Why should people be friends of Gorillas

By Elias Hakizimana.

Gorilla conservation is key towards maintaining the biodiversity of their homes in helping them live without any harm. conservation activists say that human beings need to be friends of the gorillas in their daily lives.

Benjamin Mugabukomeye, an official of the International Gorilla Conservation program (IGCP), regional program protecting mountain gorillas in three countries mainly Congo, Uganda and Rwanda explains four steps of being gorilla friendly.

“At IGCP, we believe that people can be gorilla friendly by passing through taking the gorilla friendly pledge via www.gorillapledge.org , sharing your tracking experience after visiting the gorilla friendly website, observing gorilla visitation rules for individual and gorillas’ safety and, finally, being a mountain gorilla embassador by telling your friends about the certified gorilla friendly pledge,” Mugabukomeye said.

IGCP has regional office in Rwanda and country offices in Uganda and Congo, another field office in Musanze near volcano national park.

About gorilla friendly

“Gorilla friendly is one of our programs which is still new in IGCP but not for yesterday, there is four years since we have been implementing this initiative, we need people especially those who live in the neighborhoods of parks and gorilla visitors to be friends of gorillas, this friendship means supporting the conservation of mountain gorillas, you cannot be gorilla friendly without doing anything to protect them,” he says.

He explains that one can be gorilla friendly without living in Kinigi near the gorillas’ habitats, adding that taking a pledge that one commits to be gorilla friend is enough.

The initiative of Gorilla Friendly Pledge has gone digital where one who wants to take the pledge use thee link www.gorillafriendly.org .

“We can all be gorilla friendly without even living near to the gorilla protected areas, this is our target, we need everyone to be sensitive for gorilla conservation and be friend of gorilla.” Mugabukomeye explains.

He says that the more many people take the pledge, the more there is a hope that they are friends of gorillas.

“A gorilla needs friends to help him/her live and enjoy life, sometimes they go to the farms of the citizens and when you are a good friend of them, you tell even your colleagues to do activities that ensure their safety. An example, when you find a gorilla in the farm, call concerned officials to take him/her back safe to his/her habitat in the park,” he notes.

Apart from Gorilla conservation program, IGCP support community development programs and projects such as bee keeping, arts, Girinka, we give cows, erosion protection in farms, tailoring for women, help them build water tanks to reduce number of people who fetch water from parks.

About Gorilla Friendly Pledge campaign  

According to Mugabukomeye, the Gorilla Friendly Pledge campaign was initiated in 2014, re-launched in 2020 by the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP)- (www.igcp.org and wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network (WFEN)- www.wildlifefriendly.org, endorsed by sixteen other institutions.

The Gorilla Friendly Pledge is an online awareness raising campaign with the aim to encourage all tourists to pledge to observe gorilla tourism rules during treks and to share their trekking experience after the visit through the Gorilla Friendly Pledge website- www.gorillafriendly.org

The content of the pledge originates from existing great ape visitation rules and regulations and as outlined in the IUCN Best Practice Guidelines for Great Ape Tourism.