Report-Rwanda : The Ellen DeGeneres Campus, « a space to engage the many stakeholders in conservation »
Gorilla-inspired tourism plays a critical role in providing revenue for the park as well as supporting local communities through employment and revenue sharing. The Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund opened its doors in February 2022. One of the Fossey Fund’s goals for the new space was to create a new experience for tourists coming to Rwanda.
By DBM à Kigali
For 55 years, the Fossey Fund has been working to help conserve wild gorilla populations and support the people who share gorillas’ forest home. « It all started with two tents that Dian Fossey erected in the forest in 1967. From there, we grew over the years, from one person to a staff of more than 300. Until recently, we worked out of a rented space with only a single classroom and a kitchen converted into a laboratory, far from the gorilla habitat and surrounding communities. We needed a home that could support a growing team and workload. In 2018, as we celebrated our 50th anniversary, our leaders made a strategic decision to move forward on an ambitious, 20-year dream to create a purpose-built facility in Rwanda aimed at accelerating science and conservation work, explain the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.
Within months of this decision, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund received a lead gift from global icon Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, Portia de Rossi. Since that time, thousands of donors, large and small, have supported the project and helped to create a state-of-the-art research and learning facility – the Fossey Funds’s first permanent home in Rwanda. The Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund opened its doors in February 2022.
« Dian Fossey has always been a hero of mine, and so it’s been the honor of a lifetime to support this project »
« Dian Fossey has always been a hero of mine, and so it’s been the honor of a lifetime to support this project. To see my name alongside hers on the walls of this beautiful campus, and to know I’m doing my part to protect endangered gorillas and continue Dian’s legacy, is simply amazing », said Ellen DeGeneres.
« From the outset, the mission of this project has focused on creating a space to engage the many stakeholders in conservation—students, scientists, tourists, conservation partners, community members—to advance our collective goal of saving gorillas and more broadly, the planet. It is our hope that people who visit the Ellen DeGeneres Campus will leave inspired to make a difference, just as Dian Fossey did. » complete Dr. Tara Stoinski, president and chief scientific officer, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.
« The Ellen Campus represents a huge expansion of our teaching and laboratory spaces, enabling us to not just increase but transform our programs to study gorillas and their critical forest habitat and bring educational opportunities to early career African scientists and members of the local communit », explain Felix Ndagijimana, director of Rwanda programs, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.
« To advance our collective goal of saving gorillas and more broadly, the planet »
The multi-acre, eco-friendly facility adjacent to the Volcanoes National Park includes three main buildings—the Sandy and Harold Price Research Center, the Rob and Melani Walton Education Center, and the Cindy Broder Conservation Gallery—as well as housing for visiting students and researchers. The Ellen Campus will serve as a gateway to conservation for the many stakeholders with whom they work, helping to create the next generation of conservationists.
« Science is at the core of what we do at the Fossey Fund. The Sandy and Harold Price Research Center is a state-of-the-art facility aimed at advancing our research in areas like genetics, physiology and paleontology. The five-fold increase in lab space will provide new opportunities to work with scientific collaborators and students and provide more training opportunities to young African conservationists. »
« Central to our mission is education. Expanded classroom space, combined with a science library and computer lab, will enhance teaching opportunities with local and international universities and enable us to host conferences, seminars and trainings. But the educational opportunities extend beyond the classroom—indeed, the whole Ellen Campus will serve as an educational tool. »
An investment of $15 million
The Ellen Campus is the vision of the award-winning MASS Design Group and has been named one of Africa’s 10 most anticipated architectural projects and featured on 60 Minutes and in Architectural Digest. Built with locally sourced materials and supplies, the facility embodies the Fossey Fund’s mission to conserve and limit its impact on the environment through rainwater harvesting, green roofs, the reforestation of former agricultural land and a constructed wetland to treat wastewater and promote biodiversity. The project represented an investment of $15 million in the Rwandan economy and provided 2,400 construction jobs for local community members.
In addition to its role as a hub for scientific discovery, the Ellen Campus is also designed to support Rwanda’s ecotourism sector. Managed by the Rwandan government, tourism to see the gorillas plays a critical role in providing revenue for both the park and nearby communities through employment and revenue sharing.
Virtual tour : https://youtu.be/DAtBgPtx95M
