A Busman’s Holiday
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007Paul Butler, Rare’s Vice President of Global Programs, has worked for 30 years to protect some of the world’s most beloved species. On his vacation recently, he had the chance to visit one that has always fascinated him.
Where do conservationists who work all around the world go on holiday? I have been asked this question more times than I can count. After all, our work takes us to some of the most inspiring, beautiful and remote places on the planet. So what do we do when we have a few days off from our work? “Do you stay home?” is a question I am often asked.
Well, I have recently returned from my vacation, and I took my family to Rwanda in Central Africa. A bit of a “busman’s holiday” I guess. The objective of our visit was to see the mountain gorillas made famous by Dian Fossey.
Dian Fossey was born in 1932 and trained as an occupational therapist, finding a job at the Kosair Children’s Hospital in Kentucky. Though she loved her job, she had a desire to see more of the world, so she borrowed against her next three years of earnings to finance a trip to Africa. Of particular interest to her were the mountain gorillas of the Virunga Volcanoes of Central Africa. When she first arrived in Africa in 1966 there were an estimated 480 mountain gorillas left in the park. Poaching and encroachment were slowly causing their numbers to dwindle. Her battle to save these magnificent creatures was portrayed in the film “Gorillas in the Mist” staring Sigourney Weaver and directed by Michael Apted. (Contrary to the film’s portrayal, Dian did not try to convince Leakey to send her to Africa – quite the opposite. In 1966, Leakey contacted Fossey and urged her to study gorillas in the wild as an experiment. At first Fossey was reluctant, citing her lack of experience, but upon further coercion she agreed to go).
A mountain gorilla.
Today visiting the Gorilla’s of Rwanda has become an “eco-tourism experience” that can be had by anyone with the resources to pay to travel there and to pay the tour fee (currently $500). A 2001 article by Dr. Liz Williamson, who studied gorillas in Gabon from 1984 until 1990 and then became the Director of the Nyungwe Forest Conservation Project in Rwanda, provides background on how gorilla tourism in Rwanda started.
She writes: “Conservationists mobilized in 1979 when plans were announced to clear a large area of the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda for cattle grazing, since conversion of the forest habitat was considered the greatest threat to the mountain gorillas’ survival. A means of making the gorillas “pay for themselves” and protecting the park was needed, so a tourism program was planned and developed by researchers with experience gained from the Karisoke Research Center, Amy Vedder and Bill Weber. The Mountain Gorilla Project initiated the tourism program in Rwanda, and gorilla tourism has since become a great success in terms of increased protection of the parks, close surveillance of additional gorilla groups and much needed revenue.”
Almost 30 years later, groups of tourists visit habituated gorilla groups every day, to witness these magnificent beasts. When I proposed Rwanda to my family there was a lot of skepticism and concern for our safety – after all in 1994, 800,000 Rwandans were killed in a100-day genocide that swept the country pitting Hutu’s against Tutsi’s as depicted in the movie “Hotel Rwanda”.
Arriving into Kigali Airport, all concerns were swept aside. The people were incredibly friendly and genuinely welcoming, as they whisked my disabled wife through customs and immigration. Our next surprise was the cleanliness of the Country and the high quality of their roads. The Rwandan Government has banned plastic bags and the entire population regularly dedicates time to community clean-up programs.
From the airport we drove west to the Congolese border and the Volcanoes National Park. There are approximately 720 mountain gorillas alive today, existing in two small, protected montane forest patches in northwest Rwanda, southwest Uganda and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The two forest patches in which mountain gorillas are found effectively divide the 720 gorillas into two distinct populations. One population (comprising about half of the total number) in Uganda is found in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP), covering about 330 km2. The other population inhabits the Virunga Volcano Region (VVR), which sits across the international borders of Rwanda, Uganda and DRC. The VVR is ecologically homogenous, but separated into three national parks, in three countries: Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda, Volcano National Park in Rwanda and Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, covering an approximate total area of 300 km2.
My family and I spent the night at Gorilla’s Nest Hotel. It was nothing special but was adequate. The hotel is nestled under a grove of trees, and in the early morning the views across to the volcanoes and surrounding hills are spectacular. We should know, as the second day of our visit we were up early and driven to the Park where we joined about 60 other people who would be gorilla watching that day. Rwanda has eight groups of habituated gorilla’s and each day groups of 8 people, accompanied by trackers and armed guards, hike up to see them. Because my daughter Maya had just turned 16, we were allocated the closest group, meaning that rather than hiking 3-4 hours we would walk only one hour. The gorilla group we were to visit was a family of 17 gorillas that had come across the Congo border to seek safety in Rwanda where hunting pressure was minimal. On the same day we visited Rwanda four Gorillas were killed in the Congo. Before setting off on our hike we had the pleasure of meeting the Chief Park Warden, Justin Rurangirwa, and his staff who laid down the ground rules of the visit. Our guides seemed well trained, knowledgeable and very professional.
Paul Butler spends the afternoon observing mountain gorillas.
From park headquarters our small group walked up to the forest through the local shambas planted with potatoes and pyrethrum. The guides know approximately where the troop is located as Gorillas sleep through the night, so leaving them late the previous afternoon, will help find them the following morning.
We climbed through dense vegetation passing several vegetation zones; bamboo, luxuriant hagenia and hypericum forest, and twisted gnarled trees covered in soft emerald mosses, lichens and epiphytes. The guides stayed on the trails until close to the gorillas. Then using a machete, they cut a trail to get close. When we were very close, the guides told us to leave our bags and take only our cameras. The lead guide moved forward grunting as he went to announce our arrival to the group so as not to startle the gorillas. The first Gorilla we saw was a juvenile male who seemed totally engaged in eating his breakfast. He was sitting in an open glade making photography possible. We were told not to use flash and to keep our distance. We then moved slowly through the forest looking for the rest of the group. We saw the Silverback lying in thick vegetation lazily watching us, young females and several juveniles who were play fighting, climbing trees and wrestling. We had an hour with the Gorilla’s – it was a magical and a real experience. The hour of viewing passed very quickly.
Discussing the Pro’s and Con’s of Gorilla tourism, Dr. Liz Williamson writes:
“Revenue from gorilla tourism helps cover salaries and operating costs in all the protected areas of Rwanda. In addition, international publicity surrounding the gorillas and the advent of organized tourism brought many visitors to Rwanda and in the past made tourism the third-highest foreign currency earner for this country, after tea and coffee. International awareness and concern for plight of gorillas has been enhanced through tourism and has generated funds for conservation activities and research.”
However, Williamson cautions that: “Tourism does have drawbacks. Even before tourism began, impacts of human visits on the gorillas’ behavior were feared, such as changes in their ranging patterns, impeding the transfer of females to other groups, and hindering reproduction. Stress to the animals can be provoked during the habituation process or through regular contact with unfamiliar humans, which could potentially result in immuno-suppression or reduction in reproductive success. Further, certain human pathogens can affect gorillas – respiratory diseases (such as measles, herpes, pneumonia) and, equally important, enteric diseases (such as polio, salmonella). With such a small population of gorillas in the Virungas, an infectious disease could devastate the population, and gorilla eco-tourism has increased the potential threat of disease transmission. However, despite the dangers inherent in tourism, it provides a mechanism for ensuring that the parks and the gorillas are valued for many reasons, and has probably saved the gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes from further habitat loss or degradation.”
Rare does not currently work in Rwanda, but does work in other African countries that deal with similar issues. Learn more about our project sites and Rare’s work in Africa.
