Forests Appeal: Give Gorillas Home and Hope
Gorillas can only continue to exist if there are trees.
But those trees are disappearing faster than ever. They’re being destroyed by bulldozers that can clear-cut mile after mile of timber in a single day. They’re being burnt to grow commercial crops. Local people are scouring the wreckage for wood to use for cooking, as firewood prices have rocketed during the pandemic.
Instead of a world teeming with noise and life, you only see a kind of desert. Bare ground where once there were mighty trees. No food. No shelter. And no gorillas at all.
Trees really are everything for gorillas. They provide their food. They provide the leaves and the branches they need to build their nests to sleep, a new one built every day and every night. And they provide a safe haven, for gorillas to breed and to raise their families.
And it’s not just gorillas who are in trouble. Deforestation kills people too. It causes deadly landslides that destroy roads and homes. And it destroys livelihoods fuelling a vicious cycle where people once again turn to the forests for their survival.
The situation is truly urgent. We have to act now – not in five or ten years’ time – or there won’t be any forests left. Or any gorillas either…
Planting trees is every bit as vital for the gorillas’ survival as keeping the ‘thin green line’ of rangers between them and poachers. We need your help today to do more of it.
We already know our approach works. On the edge of the Kahuzu-Biéga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we’re running a project to replant deforested hillsides.
Working with our foresters, we have planted over 2 million trees. And the forest and creatures that live there are already coming back.
This means villagers never need venture into the heart of the forest again. They can collect firewood, fruit, and even honey from their new woodlands – AND make sure they don’t disturb gorillas.
We have to grow more forest for them. That’s why we’ve made the commitment to plant 500,000 more saplings and set up and stock 10 new tree nurseries.
Gorillas need your help today. We know you have supported us before – and it’s made a real difference. But the bulldozers keep coming.
WILL YOU PLEASE:
HELP PROVIDE VITAL TOOLS TO SOW MORE SEEDS: Tools like spades, dibbers and trowels will help local people to reforest barren hillsides.
HELP BUILD ANOTHER NURSERY: In 2022 we plan to build 10 new tree nurseries in the region. Every additional nursery we can build will make a huge difference.
HELP GROW MORE SAPLINGS: It takes months of careful cultivation to grow a tree seed into a robust sapling. Will you help take care of them until they’re ready to plant?
HELP PLANT MORE TREES AND SAVE GORILLAS: Once the saplings have grown, will you help get them growing in the places where they’re most urgently needed?
Anything you are able to give will make a difference and bring us a step closer to restoring and protecting the gorillas’ precious forest home. Every donation will be put to good use – spent on the ground, with our staff in the field working tirelessly to fight back against deforestation and plant new hope for gorillas and the communities they live alongside. Please make your gift online today or call 0300 330 01451 to give by phone.
