WAZA members make YoG central part of their 2009 activities
Thursday, 03 December 2009 13:33
WAZA, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, is one of the three main partners of the Year of the Gorilla 2009. Altogether, 109 zoos supported the YoG, especially through educational and outreach activities aimed at the full spectrum of visitors, from kids to interested adults, but also through fundraising for projects and the hosting of conferences and lectures.
With the year now drawing closer to its end, WAZA has compiled a selection of events and activities undertaken by WAZA members. This is of course only a fraction of the events that took place at WAZA zoos and wildlife parks, but it should nevertheless give you an idea of WAZA's contribution to reaching out and informing the general public on gorillas and the threats they face.
RETURN TO VIRUNGA: THE BATTLE TO SAVE THE MOUNTAIN GORILLAS
Monday, 23 November 2009 15:26
At the epicenter of the long-running civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo lies Virunga National Park, Africa’s oldest national park in the border triangle of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is home to more than 200 of the only 720 Mountain Gorillas remaining in the world. Here, a small but dedicated force of forest rangers risk their lives to save one of the world's greatest and most vulnerable species.
The Year of the Gorilla is an official supporter of the documentary "Return to Virunga: The Battle to Save the Mountain Gorillas", which follows the rangers as they return to Virunga after having been banished by rebels from the park for more than a year. What will the rangers, led by their intrepid new warden, find when they return home? What does the future hold for Congo's mountain gorillas? Can these great apes still be saved? Watch the 2 minute trailer!!!
BBC Wildlife Magazine article on Year of the Gorilla trip to African states
To mark the Year of the Gorilla in 2009, IAN REDMOND embarked on a dangerous quest to sub-saharan Africa. His mission: to visit no fewer than all 10 gorilla range states to see how these magnificent animals are faring and to speak face to face with politicians, conservationists, poachers, loggers and anybody else with links to the gorillas' sitution.
Beginning in the comparatively serene Gloucestershire town of Stroud (UK) on 9 August, Ian Redmond flew from London to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to begin his adventure. He tried to use public transport where possible, though the sheer distances involved meant he often had to take planes.
Year of Gorilla Ambassador Ian Redmond said during the World Forestry Congress, recently held in Buenos Aires, that protecting animals and stopping bushmeat trade are not a matter of choice, but are actually an essential part of forest preservation. He stated: “Forests don’t have biodiversity, they ARE biodiversity. If we take out the animals, we are removing a key element of the forest life cycle”.
Animals are crucial for seed dispersal, as many plants can’t germinate without first passing through the digestive tract of species such as gorillas, elephants or birds. According to Redmond, 75% of forest depends on animals to maintain species richness and the natural cycle. More biodiversity, Redmond emphasized, also means a bigger capacity of the forest to overcome with adverse situations, such as changes in rain patterns that can occur as a result of global warming (read a recent press release by the Biodiversity Convention on this topic here).
Hunting for bushmeat contributes strongly to the extinction or significant reduction of some species, among them gorillas. At the same time, in a number of tropical countries bushmeat is also an important source of protein for people. “In at least 62 countries, wild animals and fish constitute a minimum of 20% of the animal protein in rural diets”, says a bushmeat study by the UN Biodiversity Convention. In Central Africa alone, 30% to 80% of the total protein ingested by farmers comes from hunting.
New gorilla film being made in local Ugandan language Luganda
Wednesday, 28 October 2009 12:55
Solomon W. Jagwe, a Ugandan native, has written and is currently directing a Mountain Gorilla conservation film titled “Galiwango, Obulamu Bwe’Kisodde”, meaning “The Life of the Gorilla”.
The aim of this film is to raise awareness about the plight of the Mountain Gorillas and the threats that they are exposed to. Although there are a variety of threats facing gorilla populations today, central threats include degradation and loss of habitat, direct exploitation, diseases, as well as the impact of war and political unrest in various range states.
Jagwe’s goal is not only to raise awareness and educate, but to also appeal on a local level to the younger generation of Ugandan’s and to catalyze conservation action on their part. It is for this reason that the film is written in Luganda, Uganda’s most widely spoken language.
The YoG deeply supports this kind of educational approach and this film is special in the sense that it is being made in a local language. We encourage and invite potential donors to support this project. To find out more about the project, please go to www.galiwango.com.
To make a donation in support of this project's realization, click here.
WAZA, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, is one of the three main partners of the Year of the Gorilla 2009. Altogether, 109 zoos supported the YoG, especially through educational and outreach activities aimed at the full spectrum of visitors, from kids to interested adults, but also through fundraising for projects and the hosting of conferences and lectures.
To mark the Year of the Gorilla in 2009, IAN REDMOND embarked on a dangerous quest to sub-saharan Africa. His mission: to visit no fewer than all 10 gorilla range states to see how these magnificent animals are faring and to speak face to face with politicians, conservationists, poachers, loggers and anybody else with links to the gorillas' sitution. 
Year of Gorilla Ambassador Ian Redmond said during the World Forestry Congress, recently held in Buenos Aires, that protecting animals and stopping bushmeat trade are not a matter of choice, but are actually an essential part of forest preservation. He stated: “Forests don’t have biodiversity, they ARE biodiversity. If we take out the animals, we are removing a key element of the forest life cycle”.
Solomon W. Jagwe, a Ugandan native, has written and is currently directing a Mountain Gorilla conservation film titled “Galiwango, Obulamu Bwe’Kisodde”, meaning “The Life of the Gorilla”. 