In 2024, EPSCF provided multi-year funding to support the piloting of the Village Vitality Project outside of Volcanos National Park. The Village Vitality Project is a joint effort between Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and Spark Microgrants.

For more than 57 years, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund has protected and studied wild gorillas and their habitats, empowering people who share the gorillas’ forest home. Conservation efforts include protecting gorillas, conducting scientific research, creating conservationists, and building resilient communities.

The reality is, conservation successes are fragile, and many threats faced by gorillas are the direct result of daily challenges faced by local human communities. By partnering with Spark Microgrants, Dian Fossey has launched a new community-driven development program that aims to drive economic development, improve social cohesion, livelihoods, and conservation of Volcanoes National Park. The Village Vitality Project empowers and equips rural villages to design and launch their own social impact initiatives and will impact approximately 60,000 people.

Key Achievements from July 2024 - January 2025 include:

• 25 villages adjacent to VNP selected in consultation with government officials

• 2 community-based facilitators (CBFs) were trained per village, for a total of 50 CBFs

  • CBFs are trained in goal setting, proposal development, and implementation strategies to lead weekly town-hall style meetings with villages to design and launch their own project

• 40% of households are attending weekly meetings

• 57% participation in meetings

• 53% female attendance

• 57% female participation

In October 2024, villages prepared their projects proposals. Fossey Fund and Spark staff reviewed proposals for feasibility, anticipated outcomes, key indicators, sustainability, and governance mechanisms. All 25 proposals were approved and initial funds disbursed by mid-December 2024. From January-March 2025, villages will twice/month to monitor project implementation and receive technical support from veterinarians, agronomists, financial institutions, and Fossey/Spark staff.