Eco-tourism is playing a key role in protecting mountain gorillas in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, one of the few places where they still live in the wild. Thanks to conservation efforts, their population has been increasing and they are no longer critically endangered.
A major contributor is Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka and her organisation, Conservation Through Public Health. They work with local communities—once involved in poaching and habitat destruction—to promote understanding of gorillas and create sustainable income through eco-tourism. The initiative also supports alternative livelihoods, such as training and investing in local coffee farming.
The podcast linked below follows Myra Anubi as she meets former poachers turned conservationists, speaks with local farmers—many of them women—and learns from village teams working to protect the gorillas. Along the way, she also experiences the forest firsthand and observes these remarkable animals in their natural habitat. It’s well worth a listen.
