[00:00:00] I’m Crystal DiMiceli, and welcome to the Forces for Nature show.

Do you find yourself overwhelmed with all the doom and gloom you hear of these days? Do you feel like you, as just one person, can’t really make a difference? Forces for Nature cuts through that negativity. In each episode, I interview somebody who is doing great things for animals and the environment. We talk [00:00:25] about the challenge they’re addressing, the solution they have found, what keeps them going, and more.

And we’ll leave you with practical action tips so that you too can become a force for nature. Do you have a bucket list? You know, a list of things you want to see or do before you kick the bucket? Mine is impossibly long, but I was lucky enough to be able to cross one thing off my list recently. Seeing [00:00:50] gorillas.

It was on a last minute trip to Rwanda. I say last minute because people usually plan trips like this for months or even years in advance. However, about a month prior, my husband found out that he needed to be there for a work trip. And we decided to jump at this opportunity to fulfill a dream we had to see gorillas.

Luckily, he [00:01:15] had been to Rwanda before and had some contacts that we were able to ask for recommendations. And within hours, we were able to figure out a fantastic itinerary. Before I go further, I have to say that we only saw the tourist perspective of things. I know that no place is perfect. It’s perfect.

And there are plenty of criticisms about the country and [00:01:40] the way they do things, but this is about my experience and what I observed and what I observed surprised and impressed me. When I started telling people that I was going to Rwanda, most of them immediately asked if it was safe. This was a question often born from them remembering the horrific genocide that took place in [00:02:05] 1994.

Fair question. But from those who I had spoken to who had been there, and from what I had read, and then from what I experienced, the country is quite safe now. My first impressions after arriving were that the roads are in impeccable condition. There is no litter to be found, and the city is [00:02:30] very verdant, with large trees growing and green spaces in between and on the sides of the roads.

Turns out the cleanliness is from at least two things. One, plastic bags have been banned in the country. And so you’re not going to see plastic bags floating through the air, getting caught up in trees, you know, that, that sort of thing. And two, [00:02:55] there’s a national mandate where on the last Saturday of every month, the communities come together and clean their neighborhoods, the streets, everywhere.

It’s technically obligatory. But it’s now become ingrained in the culture. I really wish that other places would have that kind of obligation. Our first main stop [00:03:20] while there was Akagera National Park. The park was established in 1934, making it one of Africa’s oldest national parks. This park used to be over a thousand square miles, but it was reduced by more than half after the genocide to make room for the returning Rwandans that had fled the country.

However, the wildlife didn’t know that they were no [00:03:45] longer supposed to be there, and human wildlife conflict became a problem. Elephants would invade crops on what used to be their historic feeding grounds, same with other animals that were used to grazing in those areas. Lions were poisoned by cattle ranchers to keep them from stealing cattle, and snares were everywhere.

to poach for bushmeat. By the [00:04:10] 2000s, the park was becoming only a park on paper, with many of the animals greatly reduced in number or completely eliminated. In an effort to save what was left, in 2013, officials installed a solar electrified fence around the park, creating a hard boundary between the villages and the park itself.

My first thought was [00:04:35] that they created an island where no new blood could get in and old blood can’t venture out, which is really necessary to create biological diversity. However, in this case, it was really a matter of trying to preserve whatever was left and eventually bring in more. In fact, since the fencing, rhinos and lions have been reintroduced, there have [00:05:00] been more elephants and giraffes brought in, and everything is bouncing back.

It’s only a matter of time before carrying capacity is reached for many of these species, and I’m not sure what they plan to do then. Although, I think that’s a better problem to have, in my opinion, than no animals anymore. And side note, as conservationists, I feel like we need to be pushing for [00:05:25] the creation of corridors between parks as much as the establishment of new parks.

Otherwise, we’re only creating areas where our success in protecting animals will eventually create a problem for them because of the eventual lack of space and inbreeding. What’s the status of this, my conservation friends? Can you fill me in if this is something that’s being worked on more than I know?[00:05:50]

Okay, getting away from the side note. With the park still in its comeback phase, you can kind of feel the difference in the volume of animals to be seen, for example, compared to the Maasai Mara. However, we still had luck seeing some incredible wildlife like white rhinos, giraffes, hippos, many ungulates like [00:06:15] zebras and bush bucks and more.

And even a black mamba, which, did you know that they’re not actually black? They get their name because the inside of their mouth is black, which, by the way, stay far away from because they are one of the most poisonous and aggressive snakes in the world. And they will kill you. Jump. [00:06:40] Our driver actually closed our windows.

We often felt like we had the whole place to ourselves because tours and numbers are still growing. So that was very special too. At one point though, we did have three small busloads of kids go past us, which we were told by our guide were local children being brought in to learn about the park. I loved learning [00:07:05] that there were efforts being made to include the communities in the success of the park.

Because they will be needed to become the future stewards of the area and they will only do so if you can get them to fall in love with it. Our guide was a little bummed to see them because they were coming from a lion kill site that we were driving to. Apparently a pride had took down a giraffe the day [00:07:30] before and they were seen feeding on it that morning.

And our guide was worried that he, that the Buses may have scared the cats away. I, on the other hand, didn’t care. Instead, I fiercely hoped that they got to see the lions, because that would only help to add to the magic of the place for the kids. But yeah, yeah, the lions were gone when [00:07:55] we got there. And a little bit more about the surrounding population.

From a Nat Geo article I read later, as a trade off to the villagers who were forced off the land before they fenced it, and to encourage them to respect wildlife, 5 percent of tourism revenue is invested in health centers, schools, [00:08:20] and other infrastructure nearby. So, in that case, Take my money. That’s ecotourism done right.

Another day, we went to the genocide memorial. It’s still hard to comprehend that starting on April 7th, 1994, and for the following three months, Rwandan Hutus [00:08:45] massacred. Almost a million Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus, and often in the most horrendous, torturous ways. This ethnic cleansing was well organized and a long time coming after decades of propaganda against the Tutsis that kept a [00:09:10] hate.

Simmering under the surface, the museum brings up some interesting points as to how colonialism helped to make this happen. Long story short, when Germany colonized Rwanda in the late 1800s, they started separating the population into 2 groups, Hutus and Tutsis. Giving preference and power to the Tutsis, of course, [00:09:35] this started to create resentment and Belgium then took over promoting the discrimination even further.

But when the country became independent from colonial rule in 1962, The Hutus took power and for many decades fueled the hate and discrimination against the [00:10:00] Tutsis and pushed the Tutsis out of power. In the early nineties, the Tutsis fought back and a peace accord was signed. However, extremists refused to accept this and planned for a total annihilation of the Tutsis.

The assassination of their president sparked the genocide, but it was in motion for a [00:10:25] long time anyway.

The memorial was sobering and heart wrenching. I still don’t understand how literally neighbor was able to turn on neighbor. So effortlessly, but it makes you think that if people can kill each other so easily Poaching wildlife is [00:10:50] is nothing but it’s shocking where the country is today Compared to only 30 years ago.

There has been a huge push for reconciliation and forgiveness And it’s well documented how victims have forgiven perpetrators And even live amongst them in the same towns. [00:11:15] I can hardly wrap my brain around how strong you must be to be able to move on like that. I mean, I’m sure it’s not that cut and dry, but they don’t shy away from talking about it.

Memorials are in over 40 towns around the country, and it’s still a very present part of their history. And, and culture. The following [00:11:40] day, we arrived to Volcanoes National Park. The headquarters where everyone was checking in for the day was bustling. You have to check in and be assigned a guide for the various activities that you can do.

And you can see people’s excitement. This was a once in a lifetime moment that we were all experiencing. On [00:12:05] this day, we were to hike to see the golden monkeys. And after an introduction and a briefing, we drove to the starting point of our trek to see the golden monkeys. I needed to actively resist from skipping.

We walked through fields and by homes and past people working and kids playing. Before we even reached the forest edge, we came upon the monkeys [00:12:30] who had come into the fields to steal potatoes. I imagine that the farmers don’t appreciate this, though our guides said that they do get compensated for their losses.

We got to be among them and observe them while they went about their business all around us. They were within an arm’s length sometimes, and they just ignored us, [00:12:55] even, even though I did want to hug them. Then we entered the forest to see the ones that were in the trees. Well, actually, it was, it was bamboo.

It was a bamboo forest where we were at, and although that was more of their natural habitat, I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t appreciate the fact that they were in the fields because they were much easier to [00:13:20] observe than being in the bamboo. We then went to the Diane Fossey Gorilla Fund Center established by Ellen DeGeneres.

While watching Ellen’s welcome video at the entrance, I actually started to cry. I had been wanting to go there since seeing the episode of her show when Portia gifted her this place. [00:13:45] I, I had no idea she was such an animal lover and a conservationist. She needs to be on forces for nature. So if you know a guy, hook it up.

But going through the center and reading about Diane and the gorillas and the efforts that are being undertaken, And how they encourage individuals to be the change. I could hardly keep it in. I was a blotchy [00:14:10] mess in my attempts not to cry. People probably thought I was nuts, but anyway, I want to share two gorilla stories with you that I learned.

About at the center. And I found fascinating. So one, there was a gorilla named Titus, I believe that was his name. And he was a silverback, but well known for being [00:14:35] gentle and sweet with the little ones. But one day the researchers observed that on that particular day, he was sitting by a tree and anytime one of the babies or any of the other gorillas for that matter came near him, Um, he would aggressively grunt them away or chase them away.

The researchers thought that this was really strange. And when the family [00:15:00] finally moved on, the researchers went over to the tree he was at. And that’s when they saw that he was sitting next to a snare. He was keeping the family away from the snare. How freaking amazing is that? In fact, there were photos at the center of gorillas tearing apart snares.

Somehow they, they [00:15:25] learned what these things were. Unfortunately, they probably saw one of their own or some other animal caught in one. And they learned that they are dangerous. And they taught one another about this danger and they dismantle them when, when they see them. Unbelievable. I don’t know if that’s something that permeates through all of the [00:15:50] groups, but it was certainly documented in a number of different groups.

individuals. So that, that is just unbelievable to begin with. Another story that I learned at the center that I absolutely thought was incredible was of a female gorilla named Pasika. Now, before I go further with that, I want to state that each family group has one alpha [00:16:15] silverback. And if that alpha silverback dies or gets killed by another group, The silverback that replaces him often kills all of the infants that are under a year old, because he wants to be able to mate with the females and then ensure his own genetic line.

This [00:16:40] female, Pasika, was a part of a group where her silverback died or was killed. I don’t remember which it was, but rather than staying with the group, which is what the females do, like females always stay with the group for protection. Instead, She left the group with her little baby and researchers saw her off [00:17:05] on her own for almost a year, taking care of herself and taking care of her baby.

And then when the baby was over a year old, she went back to the group. She knew that that new silverback would have probably killed her child. And she went off on her own, which female gorillas don’t do. It’s just [00:17:30] so powerful how intelligent and how conscious these animals are. And instinct, the mother, the motherly instinct that this female had to not only leave the protection of her group, but to survive and.

And then go back when, when the time was right is beyond me. The next [00:17:55] day was the day that I got to see gorillas myself. This is the main attraction of the area, of course. And it seems that they do their ecotourism really responsibly here too. There could be no more than eight tourists per gorilla family group and for no more than one hour.

The gorillas are only around humans for [00:18:20] one hour a day. So we arrived to the registration center and we were told that we were hiking the moderate hike to the Sousa family. This is actually one of the families that Diane Fossey studied and they’re well known because they have given birth to twins before, which is an unusual thing.

We then had to drive an hour to [00:18:45] get to the starting point, which was then not a moderate climb through the fields. It was really, really steep. Well, not moderate for me. And in fact, two other people actually ended up needing to be carried up. They were from Singapore, which is at sea level, and we were now 9, 000 feet above sea level.

Still, they, [00:19:10] they couldn’t acclimatize. Well, and, and they were getting sick. And when I say carried up, there’s this whole system that the porters carry you up in what is basically a basket that you lay down in. It almost looks luxurious, dare I say. So after, uh, At about an hour and a half, two hours of climbing, we reached the entrance [00:19:35] of the park.

The trackers were there waiting for us. Their job is to follow the gorillas all day. One, to protect them, but two, more so I think, is so that they can direct the tourists where to go. where they can find them. And there was also a guy there with a very large gun and this was to scare off any [00:20:00] buffalo or forest elephants if they were nearby.

I didn’t even know that there were buffalo and forest elephants in this area. There are, but apparently just a few left. Luckily for us, the gorillas were just a few minutes beyond the park’s borders. We first saw movement in the bushes about 20 feet away and then we caught a [00:20:25] glimpse of the silverback walking by.

We made our way up to them and got to be within feet of them. There was nothing in between them and us. They could choose where to go, and if it was right in front of you, then lucky you. I got to see a glimpse of a mama and her little, little baby before she decided to go and hide from us. [00:20:50] And we watched them mill about, finishing up their lunch.

They all but completely ignored the fact that we were there. They were so calm, in fact, that That they took a nap, seriously, the whole group found comfy spots and laid down to sleep. The silverback had three ladies around him and they were just so cute that they kind of laid on top of one another [00:21:15] and just splayed out.

And I found it really amusing that here were. Eight grown human adults all just watching them sleep like they were our newborn babies. Finally, after 20 minutes or so, they were on the move again. It’s quite dense brush that you have to make your way through. For them, it’s nothing, of course. I watched a juvenile being a little [00:21:40] brat to an older female.

Javier got to see a silverback pound his chest. Don’t worry, he wasn’t in danger. It wasn’t a threat. And, and some guy in our group was told by a gorilla to get out of the way. Our guide had told us the meaning of some of their sounds, like what was the comforting welcome sound, which we heard a lot actually, [00:22:05] and, and also the get out of my way sound.

This guy was standing in the path and the gorilla was not going to walk around him. Thankfully, he realized the call that he was hearing and he got out of the way. I’m not sure anything would have happened necessarily, but you know, let’s not, let’s not piss off a gorilla. What was really crazy was that we [00:22:30] could hear loud music from down in the valley where the town is.

Giant, gentle creatures live so close to humans, it’s crazy to think about. Just as our hour was up, one of the silverbacks pounded his chest and all of them got up and started following him off into the brush. It was [00:22:55] as if they had a timer. It was crazy. They were like, Oh, hours up, job’s done. See you guys later.

It was funny, but oh gosh, it was so fast. I, I could have stayed there forever. I couldn’t help but silently thank Dian Fossey for all that she did and all that she sacrificed. She was a controversial figure and [00:23:20] did things a little aggressively, but I wonder if she would have been as successful had she not been so extreme.

I want to mention that tourism wasn’t her idea. From what I understand. In fact, in the movie, Gorilla’s in the Mist, she says that she would never allow the mountain to become a zoo. From what I understand, it was her students that [00:23:45] pushed for tourism and incentivizing the behavior change of the locals to protect rather than poach the animals.

And speaking of poaching, again in the movie, The character, Bob Campbell, made a very important statement to Diane while they were tearing down some traps and snares that they had come upon. He said, quote,[00:24:10]

If you’re going to blame anyone, blame the doctor in Miami. He’s the one that hires the bloke that hires the local. The local gets to feed his family, the middleman gets a silk shirt, and the doctor gets a gorilla hand ashtray for his coffee table and a great big gorilla head for his wall. End quote. That was a thing back [00:24:35] then.

If you wanted to show off how wealthy you were, you had a gorilla head or something equivalent. What the hell? That was until National Geographic started publishing photos of the gorillas and telling the story of how those items were acquired. Before that, People were too disconnected to understand [00:25:00] or, or really care.

Same for getting babies for zoos. I’m not sure the buyers realized that entire families would be killed just to steal one baby because the families would fight to the death to protect that baby. Disconnection is the key here. And it’s something I think we really need to take into consideration when we want to create [00:25:25] behavior change.

One of the things that surprised me, though it shouldn’t have, is that Was how marked the park line is. People cultivate the land up until the last inch. You can see the sharp line on aerial photos. My initial reaction was disappointment to see that there were no natural areas beyond the park boundaries.[00:25:50]

But I needed to check myself and reconsider this because think of it this way. Rwanda is a small and densely populated country. People need to live somewhere and grow their food. And despite what it may look like at first, Their environmental footprint is still infinitely smaller than the ones that we, in [00:26:15] the developed world, have.

First of all, a lot of the farms we saw, we were told, were for subsistence farming. And the cash crops are for export, probably to us, in the developed world. The homes, in many of the rural areas, I don’t think they have electricity. And you see people, every morning, walking to fetch their water for the day.[00:26:40]

In fact, you see people walking everywhere for everything, even carrying large bags of goods to bring to market far away. I mean, we’re, we were driving down the highway and there are hundreds of people just walking on the sides of the roads, you know, riding their bikes, carrying their goods, pushing their goods on the bikes.

It was. [00:27:05] Incredible to see, and I can’t imagine what the air quality would be like if all those people had cars. Although, no, I take that back. I can. It would be like most other places I’ve been where there’s heavy, annoying traffic and polluted air. I mean, we in the developed world drive down the block because we’re too lazy just to walk there.

These people are pushing or carrying [00:27:30] sometimes hundreds of pounds just to get their basic necessities. It is. So, no, they cannot be blamed for there being no forest outside their park lines. And I realized that after. But it does make me pause and think. Everything we buy, everything, comes from somewhere.

I mean, we were passing fields of the flower that’s used in the insecticide that Javier puts on his field [00:27:55] clothes. Permethrin, if anyone’s familiar with it. So Whether it’s insecticide, or that cheap toy, to a piece of furniture, or the clothes we wear, the raw product comes from somewhere. And it’s not always coming from a place that has strict conservation rules in place.

Rwanda has growing wildlife populations in [00:28:20] the two parks we visited, Akagera and Volcanoes. But that is the exception. Not the rule around the world. So my mind pivots then to, well, what can we do about it? Of all the things we can do, I feel like two are the most impactful here. One, talk about these things with others.[00:28:45]

And two. Use less. Seriously, falling back on that old adage? The world has enough for all our needs, but not all our greed. Think twice before you aimlessly buy things. Can you reuse something else instead? Can you reduce the number of that item that you’re buying? If you had to walk a mile to get water, [00:29:10] and then you had to carry that water back home, would you let it run so forcefully and for so long?

You That 4 shirt that you’ll wear maybe three times may come from a cotton field that used to be home to lions. I almost bought one yesterday. I’m totally being a Debbie Downer at the moment, but I’m saying this to remind myself that my actions and choices [00:29:35] here have consequences in far off places. So I want to do better at buying this.

And I encourage you to try to do the same. To wrap up, Rwanda is such a fascinating country. The people are warm and welcoming. The wildlife is incredible. If you ever dreamed of going to Africa, this is an [00:30:00] easy, safe, first country to explore. And then you’ll be hooked. You’ll want to go back again and again.

And let me know if you want to go, I can connect you with the drivers and the guide that made our whole experience unforgettable. Remember, you can text me now through the link in the show notes. And if you want to see any pictures, I’ve been posting them up on Instagram at becoming forces [00:30:25] for nature. So go check them out.

Where have you gone that has left an impression on you?

Don’t forget to go to forcesfornature. com and sign up to receive emailed show notes, action tips, and a free checklist to help you start taking practical actions today. Do you know someone else who would enjoy this episode? I would be so grateful. So grateful if you [00:30:50] would share it with them. Hit me up on Instagram and Facebook at becoming forces for nature.

And let me know what actions you have been taking. Adopting just one habit can be a game changer because imagine if a million people also adopted that. What difference for the world are you going to make [00:31:15] today?