In August 2023, the heart of Africa, Uganda, unveiled a groundbreaking initiative to safeguard one of its most endangered wildlife species on the African continent—the mountain gorillas. The "My Gorilla Family" app emerged as a technological initiative designed to harness the power of digital connectivity in the service of wildlife conservation. Developed by two Ugandan conservation enterprises, RoundBob, and the Naturalist, the app stands as a nemesis to Rwanda's Gorilla Gram.
The core ethos behind this innovation is to bolster sustainable funding sources for the preservation of mountain gorillas. As the global community grapples with environmental challenges, Uganda chose to integrate technology into its conservation strategies, presenting a unique model for other nations to emulate.
The My Gorilla Family app operates on a subscription-based model, allowing users to go gorilla trekking virtually and join a gorilla family within Uganda's tropical rain forests. The fees generated in subscriptions contribute directly to the protection of these majestic creatures, still classified as "Endangered" by the IUCN. For a modest fee of as little as US$2 per month, subscribers unlock access to the pristine landscapes of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Mgahinga National Park—two crucial conservation areas safeguarding the mountain gorillas.
In addition to granting users a virtual front-row seat to the gorillas' habitat, the app provides regular updates on significant events in the gorilla community. Subscribers receive notifications about gorilla birthdays and celebrate the arrival of new births in the lush tropical rainforests.
With the My Gorilla Family app, you can follow the movements, celebrate birthdays, and get updates from rangers who protect the mountain gorillas. Getting to know the habituated gorilla families is expected to make people fall in love with the great apes and also increase the urge of travelers to go on gorilla safaris in Africa.
How the Idea Came Up
The inspiration behind the My Gorilla Family app stems from a powerful narrative within the local community. Fidelis Kanyamunyu, once a poacher turned honorary wildlife officer at the Uganda Wildlife Authority, is a key figure in this endeavor. Having grown up hunting in Bwindi Forest, Kanyamunyu later transformed his life, abandoning destructive activities to become a staunch advocate for the conservation of the last remaining population of mountain gorillas.
Driven by a passion for conservation, Kanyamunyu collaborated with David Gonahosa, and together, they conceptualized the idea of leveraging technology to address the challenges faced by the gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The result was the My Gorilla Family app, an innovative solution aimed at generating non-tracking revenues and engaging the global community in the cause of gorilla conservation.
Gonahasa emphasized the significance of this initiative, stating, "In addition to the subscription-based application My Gorilla Family, the Home of the Gorillas initiative will launch the first conservation limited NFT (Non-Fungible Token) collection linked to the +200 habituated individual mountain gorillas in the wild." By incorporating technology in this manner, the project seeks to raise awareness globally, cultivating a legion of mountain gorilla ambassadors who can contribute to the ongoing preservation efforts.
Remarkably, the My Gorilla Family App is not the first technological initiative of its kind in Africa. In December 2009, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) launched the Friend a Gorilla Campaign at Sony Pictures Studios in LA. This star-studded event, featuring celebrities like Kristy Wu and Simon Curtis, aimed to create awareness about endangered mountain gorillas, emphasizing the importance of global collaboration in conservation efforts.
Building on this momentum, Rwanda joined the technological conservation wave in September 2022 with the Gorilla Gram initiative. Visitors to Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park actively contribute by sharing and geotagging photos, adopting a citizen-science approach to aid rangers, researchers, and monitoring teams in tracking the twelve habituated gorilla families frequented by tourists.
The My Gorilla Family app epitomizes the synergy between technology and conservation, offering a glimpse into the future of wildlife preservation.
As Uganda pioneers this digital frontier, other nations may find inspiration in this proactive approach to protect and cherish our planet's endangered species.
The global community united through technology, holds the key to ensuring the survival of mountain gorillas not only for the present generation but also for generations yet to come.
