NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Congo families are protecting endangered gorillas thanks to a new initiative

AP
22 Apr, 2022 10:53 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A silverback and infant Grauer's gorilla in Kahuzi Biega National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo / AP

A silverback and infant Grauer's gorilla in Kahuzi Biega National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo / AP

Decades of conservation efforts have stabilised the population of endangered mountain gorillas in eastern Africa. But the number of Grauer's gorillas — a less furry, lower elevation-dwelling animal — has declined, largely due to habitat loss and hunting.

The nonprofit Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund announced that more land in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where Grauer's gorillas live will fall under a community-protection initiative.

The critically endangered species has lost an estimated 60 per cent of its population in the past two decades, and an estimated 3800 to 6800 individuals remain.

Most Grauer's gorillas now live outside national parks, and protecting them will be difficult in a region facing sustained human conflicts. Their rainforest homes are being cleared for agriculture and mining, and the gorillas are sometimes hunted for food or trapped by snares intended to catch other animals.

A Grauer's gorilla in Kahuzi Biega National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo / AP
A Grauer's gorilla in Kahuzi Biega National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo / AP
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A 2016 law allows communities in Congo to apply for rights to manage their traditional lands. The Fossey Fund has helped communities in eastern Congo complete that paperwork and entered into agreements with families to provide assistance and training for the sustainable management of their lands.

On Friday, it announced that 796sq km had been added to the programme. The addition means 2379sq km is now being watched over by about 20 families.

The community can decide what activities should be allowed on their lands and try to enforce those choices. The Fossey Fund provides education and funding.

Students use binoculars for birdwatching in the Nkuba Conservation Area in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo / AP
Students use binoculars for birdwatching in the Nkuba Conservation Area in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo / AP

Community members are trained and then hired "to conduct the science needed to monitor the biodiversity of the forest — biological inventories, gorilla tracking, plant biomass for estimating carbon capture", said Urbain Ngobobo, director of the nonprofit's Congo programmes.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

This model differs from the approach used to protect the mountain gorillas. They live almost exclusively within the boundaries of national parks in Rwanda, Uganda and Congo, allowing researchers to co-operate with park managers to protect the species.

Most Grauer's gorillas don't live inside national parks — and it's not feasible to expand the parks to fully cover their habitats.

"Grauer's gorillas exist exclusively in a country that has suffered really extreme degrees of instability for decades," said Richard Bergl, a primatologist and director of conservation at the North Carolina Zoo.

"When there is violence happening, it's very challenging to maintain the infrastructure of a national park," he said. "But the communities will be there regardless of political instability. If you have their support, you have a chance."

Discover more

World

'Finish them off': Aid workers, found on battlefield, executed by soldiers

17 Mar 07:49 PM
World

Tree planting is booming. Here's how that could help, or harm, the planet

14 Mar 07:46 PM
Technology

Is the rise of killer machines closer than we think?

05 Feb 04:00 PM
Travel

Motu that time forgot: Predator-free island adventures

26 Oct 12:41 AM

Community interests vary, but in general, there is an incentive to protect their lands from being pillaged by outsiders, whether they're illegal mining operators or commercial hunters, said Dirck Byler, vice-chairman of the great apes specialist group for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the scientific body that designates species as endangered.

A Grauer's gorilla in Kahuzi Biega National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo / AP
A Grauer's gorilla in Kahuzi Biega National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo / AP

"Most of these communities want to maintain their forests as they've been in the past," used for subsistence hunting and plant harvesting, said Byler, who has worked extensively in Congo.

Community-based conservation schemes have been effective in slowing or reversing the decline of endangered species in other regions, such as the Nigerian mountains where cross river gorillas live and the savannah of northwestern Namibia where endangered rhinos live, Bergl said.

"The wildlife there would be gone if it weren't for community involvement and management," he said. "If we're going to be successful, it's going to be because of efforts to support the communities to manage their forests."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

Premium
World

Fight to save a farm from fire - with help from friends

23 Jun 12:51 AM
World

Maga is divided over Trump’s decision to bomb Iran. Will it last?

22 Jun 11:56 PM
Premium
World

Remarks by Kiwi CEO of Air India after plane crash draw scrutiny for plagiarism

22 Jun 11:42 PM

Help for those helping hardest-hit

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Premium
Fight to save a farm from fire - with help from friends

Fight to save a farm from fire - with help from friends

23 Jun 12:51 AM

New York Times: 'I wouldn’t leave till the very bitter end,' said farmer Jake van Angeren.

Maga is divided over Trump’s decision to bomb Iran. Will it last?

Maga is divided over Trump’s decision to bomb Iran. Will it last?

22 Jun 11:56 PM
Premium
Remarks by Kiwi CEO of Air India after plane crash draw scrutiny for plagiarism

Remarks by Kiwi CEO of Air India after plane crash draw scrutiny for plagiarism

22 Jun 11:42 PM
Trump poses ‘why wouldn’t there be a regime change?’ after US strikes on Iran, oil price jump
live

Trump poses ‘why wouldn’t there be a regime change?’ after US strikes on Iran, oil price jump

22 Jun 11:14 PM
How a Timaru mum of three budding chefs stretched her grocery shop
sponsored

How a Timaru mum of three budding chefs stretched her grocery shop

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP