble and mysterious species.

As I don’t get out to the field nearly enough, I will often turn the story of the mountain gorilla and our work over to our expert field staff in the mountain gorillas’ range states of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda.

[caption id="attachment_74" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A young gorilla feeding on bamboo in Rwanda."]A young goirlla feeding on bamboo in Rwanda.[/caption]

IGCP has active programs and a multitude of projects in and surrounding the gorilla national parks of these three countries, and reports will come your way from the verdant cool misty slopes of the extinct volcanoes and rugged mountains the gorillas call home, as well as the crowded community markets and packed meeting rooms where conservation initiatives are hatched and policy is made (gorilla conservation is not all glamour!).

Along the way, we will introduce you some of our partners and collaborators who work with the gorillas and work with the families and individuals that live near the National Parks where the gorillas are found. Local communities are the heart of mountain gorilla conservation, and we look forward to introducing you to such projects as mushroom farming in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a women’s basket weaving cooperative in Rwanda and a beekeeping and honey production business in Uganda.

We will also keep you up to date on families of the furry variety, with reports on the gorillas’ movement, welfare and struggle for survival in a strikingly beautiful area where the only constant, in addition to the cool rains that nurture the area’s wealth of wildlife and rich biodiversity, is change.

We hope you will continue to join us on our journey in this incredible landscape to conserve one of the world’s most endangered great apes. Thanks for joining us, and enjoy the gorilla tracking!

[caption id="attachment_71" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="An IGCP-trained ranger monitoring gorillas."]An IGCP-trained ranger monitoring gorillas.[/caption]

IGCP – the International Gorilla Conservation Program – is a coalition of the African Wildlife Foundation, Fauna and Flora International and World Wide Fund for Nature. IGCP has been leading mountain gorilla conservation efforts since 1991.