On the savannah plains below the Rwenzoris, Volcanoes latest lodge -Kyambura Gorge Lodge - is being built near the seemingly-secret Kyambura Gorge located at the edge of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The Gorge is almost at the geographical centre of the Greater Virunga Landscape, at the heart of the Albertine Rift that straddles Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC. This landscape is one of the most important areas for avian, primate and wildlife biodiversity in Africa. The original Volcanoes site for the lodge, adjoining the Gorge, had about 25 acres. We have since increased it to about 60 acres to protect the neighboring areas of the Gorge to create a buffer zone as well as purchasing the site of an illegal brickworks which will be reconverted back to wetland.

Research sponsored by Volcanoes and conducted by Nicole Simmons, a researcher from the USA over the last two years, has revealed that only 16 chimpanzees remain in this isolated troop that live here, about half that of 20 years ago. The Volcanoes Kyambura Gorge Ecotourism Partnership, a major long term Kyambura Gorge eco-tourism partnership project, will link the eco-lodge we are building to the community, promote the conservation of chimpanzees, and create a buffer zone to help protect the Gorge.