NATIONAL EFFORT

As tourism in post-war Rwanda picks up, the nation is also gaining global recognition for its wildlife conservation efforts. Mountain gorillas, for instance, are listed as critically endangered by the World Wildlife Fund and only found in the Virunga massif and in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. A 2010 census reported just 480 mountain gorillas in the Virunga massif. Eight years later, due to the strong conservation efforts by the governments and NGOS within the Central African region, the global population of the primate has risen above 1,000. Chris Roche, chief marketing officer of Wilderness Safaris, says that ecotourism in Rwanda has helped push this cause forward. “Tourism is the biggest contributor to the country’s GDP. Targeted ecotourism started in the country in the early 1980s and has continued to grow since, serving as an economic stimulus to local communities. It also emphasises to the locals the greater value of a live gorilla than a dead one, so news of targeted gorilla poaching has dwindled significantly.” For more information, visit wilderness-safaris.com.