By Spy Uganda
The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has officially launched an application dubbed “My Gorilla Family.” The app is a pioneer initiative to protect Uganda’s mountain gorilla population, leveraging technology to create sustainable sources of non-trekking revenues to fund conservation.
Ugandan conservation enterprises working with the Uganda Wildlife Authority, launched the subscription-based mobile application that allows users to join a gorilla family and contribute to saving this endangered species by indulging in activities that a user would with their own family.
This was coupled with the launch of a My Gorilla Family Festival, an event that will see local and international artists performing in Kisoro in the southwest of the country this coming May 2022.
For as little as $2 per month, users will receive an all-access pass to the Bwindi/Mgahinga Conservation areas, home to more than 50% of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas.
Users will be able to follow the gorillas’ daily excursions and family migrations through virtual tracking.
They can celebrate their birthdays and new births, and receive updates from the rangers who protect and know them best. One can follow as many gorilla families as they wish, knowing that their subscription is going towards protecting these glorious creatures and building the local communities around them.
The launch, held at Protea Kampala Skyz Hotel in Naguru, Kampala, was attended by notable conservationists and others in the tourism industry. Panelists included Lilly Ajarova, CEO of the Uganda Tourism Board; Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, founder and CEO of Conservation Through Public Health; and Stephen Masaba, Director of Tourism & Business Development for the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
Fidelis Kanyamunyu says, “As a child, I went hunting in the forest and grew into a poacher when the conservation areas were carved out.”
“I looked at the forest and said, my father and our ancestors used to get a livelihood; how can I get a livelihood without going there? I arrived on tourism. When we habituated the gorillas, we brought the investors to build hotels; then there was a gap of marketing the gorillas, because people only come in July and August.”
Gonahasa further explained the importance of this initiative, stating: “In addition to the subscription-based application [of] My Gorilla Family, the Home of the Gorillas initiative will launch the first conservation limited NFT (Non Fungible Token) collection linked to the +200 habituated individual mountain gorillas in the wild.”
Lily Ajarova, Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Tourism Board, commended the initiative, saying: “Uganda is absolutely ready for an application and a festival like this. It is time for the world to come and see how much more Uganda has to offer.”
Sam Mwandha, Executive Director of the Uganda Wildlife Authority said: “ The Home of the Gorilla initiative is intended to let the world know the mountain gorillas, their habitats, and the people around who are actually helping us to conserve their habitat – not only the staff but also the communities – and this provides information to the world about mountain gorillas, about conservation, about the challenges, and so it fits in very well with our mandate that is to conserve the wildlife and our vegetation.”
He added: “So as the people know, they will conserve wildlife but also it will attract people who can visit the mountain gorillas, and when they visit they will pay a small fee that aggregated together provides the resources that we need to do conservation. So the campaign is something that we are excited about so it will provide support for us.”
Uganda’s mountain gorillas have seen a sharp decline in tourist trekking revenue since the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a devastating effect on conservation efforts. This initiative comes as a relief at a time when the sector is steadily witnessing resilience hope and recovery.
