POPOf Receives 3 Year Ecological Restoration Fund Grant

We are very happy to share the news that we have received a 3-year grant from the Ecological Restoration Fund. This will help us scale our work with communities to protect the critically endangered Grauer’s gorillas and their forest habitat.

The grant will enable us to purchase a much-needed 4x4 vehicle, making access to our projects much easier. It will also open up more of the Grauer’s gorilla habitat, helping us to expand into the Lowland sector of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park and into the Itombwe Reserve.

The grant provides core funding for our operating costs and crucial seed capital to establish larger projects, including transformational funding that will enable us to finalise the strategy for restoring the degraded 23Km eco-corridor. Restoring this connection between the Highland and Lowland sectors of Kahuzi-Biega National Park will enable gorilla families to roam more freely. It also creates the exciting prospect that the few suspected remaining forest elephants in the Lowland sector could return to the Highland.

Having three years of funding enables us to develop a more strategic plan and to establish an emergency reserves funding pot that will help us overcome any challenges that may emerge in future from operating in the challenging environment of the DRC.

We’re in close alignment with the ERF’s intent ‘to fund organisations and projects around the world that strive to enhance the diversity and complexity of the natural world, promoting a vibrant, green future for all’, and look forward to working together over the next three years. We would also like to thank the Earthshot Prize for their work introducing ERF and The Pole Pole Foundation. We look forward to sharing more stories about our work as we implement ERF-funded projects and attract increased funding to scale our activity in the Democratic Republic of Congo and support the roll-out of our Global Blueprint for National Park Conservation worldwide.