Trip to Uganda and the Initiation of an Aid Project
The project "Mountains
of the Moon" was founded in the middle of 2008, with the aim
of contributing to the protection of species through the production and
marketing of different media products. Its objective is to use journalism
to inform a broad public, to entertain and to inspire - in order to raise
consciousness about and help the mountain gorillas.
In January 2009 a team of 8 photographers and authors travelled to Uganda.
During a 9-day tour they visited the Rwenzori Mountains and different
national parks, including the mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable
National Park. On their return to Germany, they designed a book, postcards,
posters, a DVD and a multimedia show with the material they collected
during their trip. A fixed part of the turnover of all these products
is donated to the Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe to support
a joint long-term project in Uganda - a project which has now become a
reality.
On 31 October, 2009, we were finally off. Six of us, including 3 members
of the Mountains-of-the-Moon photographers' team, took the plane from
Brussels to Uganda, with an excess baggage of 100 kg! Our destination
was Ruhija, a small village close to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
After 8 hours in the plane and a 10-hour car journey we finally reached
Ruhija without a hitch, and we checked in for 3 nights at one of the three
brand-new lodges, situated in a very beautiful location on a hilltop.
At approximately 2,500 m, Ruhija stands at the highest altitude of any
town in the neighbourhood of Bwindi, and on the first evening we had a
wonderful view of the Virunga Volcanoes chain further south from our lodge.
The Bitukura gorilla group was habituated here as recently as 9 months
ago, and can now be visited by tourists, although permits are currently
sold only by UWA (Uganda Wildlife Authority) and must be applied
for 3 months in advance. The first lodges had opened their doors only
a few weeks ago; in contrast to sites such as Buhoma, Ruhija still has
almost no tourism infrastructure.
Ruhija is the base of the ITFC (Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation),
and for 4 months a year is the home of Martha Robbins, who has been studying
the life and the behaviour of the Bwindi gorillas for 11 years. Before
our journey to Uganda we exchanged many emails with her: she worked with
ITFC to prepare our aid project in coordination with Berggorilla &
Regenwald Direkthilfe. Only 4 months after our book Perle Afrikas
(The Pearl of Africa) was published, over 3,000 Euros were already available.
We met Martha Robbins on the first day, and the following day she accompanied
us in and around Ruhija.
Of course, we did not want to miss the opportunity to track gorillas.
It was very exciting on this occasion to see recently habituated gorillas
that are visited only rarely by tourists. After having been well briefed
by Chris, our guide, we entered the forest at around 9:00 h, equipped
with sticks and cameras. There was bright sunshine although it was the
rainy season. Martha had already assured us that it probably would not
take very long before we found the gorillas.
Around Ruhija, the forest is somewhat denser and much steeper than in
Buhoma. We walked downhill almost all the time. And, yes, we found the
Bitukura group after only 1 hour and 5 minutes. At the moment, the group
consists of 15 members, 4 of which are, unbelievably, silverbacks! Not
all group members showed themselves to us, but those who did remained
visible for long periods of time and in ideal conditions for taking photographs.
For example, at one point, 3 silverbacks sat together on the forest path
for several minutes.
Each gorilla tracking is different; every time it is a special experience!
The first specific activity of the "Mountains of the Moon" aid
project was the production of 7 different large-size displays (1 x 1.8
m). These were designed with texts written by Martha Robbins and photographs
from our project and Martha Robbins. Four copies of each motif were printed
and taken to Uganda. They will be used in Ruhija, Buhoma, Nkuringo and
Rushaga.
We had to roll up our sleeves and mount the first set of displays in Ruhija
ourselves. Hooks? Nails? Wires? Good ideas, but no one from the team had
remembered to bring any. So we found an "African solution":
we pulled rusty and bent nails out of a pile of old boards, hammered them
more or less straight and after a short time the displays were up and
being admired by us, and by the local UWA staff and some tourists who
had dropped in by chance. The displays are to assist in educating tourists
AND local residents about the gorillas - printed in large, clear and simple
words they cannot easily be overlooked. The aim is to generate a better
understanding and ensure that the rules for gorilla tracking are followed
more closely. Martha Robbins was very happy about the displays, and she
will distribute the remaining ones around Bwindi Impenetrable National
Park.
A nature trail, which will take about one-and-a-half hours to walk, will
be established as another tourist attraction in Ruhija; this will generate
additional income for the village. Women from the village will soon offer
it as a guided tour. We also intend to produce a small, printed nature
trail guide which they will be able to sell to tourists.
After visiting a primary school, a plan was hatched to produce a "gorilla
book" in English and the local language. We will start on this new
project as soon as we receive the texts from Uganda. As requested, we
had brought chalk, crayons, pens and maps; the children were very happy
and entertained us with several dances and songs.
The core function of the "Mountains of the Moon" aid project
initiated by us is to support the training and awareness raising of the
local population in the vicinity of Bwindi National Park, and therefore
to contribute to the long-term conservation of the forest and the mountain
gorillas. It thus also addresses one of the UN goals for the 2009 Year
of the Gorilla. The project initiation was witnessed by Veronika Lenarz,
who represented UNEP/CMS (United Nations Environment Programme/Convention
on Migratory Species) during our trip to Ruhija.
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Relaxing after the seven displays have been put up in Ruhija. Left: Martha Robbins, right: Andreas Klotz Photo: www.mondberge.com |
Andreas Klotz
Andreas Klotz is owner and manager of the company TiPP 4 Medienproduktion. For more than 25 years photography has been his hobby. This and his passion for travelling led him to initiate the project "Mountains of the Moon".