Gorillas in the midst

IISD receives core operating support from the Government of Canada, provided through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the IISD acknowledges the generous International Development Research Centre support of the Buffett Foundation (IDRC) and Environment Canada; and from the and the United States Agency for Province of Manitoba. [...] In order to achieve these goals, the following objectives were specified: a. Analyze how IGCP activities address—both positively and negatively—the root causes of conflict in the Virunga/Bwindi region; b. Integrate the results of the PCIA analysis into the management and monitoring plans of IGCP activities; c. Build the capacity of IGCP staff to design, conduct and implement the results of PCIAs; [...] Engaging the support of consultants and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), IGCP organized a preliminary scoping mission to identify the different types and levels of conflict in the region, and how they are linked to the protected areas. [...] Given the recent proliferation and enthusiasm for transboundary conservation and the growing concern over the relationships between protected areas and conflict, it behooves the conservation and development community to follow the lead of the humanitarian community in making sure their contributions ‘do no harm.’ Photo courtesy of IGCP. [...] Specifically, the departure of Project Leader Charles Besançon from the project just after the research trip 4 and prior to undertaking the final analysis of the data resulted in some delays and complications.