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Looking beyond tourism to finance gorilla conservation

The collapse of tourism due to COVID-19 is spurring a search for more diverse sources of funding to support gorilla conservation in East Africa

By GRID-Arendal

September 24^th, 2020

Gorilla tourism was an economic powerhouse in pre-COVID times. Tourists came from around the world to view endangered mountain gorillas in the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda and Uganda, bringing in tens of millions of dollars each year and providing a powerful incentive for governments and local communities to protect gorilla populations.

Entry fees to national parks and related spending by tourists became significant contributors to the two countries’ economies, especially to the management of national parks and the livelihoods of nearby communities. In Uganda, gorilla tourism alone provided 60 per cent of the Uganda Wildlife Authority’s revenue over the past few years. In 2017, Rwanda received 1.5 million international travelers and generated annual tourism revenues of $438 million, while the country’s parks alone received 94,000 visitors with revenue of $18.7 million.

But after the scientific community realized that COVID-19 posed severe dangers to great apes – which are genetically similar to humans and therefore highly susceptible to infection – both Rwanda and Uganda immediately closed down their parks in March, bringing tourism to a grinding halt.

Map detailing Virunga National Park and nearby borders. Vanishing Treasures.

Young mountain gorilla in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Western Uganda. Photo: JordiStock, iStock 2017.

Research projects were shut down as well, including several planned activities under the Vanishing Treasures programme, an initiative of the UN Environment Programme that aims to protect endangered mountain species. For example, a Vanishing Treasures pilot project to improve buffer zone management in Nkuringo on the southern edge of the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, planned with the International Gorilla Conservation Programme, has been delayed due to local COVID-related restrictions.

“There is a risk that we are losing in conservation what we have achieved over the past 15 to 20 years. Protected area authorities have reduced income and resources to conduct law enforcement operations, and community members lack income. This could lead to increased poaching and habitat destruction.”

— Johannes Refisch, coordinator of UNEP’s Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP)

While both countries have now reopened their parks to tourism – while reducing park fees significantly to attract local and resident tourists – the number of visitors is unlikely to return to pre-COVID levels anytime soon.

Three gorillas in Virunga National Park. Photo: Photodynamic, iStock 2011.

Potential new sources of revenue for gorilla conservation

Given the current volatility in the tourism sector and the very real health risk that tourists can pose to gorillas, what alternatives might there be for funding protection of gorilla populations? Conservationists are now considering a number of approaches.

Forest carbon credits

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change includes an incentive programme to protect tropical forests, which are important carbon sinks. The programme, REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation plus), offers results-based payments for actions that reduce or eliminate forest carbon emissions, including actions that support biodiversity in forests. In theory, REDD+ has the potential to help gorilla conservation efforts, as protecting forest landscapes also helps to protect large animals within them, including those in forests that are currently not within protected areas.

In 2016, GRASP collaborated with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology to produce maps of areas in Africa and Asia where great ape ranges and forest carbon stocks overlap, highlighting spots that should be high priority for conservation efforts. Results were presented to the Liberian government to help officials prioritize REDD+ investments. And from 2011 to 2012, GRASP supported the Wildlife Conservation Society in implementing a REDD project in Cameroon that aimed to strengthen management of protected gorilla habitat and increase the size of the surrounding buffer zone. An approach like this could be replicated in the Virunga Mountain areas that are home to mountain gorillas.

Wildlife credits

The relatively new concept of wildlife credits is similar to forest carbon credits, and in some cases closely aligned with them. This is a type of payment for an ecosystem service, where communities involved in wildlife conservation are rewarded for their performance in conserving a global good. These types of programmes can generate funds from local, national, and international sources based on independently verified conservation performance by communal conservancies. Wildlife credits have been piloted in a few countries including Namibia.

Whether wildlife credits are connected to the REDD+ scheme or not, there is real potential in asking richer countries and individual supporters to finance the conservation of great apes and other primates through these kinds of programmes.

A mountain gorilla holds a vine in the jungle of Rwanda. Photo: KiltedArab, iStock 2015.

Digital solutions

A number of initiatives are trying to use technology and online efforts to fund primate conservation. Virtual ecotourism, for example, could generate some income, though it would not compensate for the lost revenue from a visitor who is paying $1,500 for a single gorilla tracking permit in Rwanda. The gaming industry could be another innovative source of funding for conservation. The Internet of Elephants, a collaborative game-developing social enterprise working towards a stronger connection between people and wild animals, has partnered with the Borneo Nature Foundation and the Goualougo Triangle Ape Project to design Wildeverse, an augmented reality game featuring gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans. While this game focuses on raising awareness, games could also be used to raise funding, either by having part of the purchase price donated to conservation efforts or by inviting players to donate.

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding campaigns aim to attract small amounts of money from large numbers of people to fund activities or start new businesses. Renowned British broadcaster and conservationist David Attenborough launched the first crowdfunding campaign to save mountain gorillas in 2013. A paper published in the academic journal Conservation Biology in 2018 found that crowdfunding can be an effective way to generate money for biodiversity conservation.

Emergency funding

Unfortunately, diversification of revenue streams does not happen overnight, but protected area authorities and nearby communities need support right now. Emergency funding from UN programmes and NGOs could help offset losses in protected areas that are highly dependent on tourism. The Rapid Response Facility, a partnership between UNESCO and the NGO Fauna & Flora International, has already provided emergency support to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in the form of personal protective equipment for gorilla trackers so they could continue their work. Other emergency-type grants for wildlife have been made available through initiatives of IUCN/SOS African Wildlife and The Lion’s Share. The latter recently announced the first nine projects receiving funding, including Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, which hosts chimpanzees.

Wild mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. Photo: Photocech, iStock 2018.

COVID-19 is not the only threat to mountain gorillas

Of course, the COVID-19 virus is just one of many threats facing mountain gorillas. The climate crisis and the complex web of impacts it may generate still remain serious risks to the gorilla’s survival. Despite a temporary dip in greenhouse gas emissions during the pandemic, climate change is not slowing down, and it threatens to affect the habitat, diet, and behaviour of gorillas, potentially in ways still unknown. The economic damage from climate change will also be very high – one estimate is the equivalent cost of a COVID-like pandemic every 10 years – so the economic pressures on gorilla-adjacent communities will mount.

We need to be prepared for more shocks – whether they come from diseases, natural disasters, or slow-onset changes – and we need to make sure that our conservation efforts are resilient to these shocks. The goal of the Vanishing Treasures programme is to improve the understanding of climate change impacts on mountain gorillas specifically, and to find sustainable, climate-smart solutions to enhance co-existence with neighbouring communities to safeguard the future for these majestic animals.

View from Rwanda of mounts Karisimbi, Bisoke and Mikeno (from left to right) bordering Virunga National Park. Photo: Sloot, iStock 2015.

World Gorilla Day and the Gorilla Friendly Pledge

World Gorilla Day is celebrated every year on 24 September to raise awareness about gorillas and spur action for their survival. This year, the International Gorilla Conservation Programme will mark the day by launching the Gorilla Friendly™ Pledge, an initiative to promote best practices in mountain gorilla tourism.

“While wearing face masks and keeping proper distance have always been advised to protect wild great ape populations where tourism is used as a conservation tool, the Gorilla Friendly™ Pledge reinforces this and other behaviors for tourists to play their part. This is more important than ever with the virus causing COVID-19 being a potential threat to these apes’ survival. Even if you aren’t visiting gorillas in the wild, you can take the Pledge to show your support and commitment to responsible practice.”

— Anna Behm Masozera, Director of the International Gorilla Conservation Programme

GRASP, the IUCN Primate Specialist Group/Section on Great Apes, the Worldwide Fund for Nature, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund have endorsed the Pledge, among other world-renowned conservation organizations.

Mountain gorilla in Rwanda. Photo: apagnillo, iStock 2016.

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GRID-Arendal is one of the partners working on the Vanishing Treasures programme, which is led by the UN Environment Programme and funded by the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Find out more about GRASP's work: www.un-grasp.org.

This story was originally published on the Vanishing Treasures website.

Footnotes

Lead image: View from Rwanda of mounts Karisimbi, Bisoke and Mikeno (from left to right) bordering Virunga National Park. Photo: Sloot, iStock 2015.

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FootNotes

Lead image: View from Rwanda of mounts Karisimbi, Bisoke and Mikeno (from left to right) bordering Virunga National Park. Photo: Sloot, iStock 2015.

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