Mountain Gorilla Revenue Crosses Borders

Rwanda has shared $174,000 in revenue with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda's Daily Monitor reports. The transaction is part of a transboundary agreement formed between Rwanda, Uganda, and the DRC to conserve mountain gorillas and their habitat.

There are only 720 mountain gorillas left in the world, making them one of the world's most endangered great apes. About half the world's mountain gorillas live in the mountains of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. The other half live in the Virunga Volcanoes, a forested area that straddles the borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda.

Tapped by the three governments, the International Gorilla Conservation Program (IGCP) -- a coalition of the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), Fauna and Flora International, and the Worldwide Fund for Nature -- created the strategic plan to implement the transboundary initiative. Officially launched in February, the transboundary program is being funded by the Dutch government, with IGCP continuing to offer technical support.

The initiative will integrate the operations of each country's national parks rangers, allowing research findings and protection efforts to be coordinated across the gorilla's entire range.

AWF has been at the fore of mountain gorilla conservation for more than three decades, supporting Dian Fossey's early research in the 1970s, heading up the consortium behind Rwanda's Mountain Gorilla Project in the 1980s, and now helping to lead IGCP, the first entity to work across the entire range of mountain gorilla habitat.

To support IGCP's work to conserve this highly endangered great ape, click here.