Responsible gorilla safaris

There are very few wildlife tourism experiences in the world that haven't created some sort of conflict with local people, or have a history of conflict. And in spite of its incredibly good record of conservation, and exemplary limiting of tourist numbers and time spent with the animals, the gorilla watching industry is still facing issues around displacement of local communities, as well as ongoing poaching driven by poverty and civil strife. It is also important to know that gorillas are still endangered species and, even on responsible gorilla safaris we always pose a threat to gorillas, as we carry in bacteria and diseases. Which is why the ‘Gorilla Rules’ were created by the conservation authorities in Rwanda and Uganda. Just because you have paid a lot of money for your permit to see the godfathers of the forest, doesn’t mean you have a right to do what you like. Rules is rules.

The rights of the Batwa

While the number of mountain gorillas is slowly but surely on the rise, ensuring their protection has, sadly, involved some serious maltreatment of people along the way. In particular the Batwa tribe, whose ancestral tribal lands included much of Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable and Mgahinga Gorilla National Parks. When the national parks were created in the 1990s to protect the gorillas, the Batwa were evicted and most are still living, many squatting, on the peripheries of the parks, struggling to adjust to new lifestyles or indeed survive. Their displacement was carried out without any consultation or consent of the people, nor with any public hearing. Although a handful of families have been given short land leases, their futures are still hanging in the balance after that. The majority of families have been left without land and, therefore, ways to make a living. A living that was totally sustainable before their evictions, as they had survived for centuries hunting and gathering in the forests.



It was thought that the Batwa killed gorillas for meat, and indeed they are often discriminated against for this reason and blamed for any poaching that occurs. However, the Batwa don’t eat gorilla meat, and have co-existed with them for centuries. Sadly, racial discrimination against the Batwa - a pygmy tribe - is common and now a huge issue.

The irony is that as we tourists ponder the primates, and help fund their survival, the few thousand members of Uganda’s Batwa tribe are in danger of extinction. According to leading human rights organisation Minority Rights International, in 2006 the Uganda Land Alliance for Coalition of Pastoral Civil Society Organizations (COPACSO) produced a report warning of starvation and severe illness among the Batwa people. Modern farming methods and modern medicine are totally alien to their traditions, and the source of both traditional food and medicine has now been taken from them. Not forgetting the devastating impact of having had the ties to their spiritual lands totally cut. The same issues are now arising in Cameroon. Gorilla tourism is growing there, and consequently the Ba'aka people's ancestral lands have been designated as Boumba Bek, Nki and Lobeke National Parks.

When you arrive at the gorilla trekking departure point, you will be asked if you would like a porter. There are always more porters than there is work, and many of them will have walked miles to get there just to get a day’s work, men and women, so it is really worth hiring them, even if you don’t really need one. The going rate is about £9-13 but people often tip on top of that as well. Most porters come from local communities, some of whom have a history of poaching gorillas for the sale of bushmeat. So by employing them as porters, we are demonstrating that the gorillas are worth more alive than dead.