Conservation, like many other areas of our professional, political and social life, is currently adapting to new trends in information and communication technologies. Despite the colossal digital divide that exists in the Democratic Republic of Congo, blogs are becoming an important information and communication weapon in the hands of Congo park rangers. Since last year, Congo park rangers have been using blogs to communicate with the outside world about their struggle to protect the Mountain Gorilla, hippos and other endangered animals in Virunga National Park. Virunga, the first national park in Africa, was named a United Nations World Heritage site in 1979 and classified as an endangered site in 1994. The Mountain Gorilla in Virunga National Park is listed on the Red Data List as critically endangered. There are about 700 Mountain Gorillas left in the world today. Congo rangers started blogging after the establishment of WildlifeDirect, a charitable organization helping conservationists in Africa to tell their stories using the power of the web. WildlifeDirect is a program of the African Conservation Foundation chaired by African paleontologist and conservationist, Richard Leakey: WildlifeDirect was established to provide support to these conservationists via the use of blogs – this enables anybody, anywhere to play a direct and interactive role in the survival of some of the world’s most precious species. We believe that the Internet provides an unprecedented means of bringing the remarkable efforts of these dedicated people to the attention of the world. Armed with blogs and cameras, the elite park rangers tell their own stories, which have hitherto been mostly ignored by the mainstream media. Their blogs have established a new channel of communication, which allows the world to know the plight of endangered animals and the dangerous conditions they work in: As while we’re out on patrol there is no room for mistakes, one wrong move could spell a potential disaster, which may be why Discovery Channel has labeled being a Congo Ranger as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. In addition, their blogs have become a powerful fundraising tool. Before they started raising money online, these park rangers were working for several months without pay. With blogs, the situation has changed: I should like to thank each and every one of you for your generous donations since I started this blog on 8th January 2007…I am very happy to report the following donations: Open Donations to Gorilla Protection: $21, 234.40 (net of Paypal fees) Community Liaison Officers: 13 months worth of officer Fuel for Ranger Patrols: 4 Patrol Boots: 3 pairs Patrol Rations: 54 Patrol Tents: 1 Truck Hire: 4 Uniform for Rangers: 1 Wall Maintenance for Gorilla sector of the park: 17 kilometers As you know Chris A donated $12,000 for a vehicle (included in open donations). This has been purchased 2nd hand from Oxfam here in Goma and the engine and spare parts for its refurbishment are being brought from Kampala. It should be on the road very soon and I will let you know! Chris also donated $2,300 for two laptops for Camp Karema, the new gorilla monitoring station we are setting up in Bukima, in the Mikeno Sector of Virunga. These have also been purchased. Georgina O donated $1,000 for the tent for Camp Karema, which is up. Their blogs have been providing regular stories and voices from the deepest part of Africa for a global audience. There are stories of a rare sighting of 10 elephants and rumors of rebels seen in the area, birth of a baby Gorilla, Chimpanzees rescued from illegal trafficking, warning signs from a rebel group, and updates about their social life. The Bloggers Except for Robert and Samantha, all bloggers are Congolese. Since French, Swahili, and Lingala are the most common languages in Congo, their stories are translated into English before posting: At the moment we write the blogs by giving the Advance Force cameras for them to record their daily lives, and then for them to sit down with us to add description and talk about their work, which we then translate into English and post. This way of blogging is very time consuming and, as the WildlifeDirect team is only very small, will not be sustainable once we have more blogs on the go. So you can imagine we were thrilled when Kavusa suggested both English and computer lessons for the Advanced Force. Park ranger Atamato works in Ishango, a sub-station of Virunga National Park (see Ishango bone): My name is Atamato and above you can see me with my wife Mawanzo. We live in Ishango in the Democratic Republic of Congo.