You’ve laughed at the Mindy project, danced at the Warehouse project, and lost sleep over the Blair Witch project, but now comes a completely different kind of project: The Cross River Gorilla project. The Cross River Gorilla is a critically endangered primate living in the Lebialem Highlands of Cameroon, so elusive that few have even seen it. Sadly, as a result of years of hunting and habitat destruction less than 250 individuals remain in the wild.
Over recent years, the Cross River Gorilla Project, or CRGP has been developed in support of the maintenance and conservation of the Cross River Gorilla, aiming to work alongside both the Cameroonian authorities and ERuDeF – the environmental and rural development foundation. The aim of the project is to establish a research Centre in the Lebialem highlands to act as both a base for the study of the gorillas, and as a teaching hub for the local village communities.
Not only that, but the project is aiming to set up a range of ecotourism opportunities. The rise in popularity of ecotourism over the past few years has meant that many small projects are able to be supported by volunteers travelling from other countries who are passionate about conservation and charity work, something that is to be a cornerstone of the proposed research station in the Lebialem highlands.
‘What can I do to help’ you ask? It’s simple: come on down to Kommunity (just off market street at Bamburgh house) on the 11th of March and have a great night for an even better cause! CRGP are hosting a night in aid of the project as a way of raising both awareness and support for the charity. For those who have a penchant for World HQ, this will be right up your street, with Cosmifrica playing from 9pm til 2am, offering up the finest Afro vinyl vibrations. And of course for those who aren’t as well acquainted with WHQ, it will be a chance to try something completely new.
The price of the night is completely your choosing, with an open ‘Pay what you feel’ policy, where you will also get the chance to sign up as a member (which is completely free for students, may I add) and to receive information leaflets on what CRGP are doing and how you can help.
