The quickest way to end hunting is to step up anti-poaching patrols, confiscate and destroy illegal bushmeat and clamp down on illegal firearms. That requires proper funding and well-trained staff but it also requires a complete change of attitude, by everyone from the consumer who eats ape meat to the judiciary that is unwilling or unable to enforce existing laws.
鈥淢ost if not all people know it鈥檚 illegal to kill gorillas, but they don鈥檛 care because there is no law enforcement and they are not punished,鈥� says , who works for the in the Republic of the Congo. Here are two examples of how a few energetic people can make a big difference.
On the law-enforcement front, a small group of activists in Cameroon has begun to stir the courts into action. The (LAGA), a tiny outfit with only a dozen staff and not one vehicle, investigates wildlife traffickers and bushmeat dealers, collects evidence against them and provides the authorities with legal advice on how to prosecute wildlife crimes. Through their efforts, traffickers who once operated with impunity, are now being arrested and prosecuted. A second group, modelling itself on LAGA, has made a promising start in neighbouring Congo.
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Club Ebobo, by contrast, aims to teach children why it鈥檚 wrong to hunt and eat gorillas and why they should be protected. () is a children鈥檚 conservation club started 11 years ago by researchers studying gorillas at Mbeli Bai in the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park in Congo (ebobo is the word for gorillas in the local Lingala language). What started as a scheme to teach small children in one village about gorillas has mushroomed into an education project reaching 800children of all ages and, increasingly, adults, both in local villages and in logging camps.
For children the focus is on fun. 鈥淵ou are limited what you can teach 5-year-olds but they enjoy the activities and keep coming back. Then as they get older you can teach them more. We use films and games, puzzles and group activities. They especially like one of our educators who plays the guitar and keyboards. They sing conservation songs,鈥� says Breuer, who helps run the clubs. The underlying message is that it鈥檚 illegal to hunt, to eat and to trade gorillas. 鈥淏ut we also teach them about how gorillas are close to humans, why they are so frightened of people and why they are protected. And we explain the risks of catching Ebola from bushmeat.鈥�
The kids really like the club because it鈥檚 more fun than school, says Breuer. The club has also proved attractive to Pygmy children who don鈥檛 normally go to school much, if at all. 鈥淭hey are very proud of their knowledge of animals and so they shine at the club. That鈥檚 encouraged some to start attending school,鈥� says Breuer.
