The ecosystem management of mountain gorillas

The ecosystem management of mountain gorillas

Mountain gorillas are found in two different locations. There are found in Virunga range located on the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda and in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park situated in Uganda (Seiler, Boesch, Stephens, Ortmann, Mundry & Robbins, 2018). The mountain gorilla’s habitats are in the montane, and bamboo forests found high in the mountains. They live at high altitudes ranging from 2500-4000 meters above sea level. Their bodies are covered with thick, far to be able to survive in a natural environment where temperatures sometimes fluctuate to below freezing point.

Despite the growth in the populations of mountain gorillas, they were classified as endangered by (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species in 2018. There continued survival and existence rely on the effort put forward to conserve and protect them from various threats. The threats include poaching activities as they get killed by traps set for other wild animals and their infants captured for pets, loss of natural environment due to human encroachment and isolations caused by fragmentation of forest areas and diseases such as respiratory virus infection, measles virus and gastrointestinal diseases (Tumusiime, Bitariho & Sandbrook, 2018). Mountain gorillas in Virunga are vulnerable to human pathogens because of their close genetic compositions. Therefore, the diseases have resulted in more deaths of mountain gorillas, reducing their populations.

Additionally, climate change, civil instability, and unrest, destruction of the natural environment through illegal timber harvest for charcoal, construction, and clearance of forest for farming are the main threats to the population of mountain gorillas (Seiler, Boesch, Stephens, Ortmann, Mundry & Robbins, 2018). All of these activities are the main threats to the existence of mountain gorillas in both Virunga and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. As a result, Mountain gorillas have been categorized as an endangered species..

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda was established to protect the mountain gorillas in the area from human activities. The main stakeholders involved in the ecosystem management plan were the local communities, tourists, and international conservation organizations. The wildlife conservation organizations include the International Gorilla Conservation Programme who joined hands with other national local and other conservation programs to ensure the preservation and conservation of endangered mountain gorillas (Cranfield, Gaffikin, Sleeman & Rooney, 2002). The areas identified for conservation were identified and mapped to reverse the decline in the numbers of mountain gorillas. The ecosystem approach to preserve mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda was made in a systematic approach.

The local wildlife protection agencies in Uganda rationalized the Wildlife Protected Area System Plan and established an exclusive enforcement program in the Species Range Protected Areas of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Tumusiime, Bitariho & Sandbrook, 2018). Furthermore, the Site Action Programme was initiated to develop to conserve and monitor the population of the mountain gorilla. This approach was undertaken and planned by Regional Action Plans and governments and developed by the International Gorilla Conservation Programme and received funding from UNDP.

In the ecosystem management plan, a strategy was designed in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to control and reduce the loss, conflict, and misunderstandings from the local communities caused by the establishment of the park. This was achieved through having an agreement with the local community on the resource sharing formulae. The agreement outlined the criteria for sharing and retention of revenue from the tourist sector and set aside a trust fund to be used for community development projects (Cranfield, Gaffikin, Sleeman & Rooney, 2002). For the gorilla conservation project, a comprehensive ecological survey was conducted, rangers were trained, illegal undertakings were stopped, and the development and establishment of tourism were done by IUCN.

The initial steps ecosystem structure for management of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park included beekeeping, preliminary surveys, and participatory management needed to achieve various objectives Seiler, Boesch, Stephens, Ortmann, Mundry & Robbins, 2018). Preliminary surveys were conducted to establish and identify the demand for forest resources at the park. These surveys were conducted to provide information on the numbers and the availability of the demanded species. The outcomes of the survey were adopted in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park management in designing and establishing the agreement for harvesting and resource sharing.

In the process of writing the management plan for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, community members were involved in the discussion of resource use and sharing. The participatory management plans were established and created by DTC project staff and small community teams. The responsibilities of the teams included choosing plan format and designing programs to be used in the planning of the workshops (Tumusiime, Bitariho & Sandbrook, 2018). Once the participatory management plans were achieved, there was a construction of the planning matrix needed for identifications of points of contentions, conflicts, and the approaches to be used to resolve conflicts.

Participatory management planning helped in providing solutions to the community conflicts and to produce a clear action plan in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park management. It also inculcated a sense of belonging and ownership among the local community and the staff of the park. Therefore, this process facilitated the establishment and enactment of community mechanisms to resolve conflicts and reach consensus among main stakeholders (Seiler, Boesch, Stephens, Ortmann, Mundry & Robbins, 2018). Lastly, the involvement of local community members had positive implications in the conservation and protection of Mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The selection of pilot parishes was made at Bwindi to conserve the mountain gorillas. The pilot parishes helped in the examination of ecological interactions and minimization of negative human activities in the mountain gorilla’s habitat. Also, the pilot parishes helped in the spreading of forest resource use to benefit all the tourists and bee-keepers in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

The main menace affecting the existence of mountain gorillas has been the increase in pressure in the habitat of the mountain gorillas in Bwindi.  Mountain gorillas are secondary consumers, and they play a significant role in the natural environment in which they live. They eat lots of vegetations in their habits, meaning they are at the bottom of the food chain. Their huge consumption of vegetation brings a balance in the food chain ecosystem Seiler, Boesch, Stephens, Ortmann, Mundry & Robbins, 2018). Mountain’s gorilla’s big body size is the reason why they have very few predators. The only predator of mountain gorillas is the leopard. They also play a part in the dispersion of seeds that germinates and replenish the forest habitats. Therefore, a reduction in the population of mountain gorillas could negatively disrupt other wildlife in Bwindi. The food chain plays an important role in conservation decision making because they shape the ecosystem balance needed for the existence of mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

In conclusion, mountain gorilla existence in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is critically endangered by the loss of habitat, diseases, civil unrest, poaching, and different human activities. Their continued existence relies on the conservation measured put forth by various wildlife conservation organizations.

References

Cranfield, M., Gaffikin, L., Sleeman, J., & Rooney, M. (2002). The mountain gorilla and conservation medicine. Conservation medicine ecological health in practice, 282-296.

Seiler, N., Boesch, C., Stephens, C., Ortmann, S., Mundry, R., & Robbins, M. M. (2018). Social and ecological correlates of space use patterns in Bwindi mountain gorillas. American journal of primatology, 80(4), e22754.

Tumusiime, D. M., Bitariho, R., & Sandbrook, C. (2018). Bwindi Impenetrable National Park: A celebrity site for integrated conservation and development in Uganda. In Conservation and Development in Uganda (pp. 61-84). Routledge.