Baraza

Category: Gorillas | Date: Aug 20 2008 | By: baraza

In Africa we always say that when elephant bulls fight its the grass that suffers.

In this article published today on The National, Matt Brown interviews a ranger who work for CNDP (Nkundas’s faction) and who is paid US% 10 per month by a conservation organization for this dangerous job.

“When the rebels took over the territory, most of the rangers from the government-run wildlife service fled the area. Those that remained are considered to be working for the rebels.“The ICCN [the Congolese wildlife service] refused to work with us because we are rebels,” said Canisius Kanamahalagi, a conservationist working for the rebels in the gorilla sector of the park. “They decided to take all the rangers and said whoever works here is considered a rebel.””

Can you imagine being in the shoes of Canisius? It must be very tough. There’s so much controversy over whether conservationists should support these rangers (or are they rebels?).

Nkunda has been in control of the Mikeno sector for nearly a year now and judging from the International Crisis Group reports here it looks like he’s there to stay for the time being. What do you think? In the interest of gorilla protection, should conservation organizations support the rangers now working for the rebel Laurent Nkunda?

If you could advise Emmanuel what would you say?

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Tags: DR Congo, gorilla, Interational Crisis Group, Nkunda

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Category: wildlife trade | Date: Aug 16 2008 | By: baraza

Congratulations to the ICCN for busting up an ape trafficking ring.

While it’s such a relief that the baby chimpanzeeTonga was rescued, it’s depressing that chimp and gorilla trading seems to be the order of the day in some parts of the Congo.

This particular chimp was in captivity for over three months before this operation took place! We’ve been receiving tips on and off for a while now. We have heard that there are some south Africans in Goma with chimps in their garden, and we also reported an observation of a chimp or possibly gorilla baby being trafficked by boat across lake Kivu to Goma by 4 Americans! The baby was carried away in a vehicle belonging to a reputable ape conservation group! It probably ended up being flown out of Goma airport.

Seeing the look on baby Tonga’s face, and receiving further reports of how openly this trade is happening it’s heart wrenching. I trust that with Emmanuel at the helm, these two  incidents will be investigated and the culprits brought to book.

Incidentally, it’s not just DR Congo where ape trade seems to be in the hands of the military - we have reports of similar behaviour by officials in southern Sudan.

Emmanuel, Pierre, and everyone else involved, please be carerful - the Congolese military sounds like a bit of a shambles if this kind of thing is happening.

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Tags: chimpanzee trafficking, DR Congo, ICCN, illegal trade in apes

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Category: Gorillas | Date: Jul 03 2008 | By: admin

After reading the magazine piece, this is what our Chairman, Richard Leakey had to say

“I am delighted that National Geographic has given such prominence to this species. The fate of the mountain gorilla ranks as one of the most important conservation challenges of the current time”.

I thought it was a comment that everyone would appereciate reading, especially the team on the ground in Congo, and everyone at Nat Geo.

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Tags: , DR Congo, mountain gorillas, National Geographic, richard leakey

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Category: Gorillas | Date: Jun 30 2008 | By: admin

Well, I can finally tell you about it, the secret project that we have been working on for the last 12 months has been announced. The collaboration with Craig Hatkoff’s Turtle Pond with whom I did “Owen and Mzee” earlier has grown into something none of us could have imagined involving Scholastic, the Clinton Foundation, and the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation .

TURTLE POND PUBLICATIONS, SCHOLASTIC AND WILDLIFE DIRECT JOIN TOGETHER THROUGH CLINTON GLOBAL INITIATIVE TO RAISE AWARENESS OF PLANET’S ENDANGERED MOUNTAIN GORILLAS

<!–New Children’s Book Looking for Miza: The True Story of the Mountain Gorilla Family Who Rescued One of Their Own in Bookstores in September

–> New Children’s Book Looking for Miza: The True Story of the Mountain Gorilla Family Who Rescued One of Their Own in Bookstores in September

New York , NY (June 23, 2008) — <!–Turtle Pond Publications and Scholastic, in partnership with Dr. Richard Leakey’s Wildlife Direct, the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), today announced an integrated campaign to raise awareness about, and empower children to help save, Africa’s endangered mountain gorillas.

The campaign was born out of a commitment to action made at the 2007 Clinton Global Initiative shortly after last summer’s tragic massacre of ten of the world’s remaining 700 mountain gorillas, of which, 380 live in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga National Park. It is a call to action that includes the publication of the children’s book, Looking for Miza: The True Story of the Mountain Gorilla Family Who Rescued One of Their Own (Scholastic Press), and the creation of a multi-platform and standards-based educational initiative that will teach children, teachers and parents about the gorilla crisis.

Available in bookstores nationwide in September, Looking for Miza: The True Story of the Mountain Gorilla Family Who Rescued One of Their Own tells the story of a baby female mountain gorilla, Miza, whose mother was one of the ten gorillas killed last summer. Miza was rescued by her father, Virunga’s legendary alpha-male silverback gorilla named Kabirizi, following the tragedy and was reunited with the rest of her family. Miza almost died, but thanks to the efforts of the Congolese Mountain Rangers and Kabirizi’s troop of 35 gorillas, she has thrived even without her mother. The book brings to light the gorillas’ struggle and underscores the sacrifice and heroism of the mountain rangers and their critical role in the survival of this endangered species.

The book was written by the authors of the #1 New York Times best-selling Owen & Mzee series, Craig Hatkoff and daughter Isabella (9), Dr. Paula Kahumbu and photographer/journalist Peter Greste. Hatkoff’s older daughter Juliana (13) also collaborated on Looking for Miza.

“Miza’s true story is a life-affirming tale of hope and courage. Her dramatic rescue included not only her famous father Kabirizi, but also entailed the diligent efforts of the heroic Congolese Mountain Rangers,” said Craig Hatkoff. “Working with the Clinton Global Initiative, Dr. Leakey and Wildlife Direct and the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation has been a true privilege for our family. Through Miza, we can teach children early on that they have the power to help save the mountain gorillas. She is the ray of hope that will symbolize our commitment to preserving this extremely fragile species from extinction”

“We are thrilled to again be working with the Hatkoff family and Turtle Pond on this new project,” said Ellie Berger, President, Scholastic Trade Publishing. “The story of Miza is a stirring call to action and an inspiration to children and families around the world. Scholastic is proud to publish this compelling and powerful picture book.”

This will be the fourth inspiring nonfiction picture book written by the Hatkoffs and published by Scholastic about remarkable animals overcoming adversity. Their popular series of issues-based children’s books, including Owen and Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship (2006), Owen and Mzee: The Language of Friendship (2007), and Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Changed the World (2007), introduces kids to real world issues and empowers them to effect change on our planet.

Along with the book, Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, will launch an in-school, standards-based educational initiative that will make elementary and middle school children, teachers and parents aware of the mountain gorilla crisis and the mission to save them. A specially developed curriculum and online portal produced by Scholastic will be distributed to approximately one million students to teach them about the gorillas, their habitat and the Mountain Rangers, and will empower them to become advocates for the gorillas.

In addition, www.Miza.com, created jointly by Turtle Pond and Scholastic, will offer students up-to-date information on the gorillas brought from Wildlife Direct’s field-based blogs written by the Mountain Rangers and other activities and resources. Students will be encouraged to share ideas about helping the gorillas.

“Were it not for the daily reports from the rangers Innocent and Diddy on their Wildlife Direct blog, we would never have heard Miza’s extraordinary story or learned of the monumental challenges facing conservation of Gorillas in this part of Africa,” said Dr. Paula Kahumbu, Head of Conservation, Policy & Partnerships for Wildlife Direct and Looking for Miza Co-Author. “Miza’s story of courage and hope reminds us that everyone in the world, including children can help to ensure the survival of one of our closest living relatives, the mountain gorillas.”

“We are honored to be partners in the campaign to raise awareness about the effects of war and violence around the world,” said Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation CEO Donna Blackwell. “Miza’s story reminds us that we must take steps to protect those humans and animals that are most vulnerable and to strengthen our commitment to peace in the world.”

About Turtle Pond Publications
Turtle Pond Publications is a private entertainment and media company based in New York. Its interests include a variety of children’s publishing ventures and other media investments including the Tribeca Film Festival; the company’s principals, Craig Hatkoff and Jane Rosenthal, are co-founders of the festival along with Robert De Niro.

About The Clinton Global Initiative
CGI is a non-partisan project of the Clinton Foundation that brings together a community of global leaders to identify and implement innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. Since inception in 2005, CGI members have made nearly 1,000 “Commitments to Action” to address poverty alleviation, climate change, global health, education, and other pressing issues, and improve over 200 million lives in more than 100 countries. The 2008 CGI Annual Meeting will take place in New York September 24-26, followed by CGI Asia, December 2-3 and the second annual CGI U next spring.
About Wildlife Direct
Wildlife Direct was started by Richard Leakey to create the world’s largest online conservation community and raise awareness and funds for conservation in some of the worlds most endangered and dangerous places. Operating deep in the jungles of eastern Congo, blogs written by rangers last year alerted the world to the crisis facing mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ranger Innocent and Ranger Diddy’s voices from the front lines of conservation on their Wildlife Direct blog provide a unique opportunity for anyone anywhere in the world to participate in the conservation of one of the world’s most charismatic and most endangered species: the mountain gorillas. Funds raised through the blogs have enabled the Congolese wildlife authority, the The Congolese Nature Conservation Institute (ICCN) to continue wildlife conservation activities on the ground despite the ongoing crisis. Wildlife Direct will use Miza to raise awareness and support for mountain gorillas throughout their ranges in Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

About Scholastic
Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books and a leader in educational technology and children’s media. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children’s books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs and school-based book fairs, retail stores, schools, libraries, television networks and the Company’s Internet Site, www.scholastic.com.
About Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation
The mission of the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation is to support and promote the creation of a culture of peace throughout the world. In the spirit of founder, Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and in collaboration with the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre of South Africa, the foundation is dedicated to advancing reconciliation, peace-building, non-violence, conflict resolution, and ethical leadership so that all may live in a more peaceable and sustainable world.

–> Turtle Pond Publications and Scholastic, in partnership with Dr. Richard Leakey’s Wildlife Direct, the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), today announced an integrated campaign to raise awareness about, and empower children to help save, Africa’s endangered mountain gorillas.

The campaign was born out of a commitment to action made at the 2007 Clinton Global Initiative shortly after last summer’s tragic massacre of ten of the world’s remaining 700 mountain gorillas, of which, 380 live in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga National Park. It is a call to action that includes the publication of the children’s book, Looking for Miza: The True Story of the Mountain Gorilla Family Who Rescued One of Their Own (Scholastic Press), and the creation of a multi-platform and standards-based educational initiative that will teach children, teachers and parents about the gorilla crisis.

Available in bookstores nationwide in September, Looking for Miza: The True Story of the Mountain Gorilla Family Who Rescued One of Their Own tells the story of a baby female mountain gorilla, Miza, whose mother was one of the ten gorillas killed last summer. Miza was rescued by her father, Virunga’s legendary alpha-male silverback gorilla named Kabirizi, following the tragedy and was reunited with the rest of her family. Miza almost died, but thanks to the efforts of the Congolese Mountain Rangers and Kabirizi’s troop of 35 gorillas, she has thrived even without her mother. The book brings to light the gorillas’ struggle and underscores the sacrifice and heroism of the mountain rangers and their critical role in the survival of this endangered species.

The book was written by the authors of the #1 New York Times best-selling Owen & Mzee series, Craig Hatkoff and daughter Isabella (9), Dr. Paula Kahumbu and photographer/journalist Peter Greste. Hatkoff’s older daughter Juliana (13) also collaborated on Looking for Miza.

“Miza’s true story is a life-affirming tale of hope and courage. Her dramatic rescue included not only her famous father Kabirizi, but also entailed the diligent efforts of the heroic Congolese Mountain Rangers,” said Craig Hatkoff. “Working with the Clinton Global Initiative, Dr. Leakey and Wildlife Direct and the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation has been a true privilege for our family. Through Miza, we can teach children early on that they have the power to help save the mountain gorillas. She is the ray of hope that will symbolize our commitment to preserving this extremely fragile species from extinction”

“We are thrilled to again be working with the Hatkoff family and Turtle Pond on this new project,” said Ellie Berger, President, Scholastic Trade Publishing. “The story of Miza is a stirring call to action and an inspiration to children and families around the world. Scholastic is proud to publish this compelling and powerful picture book.”

This will be the fourth inspiring nonfiction picture book written by the Hatkoffs and published by Scholastic about remarkable animals overcoming adversity. Their popular series of issues-based children’s books, including Owen and Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship (2006), Owen and Mzee: The Language of Friendship (2007), and Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Changed the World (2007), introduces kids to real world issues and empowers them to effect change on our planet.

Along with the book, Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, will launch an in-school, standards-based educational initiative that will make elementary and middle school children, teachers and parents aware of the mountain gorilla crisis and the mission to save them. A specially developed curriculum and online portal produced by Scholastic will be distributed to approximately one million students to teach them about the gorillas, their habitat and the Mountain Rangers, and will empower them to become advocates for the gorillas.

In addition, www.Miza.com, created jointly by Turtle Pond and Scholastic, will offer students up-to-date information on the gorillas brought from Wildlife Direct’s field-based blogs written by the Mountain Rangers and other activities and resources. Students will be encouraged to share ideas about helping the gorillas.

“Were it not for the daily reports from the rangers Innocent and Diddy on their Wildlife Direct blog, we would never have heard Miza’s extraordinary story or learned of the monumental challenges facing conservation of Gorillas in this part of Africa,” said Dr. Paula Kahumbu, Head of Conservation, Policy & Partnerships for Wildlife Direct and Looking for Miza Co-Author. “Miza’s story of courage and hope reminds us that everyone in the world, including children can help to ensure the survival of one of our closest living relatives, the mountain gorillas.”

“We are honored to be partners in the campaign to raise awareness about the effects of war and violence around the world,” said Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation CEO Donna Blackwell. “Miza’s story reminds us that we must take steps to protect those humans and animals that are most vulnerable and to strengthen our commitment to peace in the world.”

About Turtle Pond Publications
Turtle Pond Publications is a private entertainment and media company based in New York. Its interests include a variety of children’s publishing ventures and other media investments including the Tribeca Film Festival; the company’s principals, Craig Hatkoff and Jane Rosenthal, are co-founders of the festival along with Robert De Niro.

About The Clinton Global Initiative
CGI is a non-partisan project of the Clinton Foundation that brings together a community of global leaders to identify and implement innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. Since inception in 2005, CGI members have made nearly 1,000 “Commitments to Action” to address poverty alleviation, climate change, global health, education, and other pressing issues, and improve over 200 million lives in more than 100 countries. The 2008 CGI Annual Meeting will take place in New York September 24-26, followed by CGI Asia, December 2-3 and the second annual CGI U next spring.

About Wildlife Direct
Wildlife Direct was started by Richard Leakey to create the world’s largest online conservation community and raise awareness and funds for conservation in some of the worlds most endangered and dangerous places. Operating deep in the jungles of eastern Congo, blogs written by rangers last year alerted the world to the crisis facing mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ranger Innocent and Ranger Diddy’s voices from the front lines of conservation on their Wildlife Direct blog provide a unique opportunity for anyone anywhere in the world to participate in the conservation of one of the world’s most charismatic and most endangered species: the mountain gorillas. Funds raised through the blogs have enabled the Congolese wildlife authority, the The Congolese Nature Conservation Institute (ICCN) to continue wildlife conservation activities on the ground despite the ongoing crisis. Wildlife Direct will use Miza to raise awareness and support for mountain gorillas throughout their ranges in Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

About Scholastic
Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books and a leader in educational technology and children’s media. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children’s books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs and school-based book fairs, retail stores, schools, libraries, television networks and the Company’s Internet Site, www.scholastic.com.

About Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation
The mission of the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation is to support and promote the creation of a culture of peace throughout the world. In the spirit of founder, Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and in collaboration with the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre of South Africa, the foundation is dedicated to advancing reconciliation, peace-building, non-violence, conflict resolution, and ethical leadership so that all may live in a more peaceable and sustainable world.

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Tags: Clinton Foundation, Desmond Tutu, DR Congo, Looking for Miza, mountain gorillas, Paula Kahumbu, richard leakey

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Category: Gorillas | Date: Jun 28 2008 | By: admin

The premiere screening of Gorilla Murders at the National Geographic Society took place on the 26th of June. The room was filled to capacity. The film examines the threats to this magnificent species in the DR Congo and talks about the conflicting needs of people and gorillas - no points for guessing their conclusion … gorillas are losing. The charcoal trade and armed conflict in this region is too great a challenge for the small force of park rangers. Already more than 110 of them have been killed in the line of duty.

The movie premiers on the National Geographic Channel on Tuesday, July 1st at 10:00pm. Don’t miss it!

Mike Fox, a photojournalist who was there said this… “Gorilla Murders looks at the likely cause of the “execution” of seven gorillas in 2007, captured, heartbreakingly, in still images by South African photojournalist Brent Stirton, who answered panel questions after the film had been shown“.

Green Piece was also there and he said “The images from the film are burned on my brain and the story National Geographic tells is unforgettable“

You can watch the Nat Geo video about it here and read more about the story here

We’ve heard a few views to this show already - please send us yours.

Emmanuel was a the function and sat on the panel afterwards. Keep your eye on the gorilla blog for his reaction.

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Tags: DR Congo, Gorilla murders, National Geographic, wildlifedirect

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jun 18 2008 | By: admin

Those of you in USA must not don’t miss ON TV Gorilla Murders airs Tuesday, July 1, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on the National Geographic Channel.

National Geographic are doing some amazing coverage on mountain gorillas and have a 12 page article called Virunga Gorillas by Mark Jenkins about it on their online magazine. We are so proud that the work that WildlifeDirect has contributed is getting recognition. We’re especially pleased that the guys on the ground, at the front lines of conservation, whose lives are at risk every day, are correctly given the hero’s status.

“….Over the last year, the rangers have focused their efforts on stopping charcoal traffickers and have become media-savvy bloggers, photographers, videographers, and educators who reach tens of thousands of people around the world through a Web site hosted by the nonprofit conservation program WildlifeDirect, a partner of the National Geographic Society.

National Geographic News interviewed Innocent and Diddy, as they are known familiarly on their blog, about their work and passion. Both men are from Congo. Diddy has worked as a ranger at Virunga for about 18 years, and Innocent has been there for 11 years.

A ranger’s life is difficult. You work in a war zone, at times without pay or food rations. How do you get by?

Diddy: There have been many moments when we worked without getting paid, without food.

When there aren’t problems associated with the war, some people, including some guards, maintain small farms near the park border. From the harvest we could borrow food and make ends meet as we waited for a paycheck.

Innocent: We are assigned to protect nature, and as such we cannot abandon this work.”

Doesn’t it make you want to hug them? Imagine if everyone was this dedicated? I love these guys and had an amazing time with them last year in Congo, and we brought them to Kenya … here are some recollections

A busy week in Nairobi included tours of parks and city, Diddy described the day he met orphaned baby elephants at the David Sheldrick Trust as the best in his life!

Innocent meets his first rhino, max - another orphan

I’m not going to be able to watch the show so please please please give us your reactions here or on their blog gorilla Protection.

My two weeks in the Congo included three days in the forest with Emmanuel, Diddy and Innocent - meeting their gorilla families -the best days in my life!

Wouldn’t it be amazing if the rebel Nkunda would leave the park and allow Congo to restart mountain gorilla tourism - enabling Diddy and Innocent to continue their work while bringing visitors to meet the amazing Mikeno gorilla families. For now enjoy them virtually on gorilla blog and you can support Diddy and Innocents work to enable them to protect these extraordinary animals and their habitats safe into the future.

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Tags: Diddy Mwanaki, DR Congo, elephants, Innocent Buranumwa, Kenya, mountain gorillas, National Geograhic, wildilfedirect

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jun 10 2008 | By: admin

I received this as an email which was based on a conversation with the Commerce Minister Monique Nsanzabaganwa (L) and ORTPN Director General Rosette Chantal Rugamba after yesterday’s talk show on the upcoming ‘Kwita Izina’ ceremony.

Rwanda’s efforts to save mountain gorillas which last year generated $7m about Frw3.1bn have yielded $0.16m (approx Frw87.3m) portion to DR Congo.

The director general of Office of Tourism and National Parks (ORTPN), Chantal Rugamba said the allotment is part of revenue sharing policy by three countries housing mountain gorillas. Rugamba, who was among the key speakers at Sunday live TV and radio talk show at Telecom House, said the money is meant to promote conservation of gorilla habitats on Congo side ravaged by civil wars. “Some gorillas fled insecurity in Congo habitats, to Rwanda side. The revenue we generate from tourists who visit them, our DRC counterparts have a portion” she promised.

Her revelation about proceeds they have allocated to Congo comes in the wake of preparations for the fourth gorilla naming ceremony (Kwita Izina) slated for June, 21. The ceremony will take place in Musanze District, Northern Province and this year 20 baby gorillas will named.

“Let us give it real value in view of the fact that it aims at conserving the natural habitats of mountain gorillas” said the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Monique Nsanzabaganwa.

Kwita Izina will be preceded with the inauguration of 3 primary schools of Nyabitsindi, Mugarama and Nyangwe; include 3 of the ten water harvest tanks and 2 bridges.

Another major event is a conservation conference expected to act as a platform to review the conservation action in Rwanda’s protected areas. Rugamba promised the conference will attract over 150 regional and international conservationists who will present their research findings on gorilla conservation.

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Tags: DR Congo, gorilla, kwa inzina, mountain gorilla, Rwanda, wildlifedirect

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