Conservation Incentives Officer

The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), an international conservation organization, invites applications for the post of Conservation Incentives Officer for International Gorilla conservation Programme (IGCP).

The International Gorilla Conservation Programme is a coalition of African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), Fauna and Flora International (FFI) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and works in Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo to ensure the long-term survival of the endangered Mountain Gorilla and its afromontane habitat.

The main purpose of this position is to play a significant role in the development of the conservation incentives as a tool for maximum conservation and development impact in around the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.

The position is based in Musanze, Rwanda with frequent travel to the field offices in Kabale, Goma and to the offices of IGCP Directorate in Kigali

Requirements include:

• Academic qualifications in business management, rural development, and social sciences, ideally at Bachelors level, but additional qualifications will be added advantage.
• 3 years community development project experience, preferably in the rural area with good track record in a chosen field.
• Proven ability to conceptualize and write project documents and reports.
• Ability to communicate effectively with multi-stakeholder, including proactive sharing of information and reporting.

Other Requirements:

• Computer skills in Word, Excel and PowerPoint and Internet skills
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Gender awareness
• Working Knowledge in English or French. Knowledge of Kinyarwanda, is an added advantage
• Valid Driving Licence

An initial contract of one year will be offered, with a competitive package and potential for renewal. If you meet the requirements of this position, submit a cover letter, a detailed CV, including a daytime telephone contact and three referees by 30 July 2010 to igcphr@awfafrica.org.

Only shortlisted candidates shall be contacted. IGCP and AWF are equal opportunity employers and female candidates are encouraged to apply.

Download the full job description here: IGCP Conservation Incentives Officer TOR July 2010

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Conservation Incentives Coordinator

The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), an international conservation organization, invites  applications for the post of Conservation Incentives Coordinator for International Gorilla conservation Programme (IGCP).

The International Gorilla Conservation Programme is a coalition of African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), Fauna and Flora International (FFI) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and works in Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo to ensure the long-term survival of the endangered Mountain Gorilla and its afromontane habitat.

The main purpose of this position is to play a significant role in the design and delivery of innovative services to strengthen conservation enterprises within IGCP in the Virunga-Bwindi massif for maximum conservation and development impact.

The position is based in Kabale, Uganda with frequent travel to the field offices in Musanze, Goma and Musanze and to the offices of IGCP Directorate in Kigali

Requirements include:

• Academic qualifications in business management, at least a Bachelors degree in Business
• Administration and a demonstrated interest and understanding of key concepts in small enterprise development, venture capital and micro-financing and marketing.
• 5 years experience, preferably in the SME sector and a proven track record in chosen field.
• Awareness and sensitivity to ‘new conservation’ methods, including community conservation and wildlife enterprises.
• Proven ability to conceptualize and write project documents and reports.
• Ability to communicate effectively with a wide group of collaborators, including proactive sharing of information and reporting.

Other Requirements:

• Computer knowledge especially  in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Internet is a prerequisite
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Gender awareness
• Fluency in the  English language;  working knowledge in French is an added advantage
• Excellent organizational aptitude and coordinating ability
• Ability to assess and react appropriately to changing circumstances
• Valid Driving license

An initial contract of one year will be offered, with a competitive package and potential for renewal. If you meet the requirements of this position, submit a cover letter, a detailed CV, including a daytime telephone contact and three referees by 30 July 2010 to igcphr@awfafrica.org.

Only shortlisted candidates shall be contacted. IGCP and AWF are equal opportunity employers and female candidates are encouraged to apply.

Download the full job description here: IGCP Conservation Incentives Coordinator TOR July 2010

That changed dramatically in 1991 when the Batwa were evicted from the forests during the creation of national parks within the region. Without land of their own or the skills to compete in the modern marketplace, the Batwa have become marginalized, existing in extreme poverty on the parks’ borders. Their culture risks fading into history.

Stephen, a guide for the Batwa Trail.

There are approx 5,000 Batwa living in Southwest Uganda in 39 communities around the edges of Mgahinga and Bwindi National Parks. A study in 2003 revealed that over 50% of the Batwa population regularly entered Mgahinga Gorilla National Park illegally to harvest forest resources. What’s more, this was being done not for subsistence needs, but to sell to other groups. “The Batwa are viewed as cheap labor among other ethnic groups in the area,” says Stephen Asuma, IGCP Programme Officer who works with the Batwa in Uganda. “Others were capitalizing on the Batwa’s incredible knowledge of the forest and its resources. And this put new pressure on the parks and mountain gorilla habitat.”

IGCP recognizes the important link between the Batwa and conservation. If the Batwa had alternative income-generating activities, they would not need to rely on unsustainable use of the forests. Furthermore, if the Batwa could improve their livelihoods by showcasing their unique knowledge of the land, they could keep their rich culture in tact.

A traditional Batwa dance.

This is the conservation logic behind several projects IGCP is spearheading with the Batwa of Uganda. IGCP has partnered with the Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the United Organisation for Batwa Development in Uganda (UOBDU) to develop tourism-related activities that can bring employment and revenue to the Batwa, while reducing pressure on the parks from illegal resource extraction.

The first such project, the Batwa Trail in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, officially opens this July.

Batwa children.

Thousands of people made their way the foot of Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda to celebrate this year’s Kwita Izina under the theme “Many Species, One Planet, One Future.” Special guests included Rwandan President Paul Kagame, The Under Secretary and Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Achim Steiner, and Hollywood film star Don Cheadle.

Musicians perform at the gorilla naming ceremony in Rwanda.

The naming ceremony coincided with World Environment Day, established by UNEP in 1972 and celebrated each year on June 5th. “We have dedicated almost 10 percent of our territory to the conservation of our biodiversity and we continue to sensitize our people so that they understand that, indeed, we have one future as far as this planet is concerned,” said Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who presided over the festival and related events. “We believe that protecting the environment entails, among other things, empowering communities so that they change their attitudes and find alternative livelihoods that can promote sustainable and equitable development.”

President of Rwanda Paul Kagame presided over the celebration.

The ceremony takes its name from the Rwandan tradition of giving a name to a newborn baby. Since the first Kwita Izina in 2005, 103 baby gorillas have been given names. Thousands of people from around the world helped American actor Don Cheadle select the name “Zoya” for one gorilla, which refers to “life” and “light” in several languages.

The gorilla naming ceremony has helped bring mountain gorilla conservation to the international spotlight while raising funds for local conservation efforts. The United Nations says this year’s World Environment Day raised $85,000 for gorilla conservation.

Photos by TNgoga

Recipient of the Jean Paul Getty Prize in 1996, the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2001, and recognized as a CNN Hero in 2007, Eugène is the director of the International Gorilla Conservation Program (IGCP). He was forced to flee Rwanda during the genocide in 1991, but returned to help rebuild his country’s national parks while determined to protect the mountain gorillas.

In the CNN profile, Eugène talks about his experiences and his attachment to the world’s most highly endangered great ape, in whose eyes he sees the “need for protection, the need for friendship.”

Watch the CNN clip here.

Photo copyright CNN

In the few lines that follow, I would like to share the experience of ten days of intensive activity out in the field counting different mountain gorilla families living in different areas of the Virunga Massif that were allocated to the team to which I belonged.

To properly carry out the census, the Virunga Massif was divided into several sectors to facilitate the counting and communication between different participating teams. On the afternoon of March 15th, 2010 at the edge of gorilla habitat near the Bukima ranger outpost, we decided to spend the night to prepare for the next day-long trip to Mwinanaro camp, located three hours away on foot.  The site was strategically chosen to facilitate counting in remote areas farther from the Park’s edge.

The team preparing for a long trek in the forest

The next morning we actually started our journey towards Mwinanaro around 6:30 am, arriving at the camp at about 10 am. We immediately went to work, deciding to do some field explorations in order to reduce the task of the following day. After pitching our tents, we divided into two teams of five individuals as originally planned, and each team left to cover part of the chosen sector in order to reduce the number of working days at the site. The census work was to utilize a reconnaissance route, using trails already made by elephants, buffaloes or trackers until we discovered a fresh gorilla trail, after which we would follow it to the nest site to count nests and assess the composition of the group. In each nest we also collected fecal samples for DNA and parasitological analysis.

A gorilla census is both very exciting and very tiring. While it provides sweeping views of spectacular scenery from the lofty heights of the Volcanoes’ ridges, it also requires a Herculean physical effort to climb the many hills and slopes and slide down the broad valleys in search of gorilla nests. We did have some help, however: we used tools such as compasses, geo referenced maps and GPS to navigate and physically position ourselves throughout the treks.

We left the camp very early in the morning the next day, traversing vast zones throughout the day, returning late in the evening beyond exhaustion. During these long walks, we faced some difficulties inherent to the nature of the forest: the very painful and irritating nettle leaves, which left itchy red welts on the skin, the bite of safari ants, and the constant danger posed by roaming buffalos or elephants, which obliged us to slow down and wait until they went their way.

In addition, the Virunga Massif is well known for its aridity, with small streams and surface water disappearing rapidly due to the high porosity of its volcanic soil. Even during the rainy season, marsh areas do not last long. Water is therefore a scarce resource, which requires one to properly manage their hydration, as they may often travel long distances without finding a single water source. Faced with this reality, park trackers have already developed mechanisms to alter their thirst and water needs. During the rainy season, rainwater is retained in bamboo trunks, entering through pores hollowed out by insects.  The trackers use this water to quench their thirst. During our visit in a bamboo forest, I saw our trackers screening bamboo shoots and carefully choosing those they knew contained water. They make a small slit in the trunk to find their liquid nourishment.

A cool drink after selecting the right bamboo stalk

Every evening, after planning work for the following day, small talk and funny stories took over around the campfire before we slowly faded off to our tents, one by one, completely exhausted from the long day of walking.

During our ten day stay, our two teams were able to identify four different gorilla families, each consisting of several individuals. The exact composition of each family is to be confirmed later by the DNA analysis of gorilla fecal samples, after which the organizers of the census, led by IGCP in collaboration with our conservation partners, will officially determine the number of gorillas found in each sector.  Despite my years of working on gorilla conservation in this area, each day during the census was one of discovery – a whole new world in which to explore.  The Virungas’ high biodiversity and ever changing weather and ecosystems guarantee one will never get bored scaling their rugged, misty green peaks.  With most of the hard, but exciting, work of the census behind me, I am looking forward to the results.  I hope our efforts have paid off, and the gorillas will continue to wander this lush paradise for many years to come.

The Rwandan Development Board first learned of a problem on Sunday, May 16, when trackers from the Karisoke Research Center visiting the Pablo group reported they had found a dead female and her baby alive but very weak. As the trackers went to find the rest of the group they then discovered another dead baby gorilla. Fortunately, the second baby’s mother was found a day later with no signs of illness.

The trackers quickly called in veterinarians who unsuccessfully tried to revive the ailing gorilla.

On Monday morning, the death of another two-week-old gorilla was reported in Rwanda’s Ugenda group, which, along with the Pablo group, is monitored for research purposes only. Both groups are settled in the Karisimbi area of Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, the tallest of the volcanoes in the Virunga chain. While the cause of death has yet to be determined, the gorillas are thought to have died because of the extreme weather conditions. Baby gorillas are especially vulnerable to illness and other threats and rely heavily on the protection of their mothers well beyond their third year.

“Each baby mountain gorilla is a source of great hope and is monitored very closely,” says Eugene Rutagarama, Director of the International Gorilla Conservation Program, a coalition of the African Wildlife Foundation, Fauna & Flora International, and the World Wide Fund for Nature, formed to conserve Africa’s mountain gorillas. “We are all shocked and saddened by the death of these baby gorillas as well as the adult female, and by the grave implications for the mountain gorilla population as a whole.”

There only about 680 mountain gorillas in the wild, making them one of the world’s most highly endangered great apes. About half the population lives in the Virunga Volcanoes, a chain of active and inactive volcanoes that straddles the borders of Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The other half lives in Bwindi Impenetrable Park in Uganda, which last month suffered the loss of a mountain gorilla twin that was only one-and-a-half years old.

“Mountain gorilla twins are rare and it is rarer still to see twins survive past the first year-which is why we were very encouraged, and then greatly saddened by the death,” says Uganda-based Mark Mwine of IGCP. “Fortunately, the other twin is doing fine.”

Since the four dead gorillas were discovered, the Rwanda Development Board and Karisoke Research Centre staff have examined all other gorilla groups in Volcanoes National Park to confirm that there have been no further casualties.

“We can thankfully report that for all other research and tourism gorilla groups all individuals were identified,” says Maryke Gray, technical advisor for the International Gorilla Conservation Program. “There were no missing gorillas and no gorillas were found to have serious health problems.”

The news of the gorilla deaths is casting a pall over enthusiasm being generated by a mountain gorilla census now being conducted across the Virunga Volcanoes. Facilitated by IGCP and other partners, a team of 80 park officials and other experts over two months collected data on gorilla activity as well as fecal samples for genetic and health analysis. The results are now being analyzed and are expected to be released by the three park authorities in October. The last census of mountain gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes, conducted in 2003, revealed the population had increased 17 percent since the previous census in 1989. IGCP and its partners are hoping to see another rise this time around.

This camp was installed in the context of carrying out a census of the population of mountain gorillas located in the Virunga massif.  The Virunga massif is across 3 countries which are Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. To reinforce the trans-boundary collaboration that is existing between the 3 countries, during the census groups of trackers are made of rangers from these different countries’ national parks: Parc National des Volcans (Rwanda), Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Area (Uganda) and Parc National des Virunga (DRC).

Filming team in discussion

After setting up our tents and having a brief tour around we chilled out and got to know each other before supper was served. Among us, some were French speakers, others English speakers and others are Kinyarwanda- French- Swahili speakers. What was interesting in this mixture of languages was the fact that we developed a mixture of these languages that we nicknamed “gorilla language”. This became the camp tongue which allowed us to easily communicate and so to reach our target of a census of the mountain gorillas of the Virunga Massif.

This particular camp’s experience was not like the camps we read about in nature books. This camp was like our family’s home and was full of people having the hope and the determination of counting individual mountain gorillas. To newcomers, people who are doing a gorilla census for their first time like me, the life in the camp might have seemed overwhelming and difficult in the beginning.  This was particularly because of the cold wet weather, but as the time progressed, people got used to it and it was no longer so overwhelming and difficult.

To reach the target of maximizing the number of hours to be worked in the park for the census, we started by thinking about the meals’ timetable and the menu composition. The camp then agreed to have breakfast at 6:30 am, work in the forest all day and then have supper at 7pm. In the beginning, it was not easy for many people who, for the first time in their life had to adapt to this situation. Some cases of stomach aches were observed in the beginning due to the different meal hours. What is good is that all people have adapted to the new meal schedule within 3 days.  It was also very interesting to look at old and young men sharing the bathroom constructed from local materials, and discussing around the locally made table, even playing cards in National Teams (but no national anthems were sung before the game!).

Trackers are planning the daily work around the locally made table

Who will forget the brilliant moments we used to have after supper when we gathered in a semi-circle watching Congolese, Rwandese and Ugandan music on Alison’s small flat screen? Nobody I think. Who will ignore the endurance and good advice of Mzee (Old Man) Babo Jean de la Croix? It would be like ignoring the 1 month we spent in the Park for the whole census exercise. How should morning meetings bringing together Team leaders and their assistants be forgotten? It is impossible.

Let’s note tears that have fallen from everybody’s eyes during the time we were concluding our work in the forest. People were exchanging e-mails and telephone numbers and that shows how trackers from Parc National des Volcans, Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Area and Parc National des Virunga have taken this opportunity to develop and strengthen their collaboration that has generated a kind of friendship. Many thanks to Deogratias, Christopher, Joseph, Alison, Gasore, Babo, Eric, Emmanuel and Felicien with who we’ve been together during whole month in camp.

This story tells the experience of Team 2 that worked mainly in the Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. From March through April, much of Volcanoes National Park’s 160 km² of land was quietly covered by trackers who were carrying out the 2^nd gorilla census of the Virunga Massif within the past decade. All eyes of Virunga Massif’s conservationists and park managers were oriented throughout the amazing landscapes of Rwanda’s first national park. VNP’s wildernesses, with elevations ranging from 2500 to 4503 meters, have been covered.

Our first day of the census started on March 2^nd at six in the morning after three days of field training in Bukima, DRC. Following the training all trackers traveled to the part of the forest they were to start work in.  On the one hand the forest was familiar to all of us; on the other hand we were learning new methods for the census activity.  This methodology consisted of using reconnaissance trails that were a distance of 500 meters apart when walking in the park.  Using reconnaissance trails in this way helps in maximizing the chance of observing the targeted population. Map, compass and GPS are the equipment used to direct and orient people in the forest, which was a challenge as some of us were not used to utilizing this kind of technology when we’re in the park.

Team of photographers visiting trackers

On March 6^th, we started by climbing Karisimbi (white shell), the highest and probably the most beautiful of the Rwanda volcanoes! This volcano, with its altitudinal vegetation zones is probably one of the most beautiful mountains of the world. Here every body sweated to reach the last and highest point of the reconnaissance trail at 3800 meters of altitude. The main obstacles were slopes and deep ravines. The tiredness we have had that day didn’t prevent us to look around and explore the stunning scenery and fascinating vegetation. The day ended at 6 pm and each member of the team was asking himself if we will endure for the whole exercise.

The following 4 days contributed in showing to us that all planed activities and itineraries were subjects to change without any prior notice. The day we were visited by National Geographic team for photographing the census, we have had an extraordinary good moment with these veteran photographers. At the end of the day as it was getting darker and darker in the park, we remarked that except Matthias, one of our visitors; none of us has a torch. This experience showed us the importance of planning accordingly for a day in the park because when you’re in the park you don’t know what the hours will bring. My team will keep remembering the good moment we have spent with Mathias team and how his torch saved us when the night was falling.

On March 8^th, we had the chance of observing for the first time the old nests of gorillas’. Everybody can guess how happy we were that time because we were approaching our target of finding mountain gorillas and starting to count them. Unfortunately, that day ended by fear from bees. Four member of the team, including myself were bitten by bees from a hole in a tree. But we haven’t been discouraged by these challenges because we were determined and prepared for such experiences. One thing to note is that our colleague, Christopher, has been bitten by bees 3 times during the whole exercise and has given the name of “Mr Bees”.

Trackers collecting gorilla data

My team will not forget the day we found the lone silverback who is suspected to be Bikwi, a former member of Susa group. He attacked us and some of us were about to run but instead we took the time to teach each other how to behave in such circumstances. Thanks must go to one of our colleagues whose name is Erick. Without his advice we shouldn’t have escaped the danger from this silverback which wanted to protect his home range.

The most unforgettable day to me for the whole census is April 13^th when we were attacked by the biggest animal of African parks, the elephant. We have been saved by the fact that we were aware that elephants were in that zone and we took serious actions to hide ourselves from its view before it saw us.

Let me express my thanks to the brilliant trackers who accompanied me on this activity in my group. Some of us were doing this activity for the first time in our conservation career but we believe that this period we spent in the park will contribute to make a difference by showing that the number of gorilla has increased.

We are on the slopes of the Virunga Volcanos’ highest peak today, Karisimbi, to observe and document the work of tri-national research teams.  The Virunga Massif mountain gorilla census has launched, and the compact group of rangers and protected area authorities from Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo are finishing up this sector of the mountain, cutting lines in the forest called transects which they traverse and look for signs of gorillas.  Sleeping nests or dung are the usual indicators, but trampled forest undergrowth, broken branches and torn up bamboo shoots (a favorite gorilla food) can also indicate a recent visit.

The team makes its way through the cathedral of bamboo

This team is one of many that have been trained and are fanning out all over the volcanoes in all three countries in an unprecedented show of cooperation over the months of March and April.  The count seeks to get an accurate picture of the gorilla population in these tangled forests and lush canyons.  IGCP has led the training of the teams, working with our partners the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International and Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project to produce knowledgeable and motivated units that will scour six volcanoes (Karisimbi, Mikeno, Visoke, Sabyinyo, Murabura and Gahinga) and three National Parks (Volcanoes in Rwanda, Virunga in Congo and Mgahinga in Uganda) in little more than eight weeks.

Today is also a significant day because we have world renowned National Geographic photographer Mattias Klum with us.  His photography and video will document this important work, with the purpose of bringing it to a larger international audience.  The census is not only vital for the sake of science:  an informed public can be an active public, and we need all who can to join us.  Pre-census estimates indicate approximately 680 mountain gorillas are left on earth, making them the most endangered great ape next to their sub-species cousin the Cross River Gorilla in Western Africa.

Two teams are going to walk two kilometer long transects about 500 meters apart on Karisimbi’s mid-section.  First, however, we have to climb there.  As we emerge from the bamboo’s gangling shadow, we are more than 3,000 meters (9,842 feet) up, with the twisted moss draped limbs of the Hagenia trees spreading over the crisp green understory of the forest like wise old men gathering young converts up in their experienced arms for tales of this place’s secrets.   It’s a lush wonderland that is completely reborn every day through these mountains’ prodigious rains, which do not hesitate to greet us as soon as we reach the transect’s starting point.

The rain brings an eerie glow to the Hagenia forest at the start of the transect

Soon the rain tapers to a soft hiss as we wind through giant Lobelia plants, their gangly prehistoric looking stalks running riot up, out and seemingly everywhere from the ruddy black volcanic soil.  I have to remind myself we are searching for signs of gorillas, and not dinosaurs.  And the path is not an easy one: with little notice we are plunging into canyons with rushing brooks to be crossed, snaking through scrubby bush as dense as wet concrete and emerging into clearings of spongy moss akin to walking on an old spring mattress.  In less than two kilometers, the diversity of forest and landscape is immense, and it is not difficult to understand why the gorillas tuck themselves into its soggy pockets for food, fun and family.  It’s a playground with endless diversity – discovery in every step.

But today they must be cavorting elsewhere.  We find no nests or signs, only the charred branches and grey ash of a two-week old campfire – likely set by poachers.  It’s a precipitous reminder that the gorillas do not have this Eden to themselves, and their visitors are not always friendly neighbors.  We take note, and forge onward.  After a deep gully clothed in wildflowers and gurgling water, another traffic jam of Lobelia, and more haunted Hagenia we stop just short of two thousand meters while the research team completes the transect.  There is too much to savor here: two kilometers turns into a an eight hour roaming of delicacy and wonder – more than the soul can gather.  So much more that we get ensnared by the fading light, its floating embers wrapping even the smoking, restless Nyamuragira  Volcano, which had erupted and spewed its fire into Congo’s neighboring forests just three weeks ago, in the glow of dusk’s solitude.   Of course, the teams don’t have time to savor and dream like me – their hard work contributes to the solid foundation of science and dedication necessary to bring this magnificent species back from the brink of extinction.

Nyamuragira Volcano still broods over the border in Congo after a recent eruption

We practically hurdle down the mountain, skiing on wet rocks and slick mud most of the way.  By the time we are back in the bamboo, however, night has inked out any remaining glow, and the last hour is a pitch black maze of brittle bamboo stalks, which we thread our way through by following the brief flashes of color our eyes can faintly capture from the jacket of the team member in front of us.  Three of the team did remember to bring headlamps, and these are our saviors: with no electric lights for dozens of kilometers in front, behind or beside us, the blackness is all consuming.

Eleven hours of slogging through difficult rainforest makes one want to sleep for three full days afterward.  But the census teams do this trek every day. There is no time to lose in mountain gorilla conservation.  This census will play a big role not only in IGCP and our partners’ future responses to its ever shifting challenges, but also its current ones – our work on the ground right now, today.  Karisimbi’s bountiful slopes have harbored an extraordinary diversity of life for millennia, with the mountain gorilla their monarch.  With this census, collaboration and cooperation amongst those who protect this bounty for everyone, humans and hairy next of kin alike, has taken on new significance, and IGCP is proud to light the way.

I am bumping around Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda today with award winning photographer Mattias Klum.  The Park and its environs can provide a lifetime’s worth of award winning images, but Mattias has another purpose on this trip: to document the beginning stages of the IGCP led mountain gorilla census in the Virunga Volcanoes Massif.  It’s been seven years since the last census here, and these counts give us vital information about the state of the mountain gorilla, and its conservation, in this land of overgrown Eden and fickle sky.  In two months time, we hope to have a fairly accurate count of all the gorilla populations that romp across the Virungas, using that data to inform conservation action for now and the future.

The clouds hover over Sabyinyo as it rises from the rich soil of Kinigi's villages

The Virungas are more than the wondrous playground of the gorillas and rain-scrubbed volcanoes – the densely populated slopes burst with villages – families scratching out a living in the chocolate volcanic soil.  Today we will slip into these tight-knit communities, documenting the challenges of everyday life, learning how the people of Kinigi village and its surrounding hamlets live with and within this demanding environment.  The IGCP community walk project provides visitors with a true insight into the rhythms of life here, and adds to families’ alternative income sources, thus reducing pressure on the National Park and its own families.

But we don’t even come to stop before a gaggle of smiling kids have formed an audience.  We are looking for Josephine, who weaves traditional mats – a vital component to every household, whether they be used for sleeping, doors or simply drying maize in the sun.  Josephine’s shy smile gives her away and we decline an offer for a quick lesson in weaving: our clumsy hands would be no match for her quick, dexterous finger work.

Jospehine's dexterous hands go to work

As we head out into the field to find the local blacksmith, clumps of pinkish-red skinned potatoes appear, freshly unearthed and drying in the sun.  It is harvest time, and our path snakes through overturned potato fields on the right and the purplish-yellow stumps of recently harvested corn stalks on the left.  Work never stops here, and a wiry old mama, with her bright yellow sarong, is pitching into fragrant soil with a local hoe.  I try my hand at it, but the muscles ache after only turning over a few clumps.  This is hard work.

After documenting the blacksmith shaping local tools, we have a sip of the local brew: banana beer.  The milky brown liquid is both sweet and sour, sliding down the throat without the normal alcohol burn.  After a few sips, I notice the clouds spreading back out.  Rain is imminent.

The sky ruptures as we hike up the ridge to the next village, Musanze town simmering in the valley below, like the steam rising from one of those freshly boiled local potatoes after quickly slicing it open.  Behind, the layers of Rwanda’s “thousand hills” stack on top of each other in layers, like elegantly constructed origami.  We stop at a tree nursery, where an old man practices agro-forestry the traditional way, by collecting eucalyptus and other seeds directly from the local trees, and nurturing them in tiny bags of rich soil, eventually selling them to locals who raise trees for firewood, shade, as agricultural buffers, and for other uses.  In this densely populated land where most of the forests were razed a long time ago for agriculture, tree growing reduces the pressure of illegal wood collection in the Park.

Planting an Eucalyptus seedling at the tree nursery

Soon the fecund clouds consume Sabyinyo’s peaks, and the rain is whipping horizontal as we take shelter to watch the local cobbler pull apart the spines of an old umbrella like plucking individual hairs from the head, and then tie them back together and attach them to the fabric in ten minutes for a newly functioning rain shield.  We race to a nearby household for lunch with a local family: soft red beans and the ubiquitous potato piled haphazardly high on large woven bamboo saucers.  We eat with our hands, and wait out the cold rain, which is thundering like a chorus of full-steam locomotives on the tin roof over our heads.

As the rain sweeps down to the valleys below, we collect kids again – pushing old bicycle tubes with sticks and jostling for position to mug for our camera as we head towards the Batwa community.   School apparently is out.  A wave of singing, smiling uniforms lap at our heels, nudging us towards the Batwa dance pavilion.

When school is out the kids are camera ready

The Batwa (pygmy) peoples are a tiny minority here whose recent lifestyle changes have nevertheless had a huge impact on the local environment and communities.  Before the Park was designated, and became off limits to human habitation, they hunted, gathered foods and slept in its dewy forests.  When faced with eviction they settled near the Park’s borders, bringing the message of conservation and respect for the forest’s bounty to new generations and the wider community.   The rhythmic dances we witness today bring these messages home in a melee of stomping and gyrating.

Mattias and his crew are smiling.  They have been smiling all day.  To step even lightly into this community, woven from strands of nourishing rain and rich earth in the shadow of rugged heaps which once spewed fire but now sprout life, is to find harmony and goodwill, along with too many smiles, handshakes and hugs to count.  The challenges remain, however, and this gorilla census in the end is not only for the gorilla families and their forest home – it is for all families, and for a future that glimmers like the fresh mountain rain on Virunga’s fields of green.  We look forward to Mattias’ document bringing this to life in communities worldwide.  The heritage here, after all, amounts to more than a local source of pride.  It is an enduring treasure whose loss would make us all a bit poorer.