Presentation by Uganda Wildlife Authority at E-Tourism East Africa Conference September 2-3rd 2010 Nairobi

1. FRIEND-A-GORLLA
E-CAMPAIGN
Compiled by Musiime Paddy Muramura

2. OBJECTIVE
•To generate global interest in Mountain Gorilla conservation
•Raise funds for Mountain Gorilla conservation
•Promote Bwindi Conservation Area as a World heritage site.
•Highlight Uganda as a prime tourism destination

3. THE SOLUTION
• Friend-a-Gorilla (FG) was setup in September, 2009 this is an
internet based viral campaign
• The campaign promotes inclusion in
conservation through the $1 fundraising principle
• Primary activity occurs on the FG website
• Additional features incl. virtual tracking, merchandising,
sponsorship & advertising

5. The websites

6. WWW.FRIENDAGORILLA.ORG
This is the main site for the Campaign with the
following:-
• Registration or login with facebook
•Friending and payment for the friend
•Gorilla bios, blogs and videos, only available to
friends of that gorilla.
•News
–Messages from the forest
–Community Involvement
–Conservation efforts

7. WWW.FRIENDAGORILLA.ORG

8. WWW.FRIENDAGORILLA.ORG

9. FACEBOOKAND TWITTER
On www.facebook.com you get your gorilla friends
displayed along your human friends, and get updates
on gorilla friend’s lives
www.twitter.com gives you notifications on what is
happening To both your friends and their neighborhood.

12. Source of Funds
•Friending
•Merchandising
•Sponsoring
•Advertising

14. SILVERBACK What you get
Sponsorships •Logo placement on
Facebook page
Silverbacks are adult males that •Banner ads on
Are generally over 12 years old. Friend-a-gorilla site
•Twitter Sponsorship alert
They are known as Silverbacks
•5 Tracking permits*
because at about 13 years of
age, they develop a distinctive •50 Jelly Bands
Per Year patch of silver hair on their
•Sponsorship Plaque
backs and grow large canine The sponsor is requested to
teeth. have flexible dates since permit
availability may be low during
high season*

15. BLACKBACK
What you get
SPONSORSHIPS
•Logo placement on
Facebook page
Black backs are sexually mature •Banner ads on
Males of about 8- 11 years of Friend-a-gorilla site
age. They are strong, hairy but •Twitter Sponsorship alert
subordinate to the silverbacks
and have no mating rights with •2 Tracking permits*
mature females in the group. •25 Jelly Bands
Per Year •Sponsorship Plaque
The sponsor is requested to
have flexible dates since permit
availability may be low during
high season*

16. FAMILY ADOPTION What you get
•Regular updates
•There are currently 7 families, on the status of the family
chosen
with two more available in 2011
•A certificate of your
•The average family size is support
10 individuals
Mountain gorillas are not known
Per Year to survive outside their
natural habitat

17. JUVENILE ADOPTION What you get
Juvenile Mountain Gorillas •A birth certificate
are below the age of 5 with the name of your
choice.
•Regular updates on the
status and growth of
your baby or juvenile
Mountain Gorillas have a child gorilla
once every 4 years
Per Year

18. GORILLA BENEFACTOR What you get
•Donate one hundred dollars When you hit your
Benefactor limit you will
or more till you reach your be showcased on the
benefactor limit Friend-a-gorilla site
The name gorilla is derived from
the Greek word 'Gorillai' meaning
hairy women.

19. Advertising on Website
WHY ADVERTISE WITH US
Since its launch in September 2009, the Friend-a-gorilla website Has
received an amazing response worldwide. With over 2000 Views per page
and growing, it is perfect source of information for people interested in
Mountain Gorillas, travel and conservation.
We have many exciting new features planned for 2010. With the Addition
of tracking videos, merchandising and the addition of USA School program
launching this summer, we expect a high return for all Our marketers and
sponsors who wish to participate with us.
Friend-a-Gorilla has been featured on key news channels such as: CNN,
BBC, Sky News, New York Times, USA Today, plus many Other international
news agencies. Friend-a-Gorilla has also recently been awarded an honor
from The Interactive Media Awards Council For Outstanding Achievement,
and Wanderlust Travel Magazine’s Eureka Innovation Award.
Now is the time to take part and become a Gorilla friend and let your
company benefit as an active participate in the conservation of These
endangered creatures.

20. Advertising on Website
450.00 USD per mo. FRONT $ INSIDE PAGES
250.00 USD per mo.
FRONT PAGE ONLY
350.00 USD per mo. *all ads are shown within a refresh page view scheme. If your banner is the
INSIDE PAGES ONLY only one in that sequence it will be always shown. Otherwise each time a
Page is refreshed it will be shown in a ordered succession.

21. Advertising on E-newsletter
100 USD
per issue

22. Advertising on Website
EARNING POTENTIAL
There is a huge potential to make money through e-tourism and viral
marketing. We have currently reached 15,000+ “friends” on the
friend-a-gorilla site and have had 100,319 page views between October 2009
and July 2010
• Based on the Facebook model where for instance,
• charity applications like Lil Green Patch are making $5k – 10k a day
• RPG games like Mob Wars are making over $25k a day
But with neither of these applications having reached full potential; if you
use Facebook’s model and multiply it by the number of social network sites,
your company’s earning potential is multiplied a hundred fold on the Friend-
a-Gorilla website

23. Wish List
• Modern and World Class Visitor Information Centre at Buhoma at US$500,000
•Development of a canopy walk in BINP as a new tourism product
at US$2-3 million
•Extension of hydro electric power from Kayonza to
Buhoma BINP HQ (17Km) at US$425,000
•Construction of staff accommodation in BINP Ranger Outposts US$300,000
•Community Enterprise and Training Centre at US$250,000
•Support to Bwindi Community Hospital at US$100,000
•Mini visitor centre in Rubuguri for the southern sector at US$200,000
•Signage for Bwindi at US$150,000
•Staff capacity building at US$30,000

24. Wish List
•Provision of field equipment for park operations
(tourism, law enforcement + community conservation as well as administration)
•3 Hardtop land cruisers for tourism at Ruhija, Rushaga and Nkuringo US $150,000
•1 Education Van equipped with a generator and audio visual equipment (video, deck,
projector etc) estimated at US $60,000
•2 law enforcement land cruiser pickups estimated at US $100,000
•Eight motorcycles for community conservation rangers/Head ranger at US $48,000
•Field equipment Worth US$150,000 including:-
60 two man tents,
100 sleeping bags + mats,
100 water bottles,
100 back packs,
200 rain suits,
100 pairs of mountain boots,
cold weather jumpers)
•video cameras and 10 digital cameras for virtual tracking of gorillas US$8000

25. Thank You
Friends for life
musiime.muramura@ugandawildlife.org