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Off the Fence raised £255 from 9 supporters

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Closed 02/04/2024

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£255
raised of £10,000 target by 9 supporters

    Iʼve raised £255 to support The Pole Pole Foundation's efforts to protect the eastern lowland gorilla and support the local community.

    Kahuzi-Biega National Park
    Funded on Tuesday, 2nd April 2024

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    Story

    In 2022, Off The Fence was granted the rare privilege of embedding a small crew while fimling 'Silverback' in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park to film the ‘habituation’ of a gorilla family. The Pole Pole Foundation (POPOF) helps to run this fantastic programme, which aims to acclimatise the Democratic Republic of Congo’s critically endangered eastern lowland gorillas to the presence of humans — a process that is vital to generating the eco-tourism dollars needed to protect these amazing creatures from extinction.

    The three months our crew spent tracking the gorillas through the impenetrable jungle of the DRC was a learning experience on many levels — and not just in terms of getting up close and personal with the biggest primates on the planet. We also learned about POPOF’s tireless conservation efforts to protect the eastern lowland gorillas from poaching, disease and habitat destruction. It achieves this by working with local communities on a range of education and sustainable-development projects to end their reliance on the gorilla’s unique rainforest habitat.

    During our stay in the DRC, POPOF founder John Kahekwa was kind enough to show us around some of these community-engagement projects, including a newly opened school, a tree-planting scheme to encourage locals to reduce their reliance on deforestation and a spirulina-production programme to tackle the DRC’s high incidence of malnourishment, particularly in children. For those interested in learning more about POPOF’s many activities, please visit:

    For those interested in learning more about POPOF’s many activities, please click here.

    The epic feature-length documentary, Silverback, that was the result of our time in the DRC would not have been possible without the help and support of POPOF. “Our incredible team of ‘eco-guards’ overcame massive challenges every day, many of them caused by the appalling condition of the roads surrounding the Kahuzi-Biega National Park,” says Silverback’s director, Miles Blayden-Ryall. “Because our gorilla family travelled a huge distance every day, the POPOF team had to drive us to a different location each morning to start our hike into the rainforest. The roads are so bad that only 4x4s can cope with them, but POPOF don’t have enough of these vehicles.

    Our aim is to help our friends at POPOF with their fundraising initiative to raise funds to buy a Toyota Land Cruiser off-road truck, which will make a huge difference to their ability to support and protect not only the gorillas, but the local communities who share the rainforest with them.”

    An example of the roads we travelled on while filming.

    The Trees that Pole Pole offers to the local community for free

    The community collecting the trees - 100 plants each.

    A young tree sapling planted

    Mpungwe - the Silverback we were following.

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    Off the Fence

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      Off the Fence started crowdfunding

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      Page last updated on: 3/24/2024 11.11

      Supporters

      9

      • Jane Parkinson

        Jane Parkinson

        Mar 24, 2024

        I'm donating in honour of my grandson Rafe's first birthday on 28th March 2024, and how anything we give can help protect this amazing species for future generations.

        £25.00

      • Andrew Zikking

        Andrew Zikking

        Jan 24, 2024

        Its been a privilege working with Pole Pole on our film, but their relentless work continues, and needs as much support as possible.

      • Ed M

        Ed M

        Jan 10, 2024

        Important cause.

        £20.00

      • Jane Parkinson

        Jane Parkinson

        Jan 10, 2024

        Wonderful charity doing amazing and work. You deserve every success in your marvellous endeavours to protect the eastern lowland gorilla whilst supporting local communities!

        £50.00

      • Patricia Arescy

        Patricia Arescy

        Jan 8, 2024

        £20.00

      • Anonymous

        Anonymous

        Jan 7, 2024

        Excellent work you beauties

        £30.00

      • Celine

        Celine

        Jan 4, 2024

        Such amazing dedication to these awesome creatures - well done to the whole team!

        £20.00

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      Off the Fence

      Off the Fence

      Kahuzi-Biega National Park

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