Sharing space with a family of mountain gorillas for even a few moments in the wild can be a revolutionary experience. When you look at them and they look at you back with an understanding glance, the boundary that you would think is there between a human and a gorilla is nonexistent. Instead, the feeling of equality replaces the barrier.
However, more recently, these mountain gorillas are set on a path that could lead to the extinction of the species. Sir David Attenborough recently depicted his encounter with a family of mountain gorillas back in 1979 and described it being “tinged with sadness.” This was a memorable encounter that would last for the rest of his life, but he feels a deep sorrow, for he may be seeing “the last of their kind.
Although Sir David knows that the process of evolution does involve species dying as new ones begin to evolve, species in the modern world are now starting to dwindle and become extinct more speedily than ever before. Some scientists estimate that the rate of extinction is 100 times faster than the normal speed. They say that species today could be experiencing an extinction time that could be compared to the killing of the dinosaurs.
This extinction rate matters because it lowers the biodiversity of species. Biodiversity roots a ton of the gears that make the world turn, from edible food to clean breathing air and the drinking water drunk every day. Pollution, floods, and climate breakdowns are also shielded with biodiversity.
However, the UN’s negotiations about helping extinction rates in Geneva failed, so delegates are going to get together in Nairobi to talk about it again. This time, they’re trying to finish 21 goals for this project, some of which include protecting more than 30% of the land and sea in the world by 2030.
Their true goal is to set some ground for a landmark international agreement from the UN Convention on Biological Diversity that governments will sign in October in Kunming.
When Sir David visited the family in 1979, there were only around 600 mountain gorillas left. The species was “critically endangered.” Because mountain gorillas don’t survive in captivity, protecting their homes in the wild is the only option to save them.
There are only 2 places the gorillas live. One of these areas is the Virunga Forest, a place between the borders of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The second place is the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest located in Uganda.
With their habitat being cleared, conservation efforts being halted, and many of them being poached and killed, these gorillas have faced some tremendous challenges like other endangered species.
Now, after 40 long years, the population of these apes has sprung back to 1,000 and is still growing. Now the species isn’t “critically endangered” but instead just “endangered.” There has also been an improvement in the number of babies born in the past few years. In late 2020 in Bwindi, 5 mountain gorilla babies were born. Only 3 were born in 2019.
Uganda Wildlife Authority’s first vet, Dr. Gladys Kalema Zikusoka, started a conservation charity with the help of Public Health. She says that managing tourism was a crucial part.
Meeting and encountering a gorilla is something some people put on their bucket list and so now, the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest national park is surrounded by houses for tourists.
“When I first started out there were only about 5 lodges, now there are as many as 70. The lodges have created jobs, the NGOs have created jobs.” Dr. Gladys said. The economy has grown due to the gorilla attraction. It generates enough money to cover much of Uganda’s wildlife protection service, she says.
Bwindi’s chief warden, Nelson Guma, also believes the income from tourism can help keep up the local community. “These communities live next to the park. And so, we feel that they should be a part of the conservation, and they should get benefits from conservation.”
However, seeing a gorilla family in person isn’t the most affordable thing in the world. (It can cost at least $600 per person!) The gorillas in Uganda see about 40,009 visitors a year. And 20% of the money earned from the park goes to local communities.
Another giant plus added to conserving the lives of mountain gorillas is that when you protect the gorillas, you’re also helping to protect the entirety of the forest ecosystem. As one of the most biodiverse places in the world, the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest has thousands or maybe even tens of thousands of species that would also be conserved.
Because of the amount of money that is made from the tourist attraction, the authorities can afford to have poachers, who plant traps that can harm the gorillas, stop hunting in the park.
Vincent Nshmariarw, a former poacher who works for projects related to agriculture that are funded by the UK-based Gorilla Organization charity, proudly says, “Now we are the ambassadors of the park.”
Mr. Nshmarairw thinks that the thing to change his family’s future will be gorilla conservation. “My children are all at school. And with time maybe they can get jobs from the park,” he says.
However, tourism also causes problems. Disruption of an animal’s natural behavior, pollution and waste, and undermining local cultures are all things that tourists can influence. But now major conservation organizations are supporting destinations that have an endangered feel to them. These organizations are the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Conservation International, and the World Wildlife Fund.
Tourism isn’t a full solution. Although it brings in quite the amount of money, the population of the mountain gorillas is exposed. The national park has 2 populations that live together, but they are only a small part of the number of gorillas that used to live in the region. And as the population is growing, space begins to become an issue.
“We’re definitely seeing that gorilla families are more crowded,” Tara Stoinski, the person who runs the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, says.
“Bumping into each other more,” is what Ms. Stoinski describes the gorillas do now. This sometimes results in aggression and sometimes even fights. In rare cases, there are tragic endings. “We’re seeing higher rates of infanticide. Infants can oftentimes be killed when these families come together.”
The Gorilla Fund’s research suggests that for a few areas of the Virunga Forest the population of the gorillas is slowing down compared to the others for the first time in decades.
“We would love to see this population grow but in order to do so, there’s really going to need to be more habitat available to them,” Ms. Stoinski says.
The UN recommends adding more land which would solve this problem. But if they give that land towards conservation, then the people can’t use it to make money out of it. So, they are asking more developed countries to give them 1 billion dollars to compensate for their lost land.
The mountain gorilla’s success shows how we can save animal species which will lead to protecting biodiversity. Elizabeth Mrema, the UN’s head of biodiversity, says she thinks that delegates will be able to find a compromise in Nairobi this week.
The conservation of the world will require sacrifices. People will need to decide how much sacrifice they will put into conserving wildlife. Ms. Mrema says that: “We’ve been told by scientists we only have this century to solve the biodiversity crisis. There is no planet B,” she warns.
Source: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1COxSzdMJQh-VAQuXgOq4t-fry-sVAuet
However, more recently, these mountain gorillas are set on a path that could lead to the extinction of the species. Sir David Attenborough recently depicted his encounter with a family of mountain gorillas back in 1979 and described it being “tinged with sadness.” This was a memorable encounter that would last for the rest of his life, but he feels a deep sorrow, for he may be seeing “the last of their kind.
Although Sir David knows that the process of evolution does involve species dying as new ones begin to evolve, species in the modern world are now starting to dwindle and become extinct more speedily than ever before. Some scientists estimate that the rate of extinction is 100 times faster than the normal speed. They say that species today could be experiencing an extinction time that could be compared to the killing of the dinosaurs.
This extinction rate matters because it lowers the biodiversity of species. Biodiversity roots a ton of the gears that make the world turn, from edible food to clean breathing air and the drinking water drunk every day. Pollution, floods, and climate breakdowns are also shielded with biodiversity.
However, the UN’s negotiations about helping extinction rates in Geneva failed, so delegates are going to get together in Nairobi to talk about it again. This time, they’re trying to finish 21 goals for this project, some of which include protecting more than 30% of the land and sea in the world by 2030.
Their true goal is to set some ground for a landmark international agreement from the UN Convention on Biological Diversity that governments will sign in October in Kunming.
When Sir David visited the family in 1979, there were only around 600 mountain gorillas left. The species was “critically endangered.” Because mountain gorillas don’t survive in captivity, protecting their homes in the wild is the only option to save them.
There are only 2 places the gorillas live. One of these areas is the Virunga Forest, a place between the borders of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The second place is the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest located in Uganda.
With their habitat being cleared, conservation efforts being halted, and many of them being poached and killed, these gorillas have faced some tremendous challenges like other endangered species.
Now, after 40 long years, the population of these apes has sprung back to 1,000 and is still growing. Now the species isn’t “critically endangered” but instead just “endangered.” There has also been an improvement in the number of babies born in the past few years. In late 2020 in Bwindi, 5 mountain gorilla babies were born. Only 3 were born in 2019.
Uganda Wildlife Authority’s first vet, Dr. Gladys Kalema Zikusoka, started a conservation charity with the help of Public Health. She says that managing tourism was a crucial part.
Meeting and encountering a gorilla is something some people put on their bucket list and so now, the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest national park is surrounded by houses for tourists.
“When I first started out there were only about 5 lodges, now there are as many as 70. The lodges have created jobs, the NGOs have created jobs.” Dr. Gladys said. The economy has grown due to the gorilla attraction. It generates enough money to cover much of Uganda’s wildlife protection service, she says.
Bwindi’s chief warden, Nelson Guma, also believes the income from tourism can help keep up the local community. “These communities live next to the park. And so, we feel that they should be a part of the conservation, and they should get benefits from conservation.”
However, seeing a gorilla family in person isn’t the most affordable thing in the world. (It can cost at least $600 per person!) The gorillas in Uganda see about 40,009 visitors a year. And 20% of the money earned from the park goes to local communities.
Another giant plus added to conserving the lives of mountain gorillas is that when you protect the gorillas, you’re also helping to protect the entirety of the forest ecosystem. As one of the most biodiverse places in the world, the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest has thousands or maybe even tens of thousands of species that would also be conserved.
Because of the amount of money that is made from the tourist attraction, the authorities can afford to have poachers, who plant traps that can harm the gorillas, stop hunting in the park.
Vincent Nshmariarw, a former poacher who works for projects related to agriculture that are funded by the UK-based Gorilla Organization charity, proudly says, “Now we are the ambassadors of the park.”
Mr. Nshmarairw thinks that the thing to change his family’s future will be gorilla conservation. “My children are all at school. And with time maybe they can get jobs from the park,” he says.
However, tourism also causes problems. Disruption of an animal’s natural behavior, pollution and waste, and undermining local cultures are all things that tourists can influence. But now major conservation organizations are supporting destinations that have an endangered feel to them. These organizations are the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Conservation International, and the World Wildlife Fund.
Tourism isn’t a full solution. Although it brings in quite the amount of money, the population of the mountain gorillas is exposed. The national park has 2 populations that live together, but they are only a small part of the number of gorillas that used to live in the region. And as the population is growing, space begins to become an issue.
“We’re definitely seeing that gorilla families are more crowded,” Tara Stoinski, the person who runs the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, says.
“Bumping into each other more,” is what Ms. Stoinski describes the gorillas do now. This sometimes results in aggression and sometimes even fights. In rare cases, there are tragic endings. “We’re seeing higher rates of infanticide. Infants can oftentimes be killed when these families come together.”
The Gorilla Fund’s research suggests that for a few areas of the Virunga Forest the population of the gorillas is slowing down compared to the others for the first time in decades.
“We would love to see this population grow but in order to do so, there’s really going to need to be more habitat available to them,” Ms. Stoinski says.
The UN recommends adding more land which would solve this problem. But if they give that land towards conservation, then the people can’t use it to make money out of it. So, they are asking more developed countries to give them 1 billion dollars to compensate for their lost land.
The mountain gorilla’s success shows how we can save animal species which will lead to protecting biodiversity. Elizabeth Mrema, the UN’s head of biodiversity, says she thinks that delegates will be able to find a compromise in Nairobi this week.
The conservation of the world will require sacrifices. People will need to decide how much sacrifice they will put into conserving wildlife. Ms. Mrema says that: “We’ve been told by scientists we only have this century to solve the biodiversity crisis. There is no planet B,” she warns.
Source: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1COxSzdMJQh-VAQuXgOq4t-fry-sVAuet
