Micro-credit – Helping small business start-ups to alleviate pressure on the forest

Since1998 this groundbreaking project has provided more than 400 micro-loansof 50-300 US dollars each to small business and womens’ groups close tothe national park in Congo. The project aims to help them set up smallbusinesses to generate income, which in turn helps alleviate pressure –for subsistence products such as water, bamboo, bush meat and medicinalplants – on the gorilla habitat.

Honey farms – Sustainable honey production outside the park boundary

Beekeepersliving at the summit of the volcanoes in Rwanda are supported todevelop modern sustainable honey farms at the edge of, rather thaninside, the park boundary. Until recently, the beekeepers set theirhives in trees, which needed to be smoked to collect the honey. Everyseason trees were burned and beekeepers arrested for trespass in thepark. By providing locally made modern Langstroth hives along withtraining and marketing assistance from the Fund’s partner organisationARDI, the farmers are making valuable income with no interference tothe forest.

Rwandan artists’ association – Preserving local heritage and promoting artisanal industry

Aproject to support the artistic heritage of Rwanda and provide incomeand business support to an association of graduates from the GisenyiSchool of Art in Rwanda known as Magazine Equatorial des Arts. Theartists have received management training and marketing assistance andhave developed a thriving business in the five years the Fund has beensupporting them. They are based at he Fund’s Ruhenegri Resource Centrein Rwanda where their artworks are on exhibition. MEA members alsotrain orphans in graphic design and sign writing. (link to education art & design section)

Forest dwelling people – The Batwa and Bambuti pygmies of Rwanda and Congo

Increasinglyseen as conservation’s unintended victims, the indigenous people of theVirunga volcanoes rainforest were ejected from their traditional foresthomes with the creation of the national parks. Unable to scrape aliving outside the forest and rejected by local communities their livesdeteriorated to near desperation. Recognising a real opportunity toredress the balance, the Fund, with its partners Eco-Action, in Congo,and AIMPO, in Rwanda, has provided land, tools, seeds, training,healthcare and assistance in making and marketing fuel-efficient stovesand traditional pottery to generate income. As a result, healthcare andnutrition have improved dramatically, 23 pygmy children are enrolled inschool and adult literacy classes are well attended.

Fresh water in village schools – Water collection is the main cause for encroachment in the forest

Whilewater collection is still the main cause of encroachment in the gorillahabitat, children living close to the national park in Rwanda oftenmiss school because they have to collect water for their families earlyin the morning. This project uses local engineering technology toprovide clean water cisterns in all the schools adjoining the nationalpark.

Coltan Crisis – Small projects at Kahuzi-Biega

AtKahuzi-Biega World Heritage Site in eastern Congo the eastern lowlandgorilla is near to extinction as a result of the uncontrolledexploitation of minerals whose profits are being used to finance thewar – exacerbating the already tragic humanitarian and environmentalcrisis there. In particular, a valuable mineral known as Coltan, whichis used in mobile phones and computer chips, has caused a corrupt,gold-rush economy to flourish while local farmers starve from theeffects of the war.

Workingwith mining specialists and industrial concerns, the Fund aims tointroduce artisanal mining cooperatives with environmental safeguardsand better working conditions.

In the short term the Fund has introduced three emergency assistance projects-
a food-growing project with a group of women farmers, an income generating project for pygmies and a reforestation project-
to give support to this very troubled area.