Baraza

Category: wildlife | Date: Jan 12 2009 | By: baraza

Here are some good news/bad news conservation stories…

1. The Wildlife Conservation Society has declared that the key to saving mountain gorillas in the Virunga National Park is saving the guards. Putting their money where their mouth is, they made a donation of $15,000 - enough to save half of the 600 guards for one month at 40$  per person and there are 600 rangers). (The salary of the CEO of WCS is over 450,000 per year)
2. A 9 Kg 140 year old lobster named George has been returned to the sea by a New York restaurant.
3. President George Bush (not related to the above lobster) has designated huge swathes of land as marine reserves in an outgoing gift to America and the world.  It does not affect my opinion of him.
4. UN endorse Organic green revolution not industrial green revolution. “UNEP reported that organic practices in Africa outperformed industrial, chemical-intensive conventional farming, and also provided environmental benefits such as improvedsoil fertility, better retention of water and resistance to drought”. How come we have not heard about it in Africa where Monsanto is elbowing in aggressively?
5. Over 1000 new species found in the Mekong Delta. They include 519 plants, 279 fish, 88 frogs, 88 spiders, 46 lizards, 22 snakes, 15 mammals, four birds, four turtles, two salamanders and a toad. But, many of the species could be at risk from rapid development in the  the countries of the Greater Mekong area.

Do you have any other good news/bad news conservation stories? Share them with us - leave a comment below

Tags: George Bush, mountain gorillas, New species, old lobster, WCS, WildlifeDirec

3 responses so far

Category: Gorillas | Date: Jan 09 2009 | By: baraza

The United Nations have declared 2009 the Year of the Gorilla – and there is a call for actions from everyone to participate in global efforts to save gorillas.

Some journalists are questioning the morality ofsaving gorillas while people continue to suffer in Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. When in Rwanda I attended the Kwita Izina Gorilla Naming ceremony – a national event, after which I met a famous doctor who is rebuilding the medical infrastructure of the country. He had been invited to Rwandas exclusive tourism lodge on the edge of the Volcano National Park, where a visitor pays $2,000 per night.  A stones throw away he told me he had been treating a community for common diseases, malaria, typhoid, cholera. The lodge made him very angry he said, because all attention was on the gorillas, not the people who live around the park.  Less than 20% of the proceeds from gorilla tourism trickle down to these communities, some of the poorest in Africa and very densely populated.

He told me about the pitiful health status of people living around the protected areas and asked me how conservationists could promote community conservation when communities were suffering so severely, not only in Rwanda but in Congo, Uganda and even Kenya. He asked me how tourism could promote the image of Masai with their two lower teeth bashed out, a romantic image, a reflection of failure to prevent tetanus or lock jaw, a deadly and painful bacterial infection that causes muscle fiberes to shorten until the jaw cannot open (Listen to Lion Guardian Anthony Kasangas podcast here). Poverty he implied, must not become a tourist attraction.

Then Paul Farmer and I had a huge (friendly) argument in which he two accused me directly of having my priorities completely wrong. I accused him of failing to comprehend that human health and living standards are directly affected by the state of the environment. We didn’t see eye to eye … and I wondered who was being stubborn. The solution is not, and can never be, to simply be to get rid of parks and conservation areas for the sake of giving more people land. In such cases the problems are only delayed, and then exacerbated once the land is once again over utilized. It just does not make sense to me that we should permit people to destroy a national asset that would take decades to recover, just to feed a population for a few days or weeks.  Rwanda is hugely is a tiny country that is overpopulated - even if people are allowed into the few parks it will not allevaite the problem in any appreciable way.

But not everyone agrees. In a recent thought provoking article Alex Halperin reminds us that Rwanda is staking its economy on gorillas. To protect this national asset the authorities go to great lengths to kept the gorillas safe and healthy, mainly by restricting human contact, especially with poor villagers who are not allowed into the National Park to forage for natural resources. So, while the national economy benefits, the local population pays the cost.

In Seatlepi blog Robert McClure asks if saving gorillas in a poor country is sustainable. Read the Halperin article here and tell us what you think.

Oh, and if you haven’t already done it, don’t forget Sheryls birthday gift. Thanks to everyone who has already made a contribution!

Tags: health, mountain gorillas, poverty, Rwanda, wildlifedirect, Year of the gorilla

5 responses so far

Category: Gorillas | Date: Oct 14 2008 | By: baraza

After visiting gorillas one can’t help wanting to know more about the individuals

I found the family photo of the Amohoro group in Rwanda that I visited and wrote about in June on the IGCP website.

This is the family album of the Amohoro Group. A google search reveals that many people have visited this group like  Mike Johnson who has some incredible photos of his visit on his blog here and Chris Will is in his spectacular photo album of the same group.

Have a  look at their photos and mine below, see if you can identify anyone from their unique nose prints.

This as an adult female - she had a new baby

How easy/difficult is it?

Tags: Amohoro, IGCP, mountain gorillas, noseprints, Rwanda

2 responses so far

Category: Gorillas | Date: Oct 04 2008 | By: baraza

After spending a day with Lucy Spelman a vet with the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP)  in New York and hearing her amazing stories about live as a gorilla vet I realised that I’d much rather be in the rainforest experiencing what the MGVP does first hand. Well, I may yet get to do it one day but for now I can only experience it virtually.  So can you!

The Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP) is an innovative gorilla health initiative first established in 1985 when Dian Fossey asked the Morris Animal Foundation for help in response to a crisis situation for these gorillas. MGVP established veterinary care and health resources in the Rwanda rainforests. To watch the video go to the Morris Animal Foundation website and watch this video about MGVP.

Dr. Lucy is currently on a promotional book tour of USA so if you don’t yet have her book “The Rhino with Glue on Shoes” then you must get it.

Tags: Lucy Spelman, MGVP, mountain gorillas, Rwanda, Veterinarians, Virunga National Park

No responses yet

Category: Gorillas | Date: Sep 26 2008 | By: baraza

The First Ever Kids Gorilla Summit event attracted huge publicity and started on time despite the driving rain, and over 200 children participated in the First Gorilla Summit.

On stage were Lucy Spelman, Peter Greste, Craig, Isabella and Juliana Hatkoff, Richard Leakey and I. We took questions and showed slides and films to a captivated audience.  Billy Di Michelle from Scholastic was an amazing coordinator and Trevor Nielson was the very able Master of Ceremonies.

I think it was  a huge success because these kids were very focused and submitted hundreds of ideas to help solve the crisis facing mountain gorillas.  At 1 pm the event ended and every child went home with a bag of goodies that included the signed books as well as a T-shirt.

The event ended with huge applause. Each of the six schools also got a massive baby gorilla toy that they will name and film the naming ceremony, and an Act Pact - a massive commitment that they will sign.

This is what I felt like  doing just after the Launch of Miza

Course that isn’t me, but I do feel quite ‘high’. These were school kids in Central Park - they were having such enormous fun it was contagious that we couldn’t help taking photos. I hope they join us in this cause to save Mountain gorillas and make a commitment.

If you couldn’t watch the event, you can still enjoy it and submit your commitment on the Scholastic website here.

We are so proud of the success of the event which would not have been possible with out the support of Scholastic, Turtle Pond, the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, the Rwanda Film Center, President Clinton, Jack Hannah, Anderson Cooper, ACF (UK) and all the rangers who are out there every day saving gorillas in Uganda, Congo and Rwanda.

Now we need to ensure that these commitments are upheld and the event leads to real actions that make a real difference for mountain gorillas throughout their range. Join us, download the commitment here, sign a commitment, send in your ideas and questions, become part of the solution.

More photos of the event are coming soon!

Tags: Anderson Cooper, Bill Clinton, Craig Hatkoff, Jack Hannah, mountain gorillas, Peter Greste, richard leakey, Scholastic, wildlifedirect

5 responses so far

Category: WildlifeDirect news | Date: Sep 23 2008 | By: baraza

Greetings friends. In my first 24 hours in New York I met Bill Clinton, a very funny city vagrant, four children from Rwanda and a minister, a Rwandan film maker, and three tiger cubs and their keeper plus golden retriever nanny.

I’ll upload more pictures later but thought I’d leave you with  this photo of the team meeting Bill Clinton which was the highlight. The children from Rwanda and USA are in the Scholastic Press Corp and are preparing for the big event on Friday ‘the first ever Kids Gorilla Summit“. Children from around the world have been sending in questions that will be answered on Friday by a panel. This unique Scholastic event gives childrens a challenge to help save mountain gorillas. It will be live broadcast through schools in USA. To watch the 1 minute animations called gorillasodes made by children from Rwanda and USA watch here

I’ll be bringing  more news and pictures from New York over coming days.

Tags: Bill Clinton, Gorillas, Gorillasodes, Miza, mountain gorillas, Scholastic, wildlifedirect

4 responses so far

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.

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

3 responses so far

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.

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

7 responses so far

Category: Gorillas | Date: Jun 26 2008 | By: admin

This month seems to be dedicated to Gorillas, the whole world is absorbed with them at the moment. Today the National Geographic screen Gorilla Murders in Washington DC. Everyone is talking about it. I”ll try to watch reactions to it on the news. I was sent these links to more of Ben Stirtons photos and stories which are just adding to the hype. Let us know what you hear!

I am still in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda where internet access is amazingly good. It’s one of those mornings - I know the chaos will hit me (it has been a frantic trip so far) so in these moments of calm I’ve been able to check out the latest online news. I had a wonderful surprise this morning when I read that in USA a man has walked from Seattle to Portland to support the Mountain Gorillas Veterinary Project which is run by Lucy Spelman.

Drew Nichols, a mortgage loan officer did a 10 day, 228-mile walk and raised more than $30,000 in donations and pledges. He is an amazing example of a volunteer who is making a massive contribution. Our own Robert Williams of Ending Charcoal blog is one of our own heros helping gorillas in Congo. In addition we have two other virtual volunteers working with us on specific blogs. It is hugely valuable and we all really appreciate their contribution which is making such a massive difference for us. We encourage any of you to volunteer just sign up here to help, and tell your friends! http://baraza.wildlifedirect.org/virtual-volunteering-for-wildlifedirect/

Some other gorilla news today made me even happier… in Uganda a 38-year-old veterinarian, Dr Gladys Kalema, has just won the prestigious San Diego Zoological Society conservation medal - The 2008 Conservation-In-Action Award. She is recognized for her outstanding conservation work in Uganda, at her organization the Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), a private non-profit organisation, that promotes conservation and public health by improving people and animal primary healthcare in and around protected areas in Africa.

We fly back to Nairobi this morning - it has been absolutely amazing as you will read and hear in coming posts.

Tags: MGVP, mountain gorillas, National Geographic, Rwanda, virtual volunteers, wildlifedirect

8 responses so far

Category: Gorillas | Date: Jun 23 2008 | By: admin

This is part of a series of posts about our trip in Rwanda. It has been so exciting and there is so much to tell you that I don’t know where to start….Ok, I’ll start with Saturday’s naming ceremony

When we arrived the venue for the ceremony was already packed with thousands of local people. The setting is amazing - that’s mount Karasoke behind.

We were witnessing the naming - which Craig Hatkoff one of our Dierctors of WildlifeDirect and my co-author in Owen and Mzee, and his daughter Juliana were lucky enough to actually participate and name a gorilla. The baby they named was called “Mushye” which means ‘new’. I’m going to get her to do a guest post about the experience - so watch out for that post coming soon… for now just imagine yourself emersed amongst about 4000 people and the sounds of an African celebration….

The music and fanfare was absolutely mindblowing… here are some photos to get you into the mood -you will just have to imagine the loud African beat, the energy, the celebration. It was absolutely incredible.

The dancers had so much energy it was hard to sit still while they performed

One of the key stars of the ceremony was Oliver Ngoma from Gabon after naming his gorilla he was asked to give us a taste of his music described as Afro-zouk reggae… he sang a couple of song to the entire audience, a teaser for a major concert in the evening. Everyone was dancing in their seats!

I couldn’t resist it… so I took advantage of the opportunity to get a shot with the star himself! WOW! He is seriously famous in Africa, ….

On Sunday we went on a gorilla trek …apart from it being the out-of-this-world experience that everyone who has ever met a gorilla has, something particularly unusual and special happened to Craig. I have to download photos and podcast … it’l be in my next post. Hope you can wait!

Tags: , Craig Hatkoff, karasoke, Kwita Izina, mountain gorillas, Rwanda, Volcanoes, wildlifedirect

12 responses so far