Going Viral: IGCP More Interactive Through Launching of New Website in Year of the Gorilla 2009
Tuesday, 25 August 2009 08:16
This is the official press release from IGCP (the International Gorilla Conservation Programme.
Unveiling a new era for communicating its work to practitioners and the public alike, the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) has announced an entirely new website, www.igcp.org, which will go “live” on Tuesday, August 25th.
Opening during the UN Convention on Migratory Species designated Year of the Gorilla, the new site promises greatly enhanced interactivity, a fresh new look and improved navigation. Visitors will now be able to read the IGCP’s gorilla blog on the site, as well as follow and comment on the ups and downs, challenges and successes, passions and commitments of its staff and partners in their work to save the world’s approximately 700 remaining Mountain Gorillas, which live on the misty slopes of the Virunga Volcanoes Range and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest areas bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.
YoG Ambassador addresses press at British Embassy in Rwanda
Monday, 24 August 2009 13:53
In the course of his State of the Gorilla journey through the 10 gorilla range states (see his blog for a detailed account), Ian Redmond had the chance to address Rwandan press at the British Embassy in Kigali.
Article by James Karuhanga of the Rwandan New Times.
The United Nations Ambassador for the Year of the Gorilla has called for proper protection of Mountain Gorillas, saying they play a vital role in the protection of the environment.
Addressing the press yesterday at the British embassy, Ian Redmond, the Ambassador for the UN Year of the Gorilla said, “Save gorillas to save the world! If you are protecting forests, you need to protect the animals in those forests and, hunting is as much a part of forest degradation as is cutting wood for charcoal or cutting trees for timber.”
The Year of the Gorilla campaign is spearheaded by a number of top experts renowned biologists and conservationists.
YoG Ambassador Ian Redmond embarks on State of the Gorilla journey
Wednesday, 12 August 2009 13:12
Posted on behalf of YoG Ambassador Ian Redmond. There will be regular updates on Ian's fact-finding mission on the YoG fundraising blog http://gorilla.wildlifedirect.org
They say a journey begins with a single step, and this one is no different, though it nearly didn’t happen. Having picked up some YoG posters and stickers from my tiny office in the English market town of Stroud, I shouldered my rucksack, picked up my camera-bag and walked to the station. It seemed odd exchanging greetings with people enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon drink outside the pub, knowing that I would travel through ten countries on foot, plane, dug-out and bus, through tropical forests and vibrant African cities before walking back past the same pub.
Oddly enough, just over 24 hours later, I was exchanging greetings with people enjoying a quiet Monday evening drink in a bar in Cyangugu, Rwanda, on the border with DRC - the Democratic Republic of Congo. Maybe it is our predilection for alcohol that unites people across the world – that, and the fact that both groups of drinkers almost certainly don’t know the UN has designated 2009 as the Year of the Gorilla, and probably wouldn’t care very much if they did, thinking it had no relevance to them.
Gabon, August 2009 - SIX YOUNG GORILLAS, rescued from the illegal bush meat trade, have begun new independent lives on a lagoon island just outside Loango National Park in Gabon.
Staff at the Société de Conservation et Développement (SCD) are celebrating after announcing the successful transfer of the six juvenile western lowland gorillas (a species deemed critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List (IUCN)) onto the safe island in the Fernan-Vaz Lagoon.
This is the first step in a reintroduction project that is hoped will allow them to return entirely to the wild and follows a three-year-long ‘rehab programme’ to prepare them for release.
VIDEO - Footage from Kwita Izina gorilla naming festivities
Wednesday, 05 August 2009 08:27
We have received video footage of YoG Ambassador Ian redmond's recent visit to the Rwandan Kwita Izina gorilla namings. Numerous colourful dance and music performances accompanied the well-attended naming ceremony. See for yourself!
Several dance and music performances by local groups:
This is the official press release from IGCP (the International Gorilla Conservation Programme.
In the course of his State of the Gorilla journey through the 10 gorilla range states (
Text by Sarah Monaghan