36 SMITHSONIAN | April 2020
Top, on patrol
in DRC, where
nine rangers
have been killed
since 2018 and
civil war has
raged for de-
cades. Above, a
shopkeeper near
Bwindi Impene-
trable National
Park.gorillas, especially to ecotourism. A gorilla guide
would earn more than a gorilla poacher. Sell-
ing produce to a local lodge would bring in more
money than hawking it on the street. Working as a
manager in a hotel would pay better than herding
cattle in the park. “Education and real opportuni-
ties have completely fl ipped their understanding
of the situation,” Seguya says of the residents.
IGCP’s Behm Masozera agrees: “Village-level
buy-in has been critical to the gorilla success sto-
ry. People now feel heard by park offi cials. They
partner with the park whenever an issue arises.
Ten years ago the question was: Will mountain go-
rillas survive? Today, the question is: How can we
sustain, even increase, the current population?”
According to the IGCP, there are a remarkable
45 gorilla groups that have now been habituated to
tourism and research: 28 groups in Virunga Nation-
al Park, 17 in Bwindi-Sarambwe.
Behm Masozera says money—cash from regulat-
ed tourism—has “been a great benefi t to local and
regional economies.”
A mountain gorilla tour is costly: approximately
$1,500 in Rwanda, $700 in Uganda and $400 in DRC.
A signifi cant share of the proceeds and park entry fees
goes back to the villages. These revenues are being
used to build schools, roads, cisterns and other infra-
structure. Better roads mean local farmers can more
easily get their products to market, and kids can more
easily get to school. Community members are being
hired to serve as porters and guides for gorilla tours.
A benefi cial relationship has formed: When moun-
tain gorillas prosper, so do communities. Most of the
cattle have now been removed from the parks. Hunters
have changed. Previously they “used snares to catch
bush meat—small antelope and other game—but
gorillas were sometimes caught,” says Seguya. “Many