Be The Change - Conservation

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 We have chosen two causes that are the most pressing right now; orangutan and gorilla conservation, and the forests that they inhabit. Forests are some of the most precious landscapes on the planet, not only are they the most biodiverse, but they are also the earth’s lungs and provide essential protection against the negative impacts of our way of life that is polluting and changing our climate and ecosystems. The tragic plight of these two amazing primates, is a direct consequence of the damage we are doing to the forests of our planet, and also to the people in some of the poorest areas of the world. 

There are seven species of Great-Apes who sadly are ALL on the IUCN’s Red List as ‘Critically Endangered’. Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutans, and Eastern Lowland Gorillas are four of these who desperately need protecting. This is the last step on the list before extinction, which clearly means we have passed all earlier red flags and are now needing absolute urgency and immediate action, to ensure the worst does not come to fruition. In many circumstances such as with mountain gorillas, with this urgent action, we were able to slow the decline and actually start increasing the numbers of the species, albeit marginally and from a dangerously low number of 880 individuals remaining. This means it is possible. Sadly not for all, as we watched in 2018 as the last white rhino remaining in the wild passed away. This is not reversible; once they’re gone, they're gone, and species loss is devastating and must be avoided at all costs.

As part of setting the foundation of this conservation work, we are currently working alongside 2 NGOs, one that works to protect gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an orangutan conservation charity in Sumatra, Indonesia.

 There are two species of gorilla; the Eastern and Western Gorilla, and both are critically endangered. These two species are also separated into two sub-species, the Western Gorilla has the Western Lowland Gorilla and the Cross-River Gorilla, and the Eastern Gorilla has the Eastern Lowland Gorilla and the Mountain Gorilla. We are supporting the species that is endemic to Eastern-DRC, the Eastern Lowland Gorilla. It is the species declining at the fastest rate and we have already seen a reduction of 77% in the last 20 years from 17,000 down to a possible 3,800 left now. That's in one generation, which is both shocking and worrying. 

Strong Roots; is an NGO based in Eastern-DRC. Their mission, as well as ours, is to halt the decline and protect the critically endangered Eastern-Lowland Gorilla, otherwise known as Grauer’s Gorilla, who are endemic to Eastern-DRC. Their conservation strategy uniquely works with local indigenous people; empowering and supporting them to create protected areas to help both people and nature. Through this they support development of alternative livelihoods and poverty reduction,  to ensure that humans and Great-Apes can live in harmony. Noticing and respecting the link between people and nature has been shown to be one of the most successful routes to effective conservation, and Strong Roots have directly influenced an increase in population in the area that they have worked in with their creative and inclusive methods.

Our Zoologist and Blogger Suzie, volunteers for Strong Roots in Bukavu, DRC, lending conservation expertise, communications skills and her enthusiasm for protecting nature to their vital work (you can find out more about Suzie’s volunteer work here) 

From Strong Roots’ experience we can learn all about what needs to be done to protect this majestic giant and help to try to gain more support for this work, as well as creating a partnership to help nature and local people in DRC, who are among some of the poorest in the world.  

 If you would like to support our work to save the largest primate on earth, please consider donating; the funds raised go directly to paying for a much needed monitoring project that Strong Roots is currently organising so that we can see the actual state of the population of Grauer’s Gorillas, and from there know how best to help them. This has never been done in this area and the gorillas go almost completely unmonitored, making it easier for them to disappear of the face of the earth undetected. This monitoring project needs funds, we need YOUR HELP!

We are also setting up a gorilla sponsorship programme with Strong Roots, if you are interested you can find out more on our gorilla sponsorship page.

We also have some gorilla merchandise in our shop, great for gifts!