Rainforests all over the world are under dramatically increasing threat not just from local slash and burn agriculture and development, but far more significantly from industrial logging that exploits these natural resources for the developed world at levels that simply are not sustainable and which affect us all.
Africa’s Congo Basin – the world’s second largest expanse of tropical rainforest after the Amazon – is no different. It is not only the local loss of biodiversity through the associated and rampant bushmeat trade that is a concern, but the global impact of the loss of carbon stocks and the reduced ability of these large forest blocks to sequester the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by the industrial economies of the world. Simply put, the effects are so far reaching that these global issues can no longer be ignored by virtue of their remoteness on far-off continents.
Contemporary Conservation Strategy
The African Parks model applies a delegated management system. Under this framework, African Parks handles operational oversight, biodiversity protection, community outreach, law enforcement, and tourism facilitation.
The Congolese government retains sovereignty but delegates daily execution to the organisation.
Current conservation priorities include reducing illegal wildlife trafficking, restoring forest elephant populations, and supporting long-term ecological research.
Regular aerial surveillance, ground patrols, and satellite monitoring are in use.
In parallel, the park integrates community-based conservation schemes. These include education initiatives, village enterprise programs, and regulated employment within park operations.
Conservation outcomes are tied to socioeconomic stability in the Mbomo, Makoua, and Etoumbi areas.
A 2021 evaluation indicated measurable success: increased gorilla sightings in previously silent zones, higher forest elephant retention, and stabilised bushmeat extraction trends near boundary villages.
Go Green
By establishing a presence and by demonstrating a value to the forests and their wildlife beyond unsustainable exploitation through logging, mining or the bushmeat trade we know that we will make a tangible difference to conservation. In short, we want to spread the rainforest conservation message both globally and locally. Responsible gorilla-orientated tourism is the catalyst for this statement.
Finally, our camps touch the earth lightly with raised decks lifting the footprint above the undergrowth and state of the art renewable energy and waste water systems mitigating any potential impact.
Recommendations
1) Law enforcement capacity is strengthened to allow habitat countries to effectively enforce existing national laws and international conventions that protect gorillas.
2) A network of ecologically representative protected areas must be created across the geographical range of western gorillas.
3) Sustainable funding mechanisms such as Trust Funds are created to ensure stable and sufficient revenues for management and research within protected areas.
4) Precise estimates of the numbers of western gorillas remaining are obtained and a system to monitor future population trends put in place.
5) Road access to logging concessions is strictly controlled to reduce the negative impact of selective logging on western gorillas.
6) Impact studies are conducted for all new infrastructure projects to minimise the detrimental effects of economic development on western gorillas.
7) A system of independent evaluation of conservation and research activities is established to improve effectiveness and transparency.
8) A network linking all efforts to conserve western gorillas is established to optimise performance.
Conclusions
The expert group gathered at Leipzig developed a Conservation Strategy for western gorillas based on these recommendations. The cost of an immediate and concerted response to act upon these recommendations was estimated at ***dollars a year. A fund to protect forever the habitat of these amazing animals would cost only about 3 dollars for each person in the developed world.