Economic sustainability for the people of this region may mean long-term stability for the great apes that share the forest.

Kahuzi-Biega National Park is one of the last remaining habitats of the eastern lowland gorilla, and the personnel who guard this United Nations World Heritage Site in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are their last line of defense against poachers. Despite the fact that these guards risk their lives in the service of conservation, they are paid very little, and their families often live a poor and uncertain life.

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To help remedy this situation, the Canadian Ape Alliance, with help from the Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise, will established a cassava-grinding mill at Tshivanga Station, the park headquarters. Launching in the fall of 2007, the mill will be used to grind cassava, corn and soybeans for resale as flour for a collective of 45 women living at Tshivanga, providing them with a much-needed income.

Presently, women from Tshivanga buy cassava from trucks that pass by their village and then have to carry heavy sacks on their backs for up to 12 kilometres on dirt roads to have it ground into flour.

In addition to generating income, the new mill will eliminate this backbreaking work. Ultimately, economic sustainability for the human inhabitants of the region will translate into long-term stability for the great apes that share the forest and its scare resources.

Kahuzi-Biega National Park has contributed land next to the living-compound at Tshivanga for the mill house. The project was initiated by the Canadian Ape Alliance through the Pole Pole Foundation, a non-governmental organization created in Democratic Republic of Congo in 1992 by workers in and around the park. The Foundation will oversee construction of the mill house as well as the purchase and installation of the mill. Concurrently, they will help the women develop a workers’ cooperative responsible for the mill, and provide training in various aspects of running a small business, such as bookkeeping and accounting.

While Pole Pole remains responsible for the project, the objective is to have the mill become fully independent and self-sustaining within a year. The cooperative will then make collective decisions concerning its upkeep and operation. They will also assume authority over how income from the mill is spent or allocated.

If you want to help support the ongoing operation of this groundbreaking initiative, you may do so via Paypal or credit card by clicking the link below. Donations to the Canadian Ape Alliance are tax-deductible. Tax receipts will be issued through the University of Toronto Great Ape Fund. The Canadian Ape Alliance is an association of voluntary individuals and has no staff, office or overhead. All funds go directly to the projects for which they are given.