Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund

RwandaThe Organization opened its first purpose-built facility in Rwanda in 2022, a state of the art research and education center aimed at accelerating the critical science and training needed for effective conservation. It serves as an educational hub, hosting more than 50,000 visitors, including 10,000 school children, in its first two years. The Fossey Fund maintains its daily protection activities for roughly half of the gorilla families in Rwanda, removing 1,000 illegal snares this year, and continues to expand its research program on both gorillas and the surrounding biodiversity. Community development programs focused on food security and livelihood initiatives, including kitchen gardens, livestock and food tree distributions, and mushroom cultivation. Adult and youth education programs included: nature clubs, conservation camps and debates, guided tours, forest visits, teacher training and community leader engagement. To build scientific capacity, the Fossey Fund provided training for more than 400 university students and has hosted 65 trainings with participants from more than 30 countries. The Fossey Fund has an intensive mentoring program for early career scientists and established a scholarship fund to promote the educational advancement of African scientists, with a particular focus on women in science and conservation. Combined with our programs in the DR Congo, our people-centered programs reached more than 30,000 people in 2023.

Democratic Republic of the CongoThe Fossey Fund protects critically endangered Grauer's gorillas through managing a community conservation forest called Nkuba. In 2022, the Fossey Fund announced a 50% increase in Nkuba to more than 600,000 acres of primary forest, which includes at least 9 globally threatened large mammals, including Grauer's gorillas and eastern chimpanzees. Hunting remains a significant threat to wildlife, as shown by the more than 2,000 snares that were removed by Fossey Fund staff. To help lessen the communities' dependence on the forest for food and income, the Organization focuses on food security and livelihood initiatives, including fish farming, vegetable gardens, honey production and sewing training with a particular focus on empowering women. In addition, the Fossey Fund focused on educational outreach, delivering conservation content in primary schools, paying the annual school fees for more than 500 children, delivering conservation messaging through radio programs and providing literary training for women. The Organization also supports the training of early-career Congolese scientists through internships onsite at Nkuba and teaching courses in local universities.