The Set Up  | The Action  | The Finale

Written by Cynthia Moses and David Weiner War-ravaged eastern Democratic Republic of Congo may be an unlikely place for a filmmaking workshop, but that is exactly what took place one week in May 2005. Armed only with digital video cameras, compact editing equipment, and a firm belief in inspiring conservation behaviors through locally made, locally relevant film, filmmakers Cynthia Moses and David Weiner set out to prove the power of the INCEF model.

Printer-friendly version (93 kb PDF, 5 pages)           Students at the Tayna Center for Conservation Biology in eastern DRC are not daunted by technology.

THE SET UP

When the International Conservation and Education Fund. (INCEF) was asked by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (DFGFI) to hold a video workshop with a group of conservation students in a remote area of the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) they realized there would be challenges.

In many places the war that began in DRC in 1996 never ended, and the eastern part of the country in particular has been intensely affected by continuing instability. Electricity, clean water and basic human services like health and transportation are almost non-existent. Up until a few years ago, conservation in the region had been pretty much at a standstill.

With so many needs to answer to, the relevance of introducing advanced technology in the form of digital video may seem like a luxury. But for Cynthia Moses, an award winning wildlife filmmaker and founder of Incef, it seemed anything but irrelevant. INcef is a newly formed nonprofit whose mission is to spread digital literacy focused on integrating conservation and health issues.

The time was right to introduce this technology into the on-going work in eastern DRC. Regardless of the instability that still exists, a group called UGADEC (Union des Associations de Conservation des Gorilles pour le Développement Communautaire à l'Est de la République Démocratique du Congo) has begun to bring efforts to preserve animals and the forest they inhabit back to life. Its eight community reserves protect large endangered mammals including gorilla, chimpanzee, okapi, elephant, and the owl-faced monkey. Its Executive Secretary Pierre Kakule envisioned a grass-roots effort that relied on the education and participation of local communities.

Under Kakule, and in collaboration with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International and Conservation International, UGADEC founded the Tayna Center for Conservation Biology (TCCB) which provides college-level conservation education for students from all eight reserves in order to build a constituency of conservationists within the region. Following three years of study at TCCB each student would return to his or her respective reserve to work. INcef would be working with those students majoring in education and communication at the school.

Moses believes that conservation is still often perceived as an agenda imposed by rich foreigners. Video used for public awareness is often produced in America and Europe and much of what is produced doesn’t reflect cultural differences and peculiarities. “Wildlife and conservation films are not made for African audiences. They are made for broadcast in the developed world to audiences who can do little to save wildlife on a grass-roots level. Public Service Announcements are usually designed for people who have a great deal of television literacy. For the most part they are not seen in the remote areas that border reserves and parks and if they are, their messages are lost on these audiences. INCEF is committed to reach people in remote areas who can make a day-to-day difference.” According to Moses, “it is essential that films be made specifically for local populations; with messages they can relate to and in a language they can understand. My experience is that the power of video is a phenomenal tool and we are missing the most important audience. Our goal is to give those audiences authorship in their own public awareness efforts.”
 

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