Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge

Tourists are eager to catch a glimpse of Africa’s mountain gorillas. So eager, in fact, that they are willing to pay top dollar for the experience.

AWF is helping the communities of southern Uganda to leverage this influx of tourism through carefully designed community tourism ventures that empower the local people to protect the gorillas and their habitat. Working with local partners and the local community, AWF has helped the residents of southern Uganda to open the doors of a lodge that offers unique accommodations for tourists, while providing much needed income to the local community.

Situated on the Nteko Ridge, high above the afro-montane forest on the south side of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge sits apart from the well-trodden paths of the region.

The first of its kind in Uganda, Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge is part of the International Gorilla Conservation Program’s (IGCP) tri-national program to protect the highly endangered mountain gorilla and the result of a working partnership between the Nkuringo community, AWF and a leading private operator.

The Lodge directly benefits the Nkuringo community, which has a significant ownership stake in the venture through the Nkuringo Community Development Foundation (NCDF). With strategic support from IGCP, NCDF planned and secured financing for the lodge, which was built with funds from USAID.

The Uganda Safari Company, a leading private operator, manages the lodge in partnership with NCDF.

With eight stone cottage-style bedrooms, Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge offers wildlife enthusiasts an intimate forest experience. With wood burning fires, the lodge is cozy with simple, yet elegant interiors. The main building houses dining and lounging areas and an open terrace with spectacular views of the famous Virunga Volcanoes.

Thanks to the Ugandan Wildlife Authority’s support, the lodge also has access to six gorilla trekking permits a day, making it easier for tourists to visit the habituated Nkuringo gorillas. When guests are not tracking gorillas, they can participate in guided walks of the surrounding forest, caves, village schools and local forest Pygmy homesteads.

Between the start of operations in July 2008 and today, the Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge has generated $141,555 for the Nkuringo community through employment, bed-night fees, purchase of local resources, such as water, firewood, and crafts among others. This has improved the livelihoods of community members that continue to benefit. The community has also been able to invest the money received in social development projects, such as scholarships and support to local income generating projects among community members. The continual existence of the lodge and its benefits provide good potential for poverty reduction in this area.

The lodge provides an example of how communities who bear the costs of wildlife conservation in Africa and in some cases, give up their land for conservation, should be compensated -- using sustainable mechanisms that generate sufficient benefits to secure their support for conservation for the long term. In this era, conservation and related tourism initiatives are bound to fail without community support and therefore, initiatives like the Clouds Mountain Lodge deserve support from all stakeholders who care about sustainable wildlife conservation, especially for globally endangered species like the mountain gorilla.

AWF's experience is that community partnerships with the private sector are occasionally marred with frustrations and mistrust. AWF has continued to mentor such relationships by remaining an honest broker and arbiter through established liaison committees. The relationship between the Clouds Mountain Lodge partners NCDF and TUSC is no different.

Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge is a winning solution for tourists, locals and gorilla-seekers. Gorilla-seekers enjoy unique accommodations and a chance to catch a glimpse of the precious mountain gorillas. Locals benefit from employment and community development projects such as improved roads supported by revenues from the lodge. And, the mountain gorillas benefit from a safe habitat supported by the guest fees and other income.

> To learn more about the Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge, click here.