In Rwanda there are a variety of gorilla saving and conserving organizations that are geared towards conserving and protecting these great apes. These organizations are NGOs and are majorly concerned about conserving these primates especially against poachers. Below are some of these organizations;
GORILLA DOCTORS
Gorilla Doctors is dedicated to saving the mountain and eastern lowland gorilla species one gorilla patient at a time. Our international veterinary team provides hands-on medical care to ill and injured mountain gorillas living in the national parks of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. With only 880 mountain gorillas and an ever decreasing number of gorillas left in the world today, the health and well-being of every individual gorilla is vital to the species’ survival. Their veterinary team regularly monitors the health of mountain gorillas and intervenes to treat individuals with life-threatening illness or injury whenever possible. The Gorilla Doctors also help rescue and treat mountain and gorillas orphaned by poachers.
INTERNATIONAL GORILLA CONSERVATION PROGRAMME (IGCP)
As early 1979, several non-governmental organizations combined effort to forge out a way of combating poaching of mountain gorillas which vice had taken a tremendous trend. So this was done in order to conserve and protect the remaining mountain gorillas.The Mountain Gorilla Project, as it has become known, focuses on conservation in Rwanda. It introduces anti-poaching measures and sets up an education programme to help change local attitudes towards gorillas and forest conservation.
So in 1991,this project evolved naturally into the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP). A more formal coalition of three conservation organizations – African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) .So this programme has expanded its activities to cover the entire mountain gorilla range in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
DIAN FOSSEY GORILLA FUND INTERNATIONAL
This is another kind of NGO that is geared towards conserving mountain gorillas.The mission of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International is to conserve and protect mountain gorillas and their habitats in Africa. The Fund is committed to promoting continued research on the gorillas and their threatened ecosystems and to providing education about their relevance to the world in which we live. In collaboration with government agencies and other international partners, the Fund also provides assistance to local communities through education, health, training, and development initiatives.
This organization has been working for almost 50 years to protect and conserve mountain gorillas. As a result, mountain gorillas are the only ape whose numbers are known to be increasing, although it is still an incredibly fragile population with fewer than 900 individuals remaining.
The Fund also has established numerous health, education, and economic development projects in partnership with local government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, universities, and with the communities that share the gorillas’ ecosystems. The Fund’s goal is to create a healthy environment for both people and gorillas and empower Africans to become leaders in conserving their own natural resources.