What Will Work?

Below we have provided you a table outlining our view on which strategies are likely to save Western gorillas and which are not. We have also provided links explaining why each strategy has received the priority it did. And next to our priority scores we have placed a score indicating how much emphasis each strategy is currently getting. These latter scores are not based on hard budget figures from governments, donors and non-profits (which are not publicly available) but are simply educated guesses. Our objective in assigning low scores for some strategies is not to point fingers or make accusations. We know that the advocates of these strategies are passionately dedicated to conservation and are trying to do what they see as best. We are just saying that our frontline experience tells us that these strategies have not worked in the Central African context and are not likely to work in the future. We invite everyone to join in pursuing strategies that will.

You should take two messages away from your visit to this web page. The first is that the immediate priority of increased law enforcement trumps all other concerns. If we do not invest heavily in law enforcement now, all else will be moot. Western gorillas will become effectively extinct in the wild before other measures have time to work. The second is that the key to the long-term survival of wild populations of Western gorillas is a network of well managed protected areas (parks and reserves). Achieving a truly effective protected area network will require sustainable funding mechanisms (e.g. Trust Funds) to underwrite recurrent costs of management and a serious campaign to build national management capacity.

COMING SOON: TABLE OF PRIORITIES