I could tell she was aware of my presence. The imposing matriarch of the Nshongi mountain gorillas family, however, was ignoring me as she picked branches from a shrub and idly munched on the leaves, like a teenager consuming a bag of crisps.

Then, an infant gorilla stumbled through the underbrush and past us both. She looked over, and we locked eyes. Naturally, I lowered my sight. She was not antagonistic; she simply wanted me to know my place. Surprising was the fact that I recognized just what her glance said. Even more startling was the realization that she also understood me.

Observing mountain gorillas in the wild is a fascinating experience due to the visceral sensation of interspecies connection that is felt. Spend just a few minutes with a gorilla family, and the concept of “we and them” disappears. You meet as equals.

Yet until quite recently, it appeared that mountain gorillas were destined for extinction. Sir David Attenborough recently characterized his 1979 meeting with a family of mountain gorillas as “laced with sadness.” It was one of the most remarkable moments of his life, he said, but he was concerned that he may have encountered “the last of their kind.”

This is significant because biodiversity underpins so much of the natural world’s functioning, including the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the water we drink. Additionally, it protects us against pollution, flooding, and climate change.

However, early this year in Geneva, UN discussions to stem the tide of extinction stalled out. This week, representatives will convene in Nairobi to revive the negotiations. The objective is to reach a consensus on 21 goals, including safeguarding at least 30 percent of the world’s land and oceans by 2030.

The objective is to offer a foundation for a momentous international agreement to be signed by nations in October in Kunming under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. The ultimate objective is for humans to “live in harmony with the environment” by the year 2050.

Does the plight of the mountain gorilla teach us anything about how to conserve endangered species?

When Sir David visited the gorilla family, approximately 600 mountain gorillas remained. The species was classed as “threatened with extinction” Mountain gorillas cannot thrive in captivity, so their only hope was protection in the wild.

There are two groupings. One in the Virunga Forest, which spans Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the other in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

They suffered the same obstacles as many endangered species do today: their habitat was being rapidly destroyed by farmers, conservation efforts were hampered by conflict, and they were occasionally killed by poachers.

But forty years later, the population has surpassed 1,000 and is expanding. The species is now merely labeled as “endangered,” which is a substantial improvement. The previous several years have witnessed something of a baby boom. Late in the year 2020, five mountain gorilla newborns were born in Bwindi, an unprecedented number. Only three babies were born throughout the entirety of 2019.

What is the key to this success? Dr. Gladys Kalema Zikusoka was the first veterinarian for the Uganda Wildlife Authority in 1995, and she later founded the nonprofit Conservation Through Public Health. She states, somewhat unexpectedly, that well-controlled tourism has been vital.

Tourism aids wild animals if it is conducted properly. She explains that this is only the case if the cash from tourism benefits the local community.

The Bwindi Impenetrable Forest national park is now surrounded by tourist hotels and restrooms, craft kiosks, and trekking centers due to the popularity of gorilla encounters.

“When I originally began, there were perhaps five lodges; now there are as many as seventy,” explains Dr. Gladys. “The resorts and NGOs have both created employment opportunities.” She claims that gorilla tourism has boosted the entire regional economy and that the cash it generates now pays for a significant portion of Uganda’s wildlife protection service.

Nelson Guma, the chief warden of Bwindi, concurs that the cash from tourism has been essential to the local population. “These neighborhoods are next to the park. Therefore, we believe that they should participate in conservation and receive advantages from it.”

Visiting a family of gorillas is not inexpensive. Up to 40,000 people visit Uganda’s gorillas each year for $600 per person. Local communities receive a 20% share of the park’s revenue.

And protection of mountain gorillas has an additional enormous advantage. To safeguard gorillas, the entire forest ecology must be preserved. The Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet, therefore thousands, if not tens of thousands, of additional species are also protected.

In addition, the funds generated by the gorillas have been used to eliminate other dangers. Poachers used to occasionally catch mountain gorillas in the traps they set for deer, wild pigs, and other animals. Either they would sell their catch as bush meat, or they would use it to feed their families.

Once the gorillas became a valuable tourist attraction, however, the authorities were able to make poachers an offer they could not refuse: if you are caught hunting in the park, you will go to jail. Stay away, and we’ll find you working in the park or on land owned by charitable organizations.

“Now we are the park’s ambassadors,” says Vincent Nshmarairw with pride. He is a former poacher who currently works for a Gorilla Organisation-funded agricultural project.

Mr. Nshmarairw feels that gorillas will be the key to the future prosperity of his family. “My children are all enrolled in school,” he informs me. “And with time maybe they can get jobs from the park.”

Rafiki, Uganda’s rare silverback mountain gorilla, slain by hunters
Tourism is not without difficulties. The presence of tourists can annoy animals and alter their natural behavior, cause pollution, and trash, and erode indigenous customs. However, the majority of the world’s leading conservation organizations, including the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Conservation International, and the World Wildlife Fund, now accept ecotourism as a valuable conservation tool when it is effectively managed.

Additionally, tourism is rarely a complete answer. Despite their economic importance, the population of mountain gorillas remains threatened. The two mountain gorilla populations reside in enormous national parks, but these parks represent a tiny proportion of the once-extensive jungle that covered the region, and space is becoming an issue as the gorilla population expands.

The director of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, Tara Stoinski, affirms that gorilla families are becoming increasingly crowded.

Ms. Stoinski cautions that gorillas are “bumping into each other more often.” These interactions are frequently connected with aggressiveness and fighting, with sad outcomes: “The infanticide rate is increasing. Infants are frequently murdered when these families get together.”

In some regions of the Virunga Forest, the Gorilla Fund’s research indicates that population growth is slowing for the first time in decades.

Ms. Stoinski explains, “We would want to see this population growth, but for that to occur, more habitat will be required.”

The solution would be to set aside more area for the gorillas, which is precisely what the UN recommends for the entire planet. But removing productive land from use costs money, and the developing world claims it needs financial assistance to do so. This is one of the primary points of contention in discussions. Developing countries are asking $100 billion per year from the wealthy world to promote conservation.

Elizabeth Mrema, the UN’s chief of biodiversity, asserts that the protection of mountain gorillas demonstrates that it is possible to conserve animals on the verge of extinction. She is sure that the delegates meeting in Nairobi this week will be able to reach compromises.

The challenge for the global community is how much work and resources we are willing to devote to protecting biodiversity. Ms. Mrema presents a grave caution: “Scientists have informed us that we have only this century to overcome the biodiversity disaster. The universe has no planet B “she says.