Discover Primates in Africa
Discover Primates in Africa , Rwanda hopes to continue conserving the critically endangered Mountain Gorilla by using a high-value, low-impact tourism strategy. The price of the Mountain Gorilla trekking permit offered at Volcanoes National Park is a perfect example of this type of conservation effort.
Rwanda’s current price is an impressive US$1,500 per permit (for example), one of the highest prices per wildlife tourism permit in the entire world. However, this price is not a simple gimmick to create a sense of luxury or exclusivity; it is a sustainable model of how
Rwanda uses the amount of money received from these permits to keep the conservation efforts for Mountain Gorillas alive in their natural habitat.
Direct funding for conservation: A large portion of the cost of park permits is allocated to funding the operational aspects of the park. This includes funding the salaries of the park’s anti-poaching patrols as well as providing the gorilla families with necessary veterinary care (both monitoring the gorillas for disease and inoculating them) and assisting with the park’s ecological research.
Further, 10 percent of the permit revenue is shared with the local communities that live next to the park. This allows local communities to experience the tangible and direct economic benefit of having both the gorillas and the park, encouraging them to not encroach on the gorillas or engage in illegal activities, but instead to protect the gorillas and their habitat. This is an excellent example of how tourism can be a direct source of financing for conservation.
Primates Africa, the Company That Is Setting A New Ethical Tourism Standard.
While the price of a permit is determined by the government, the traveler’s experience and the impact on the local community will be determined by the tour operator. The tour operator that sets the gold standard in ethical primate tours is a hypothetical example, Primates in Africa.
Protected Habitats and Protected Gorillas. Ethical commercial operators like Primates in Africa work exclusively in the areas of primates’ habitats. They provide local guides who are experts on animal behavior, forest ecology, and how to safely track animals. Because of this extensive knowledge, the guest trek is more likely to be successful and less disruptive to the wildlife.
The local expert guides are familiar with the local conditions and make every effort to follow strict park regulations regarding social distancing and wearing masks in order to prevent disease transmission to gorillas.
Logistics and Value-Added Experiences. Ethical Luxury Travel and Seamless Logistics are two of the core elements of providing high-value tours. Primates Africa provides a high level of expertise in managing the logistics associated with these types of tours.
They provide the necessary gorilla permits in sufficient time to provide quick and comfortable transfer between destinations in Kigali (Rwanda), or Entebbe (Uganda), to the remote trekking locations. Also, they work in partnership with eco-friendly and locally sourced lodging providers, who share the principles of low-impact, sustainable tourism principles.
A community engagement: plan will serve to reaffirm the commitment to providing a different level of service and also educate guests about the importance of the local culture and ecology. As part of their support for the activities used in their contracts with the lowland gorillas, ethical trip operators will also promote cultural exchange between their guests and the people who live around the gorilla habitat in Rwanda.
Employing local staff as porters on an ethical trip operator’s guided tours has two benefits for the guests. First, guests get a hands-on experience while trekking through the rainforest, and second, hiring porters generates additional revenue for local individuals. These engagements serve as an avenue for enhancing economic ties between people who work with local porters and individuals residing in the vicinity of gorilla habitats.
In conclusion, the experience of gorilla trekking in Africa, specifically trekking to see Mountain Gorillas, should be viewed as a responsible tourism experience. The cost of the Rwandan permits is a very tangible conservation fee, as it aids in ensuring the survival of the gorillas.
The use of specialized, ethical trip operators, such as Primates Africa, will provide a traveler with confirmation that their investment in terms of trekking is not simply to view the animals, but that it aids in funding conservation efforts for the protection of the gorillas, thus converting every trek into a contributing factor to gorilla conservation.
