Meet Tunza Gorilla, the ethical gorilla fashion brand
The Gorilla Organization has teamed up with a new fashion brand, Tunza Gorilla, to bring stylish, ethical clothing to wildlife fans while raising vital funds for grassroots conservation work.
Launched by Richard Milburn, a leading expert on conflict and conservation in DR Congo, the new brand was designed to fund community development in some of the poorest parts of Africa. By generating money to help grassroots projects in communities bordering the Virunga National Park, it is hoped that many people will be given the chance to pull themselves out of poverty and so will no longer be reliant on the resources found in the gorilla habitat.
The launch of Tunza Gorilla comes just days after rangers working in the Congo were forced to intervene in two snare incidents in the space of less than a fortnight. Following on from an infant gorilla being trapped in a rope snare, an adult female also got entangled in a trap set down by a poacher. While in both cases the gorillas were rescued and released without having suffered any serious injuries, this once again highlights the threat facing gorillas, above all the dangers posed by poachers encroaching into the protected forest in a bid to capture small animals to feed themselves and their families or sell at market.
“Working directly with the communities is essential if we are to tackle the underlying threats facing gorillas in the wild,” explains Jillian Miller, Executive Director of The Gorilla Organization.
“So, alongside ranger patrols to react to the immediate dangers posed by poachers, we also need to support grassroots projects that will ensure people no longer have any need to go into the forests in the first place. Initiatives such as this, then, are a great way of helping to ensure gorillas will be around for generations to come.”
Tunza Gorilla, an ethical fashion brand with a mission to protect gorillas, are launching their new clothing range and donating 25% of their profits to us, and another 25% to the Pole Pole Foundation, a gorilla conservation initiative in Congo that we have long-standing links with.
They are taking pre-orders now to reach their funding target to launch their brand and deliver their clothing in early December, in plenty of time for Christmas. All their clothing is premium quality, made using 100% organic cotton, in a factory using renewable energy and paying fair wages to their workers.
You can place your order and help them to launch their business to support our work to protect the gorillas at: https://www.helpingb.co/tunza-gorilla-ethical-fashion-brand/