Ecotourism and mountain gorillas in the Virunga Volcanoes

摘要: Ecotourism has played an important role, along with education and anti-poaching patrols, in conservation projects for mountain gorillas. Small groups of tourists are taken by trained guides to visit habituated This chapter examines the available evidence on effects tourism gorillas, both advantageous deleterious. Tourism provided a valuable source income national parks Rwanda Zaire, as well benefiting economies giving local governments strong incentive protect gorilla population. In addition, visited areas forest which they inhabit monitored daily probably receive improved protection. The levels illegal human disturbance not compared. Over half population is now research or tourism. However, these visits could cause stress gorillas greatly increase risk diseases being introduced into Census results show that proportion immature animals higher than other groups, suggesting any adverse outweighed protection received. Civil war demonstrated how political stability crucial successful ecotourism programmes.