Helping WWF protect gorilla habitat in DR Congo

Aug 5, 2014

On the eastern edge of the Democratic Republic of Congo lies Virunga National Park, home to the endangered mountain gorilla. The biggest risk to the gorillas' habitat is illegal logging for firewood, and data collection plays a crucial role in helping to protect that habitat.

Over the last few years, World Wide Fund (WWF) has fought illegal logging in the park with Eco Makala, an innovative effort to help rural smallholder farmers plant, grow, harvest, and sell trees for firewood. In addition to helping protect gorilla habitat by reducing illegal logging, Eco Makala also helps raise farmers out of poverty by providing an extra source of income.

By replacing the WWF's paper forms with Android tablets and phones running Nafundi's ODK software, WWF's data is now rich with GPS locations of each plantation and pictures of the growing trees. WWF staff can now accurately monitor plantation progress in real-time and quickly react with more interventions that will help farmers (and their gorilla neighbors) be more successful.

Nafundi can help your team collect data accurately and report results instantly. Contact our data collection experts to get started.

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