Conducting science – operating the longest-running gorilla research site in the world.Protecting gorillas – daily, sustained protection of wild mountain gorillas has helped bring these primates back from the brink of extinction.This holistic conservation model is based on four key pillars: The Fund’s holistic conservation efforts also have a direct, positive impact on people and communities, helping to improve the health and livelihoods of people who live near the gorillas. The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund’s conservation work is built on the ethos: ‘when gorillas are protected, so are their forest habitats, which are critical ecosystems that support our planet and all life on Earth’. Her vital gorilla work has inspired many conservationists who’ve followed since, ensuring her legacy lives on today. Dian Fossey established the Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda’s Virunga Mountains in 1967, which has become the hub for the longest-running studies of any animal species on Earth. Only when people are thriving can gorillas, other wildlife and their habitats thrive, too. Helping Communities: We believe that working with and helping local communities is crucial to effective and sustainable conservation. We work directly with local educational institutions and partner organizations to strengthen their programs and capacity, training hundreds of young scientists each year. Our research also focuses on understanding many of the unique animals and plants that also call these forests home.Įducating Conservationists: Education is key to empowering people and creating the next generation of conservationists. Most of what is known about gorillas is based on studies conducted at Karisoke over the past 50 years.
Scientific Research: We operate the longest-running gorilla research site in the world, the Karisoke Research Center. This is the foundation of our work and why mountain gorillas are the only wild ape whose population is growing. Our more than 50 years of successful conservation work in saving gorillas is based on a holistic model with four key parts: direct, daily protection of gorillas scientific research on gorillas and their ecosystems educating the next generation of scientists and conservationists in Africa and helping local people with basic needs, so that communities can thrive and work together with us.ĭaily Protection: The best way to save endangered species and conduct effective conservation is with direct, sustained protection in the wild. She is immortalized today as well through the gorilla population that still lives on, due to the work she started.
Karisoke has since become the world’s centerpiece for gorilla research and conservation, producing most of our scientific knowledge about gorillas.įrom showing what one person with courage and commitment can do, to creating innovations in science and conservation, Dian Fossey truly created a lasting legacy. She faced and overcame many obstacles and ultimately gave her life to gorilla protection.ĭian Fossey set up two small tents in the Virunga wilderness and coined the name "Karisoke," after nearby Mt. Although Fossey’s life was cut short, her work has continued through the Karisoke Research Center and grown into conservation efforts for other wildlife and programs for people who live near the gorillas.Īmong the most legendary scientists of our time, Dian Fossey went to Africa at the urging of famed anthropologist Louis Leakey and began her groundbreaking studies of gorilla behavior. Dian Fossey founded the Karisoke™ Research Center in Rwanda’s Virunga mountains to protect and study the endangered mountain gorillas.
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