Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Why the link between long-term research and conservation is a case worth making
- 2 Links between research and Protected Area management in Uganda
- 3 The use of research: how science in Uganda's National Parks has been applied
- 4 Long-term research and conservation in Kibale National Park
- 5 Monitoring forest–savannah dynamics in Kibale National Park with satellite imagery (1989–2003): implications for the management of wildlife habitat
- 6 Long-term studies reveal the conservation potential for integrating habitat restoration and animal nutrition
- 7 Long-term perspectives on forest conservation: lessons from research in Kibale National Park
- 8 Health and disease in the people, primates, and domestic animals of Kibale National Park: implications for conservation
- 9 The importance of training national and international scientists for conservation research
- 10 Community benefits from long-term research programs: a case study from Kibale National Park, Uganda
- 11 Potential interactions of research with the development and management of ecotourism
- 12 The human landscape around the Island Park: impacts and responses to Kibale National Park
- 13 Conservation and research in the Budongo Forest Reserve, Masindi District, Western Uganda
- 14 Long-term research and conservation in Gombe National Park, Tanzania
- 15 Long-term research and conservation in the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania
- 16 The contribution of long-term research by the Taï Chimpanzee Project to conservation
- 17 The Green Corridor Project: long-term research and conservation in Bossou, Guinea
- 18 Long-term research and conservation of the Virunga mountain gorillas
- 19 Long-term research and conservation of great apes: a global future
- 20 Long-term research and conservation: the way forward
- Index
- References
18 - Long-term research and conservation of the Virunga mountain gorillas
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 July 2010
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Why the link between long-term research and conservation is a case worth making
- 2 Links between research and Protected Area management in Uganda
- 3 The use of research: how science in Uganda's National Parks has been applied
- 4 Long-term research and conservation in Kibale National Park
- 5 Monitoring forest–savannah dynamics in Kibale National Park with satellite imagery (1989–2003): implications for the management of wildlife habitat
- 6 Long-term studies reveal the conservation potential for integrating habitat restoration and animal nutrition
- 7 Long-term perspectives on forest conservation: lessons from research in Kibale National Park
- 8 Health and disease in the people, primates, and domestic animals of Kibale National Park: implications for conservation
- 9 The importance of training national and international scientists for conservation research
- 10 Community benefits from long-term research programs: a case study from Kibale National Park, Uganda
- 11 Potential interactions of research with the development and management of ecotourism
- 12 The human landscape around the Island Park: impacts and responses to Kibale National Park
- 13 Conservation and research in the Budongo Forest Reserve, Masindi District, Western Uganda
- 14 Long-term research and conservation in Gombe National Park, Tanzania
- 15 Long-term research and conservation in the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania
- 16 The contribution of long-term research by the Taï Chimpanzee Project to conservation
- 17 The Green Corridor Project: long-term research and conservation in Bossou, Guinea
- 18 Long-term research and conservation of the Virunga mountain gorillas
- 19 Long-term research and conservation of great apes: a global future
- 20 Long-term research and conservation: the way forward
- Index
- References
Summary
BACKGROUND
The Virunga Volcanoes encompass three National Parks in three countries of eastern Central Africa: Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda, Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda (Fig. 18.1). This region harbors one of only two remaining populations of mountain gorillas, 380 “Virunga” gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei). The Virungas cover an area of about 425 km2 and contain a variety of afromontane habitats, stratified by altitude ranging from 1850 m to 4507 m above sea level. Much of this high altitude vegetation is not suitable for the gorillas (Weber and Vedder,1983), thus the gorilla population is concentrated below 3400 m in the mid-altitude Hagenia–Hypericum zone and the lower altitude bamboo zone.
The first National Park in Africa was created in 1925, specifically to protect the mountain gorillas. These magnificent beasts received little attention until 1959, by which time they were thought to number only 400–500 individuals (Schaller, 1963). Following a pioneering study by George Schaller, long-term research and conservation efforts began in 1967 when Dian Fossey established the Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda. Fossey's study was initiated along the same lines as Jane Goodall's research on chimpanzees at Gombe in Tanzania, after a meeting with the famous paleoanthropologist, Dr. Louis Leakey.
By the 1970s, the Volcanoes National Park had been reduced to 46% of its original size, so that only 160 km2 of forest remained in Rwanda.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Science and Conservation in African ForestsThe Benefits of Longterm Research, pp. 213 - 229Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008
References
(2007). Concern over mountain gorilla ‘executions’. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6918012.stm (19/9/07).
(2004). Conservation management in Rwanda: a review of socio-economic and ecosystem values. Project Report, Global Environment Facility, Protected Areas and Biodiversity Project. Kigali: Rwandan Environmental Management Authority.
and (2005). Ranger based monitoring in the Virunga–Bwindi region of East–Central Africa: a simple data collection tool for park management. Biodiversity and Conservation, 14, 2723–2741.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1995). Population viability estimates, theory and practice for a wild gorilla population. Conservation Biology, 9, 134–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, , and (1981). Demography of Gorilla gorilla. Journal of Zoology, 195, 215–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1999). Ape Tourism and Human Diseases: How Close Should We Get?Kampala: International Gorilla Conservation Programhttp://www.igcp.org/files/ourwork/ Homsy_rev.pdf.Google Scholar
, , et al. (2003). Gorillas in the crossfire: assessment of population dynamics of the Virunga mountain gorillas over the past three decades. Oryx, 37, 326–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2007). Once ravaged by war, now vacation spots. http://travel. nytimes.com/2007/09/01/business/worldbusiness/01tourism.html 1/9/07.
and (2001). Conservation oriented research in the Virunga region. In Mountain Gorillas: Three Decades of Research at Karisoke, ed. , , and . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 361–390.Google Scholar
, , et al. (2004). The Socio-economic Status of People Living Near Protected Areas in the Central Albertine Rift. New York: Albertine Rift Technical Reports, 4, 127.Google Scholar
(1963). The Mountain Gorilla: Ecology and Behavior. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
(1993). Inter-group encounters and female transfer in mountain gorillas: influence of group composition on male behavior. American Journal of Primatology, 30, 21–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1998). Long-term habitat use by mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei). Reuse of foraging areas in relation to resource abundance, quality, and depletion. International Journal of Primatology, 19, 681–702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1987). Ruhengeri and its Resources: An Environmental Profile of the Ruhengeri Prefecture. Kigali: ETMA/USAID, 171.Google Scholar
(1993). Primate conservation and ecotourism in Africa. In Perspectives on Biodiversity: Case Studies of Genetic Resource Conservation and Development, ed. , , and . Washington DC: AAAS Press, pp. 129–150.Google Scholar
and (1983). Population dynamics of the Virunga gorillas 1959–1978. Biological Conservation, 26, 341–366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and (2006). Application of the RSG Guidelines in the case of confiscated mountain gorillas, Virunga Massif: Rwanda, Uganda and DRC. Re-introduction News, 25, 40–41.Google Scholar
and (2003). Habituating primates: Processes, techniques, variables and ethics. In Field and Laboratory Methods in Primatology: A Practical Guide, ed. and . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 25–39.Google Scholar
- 13
- Cited by