To sum up, the International Gorilla Conservation Programme has been working in the Virunga-Bwindi region since 1991, toward the establishment of a regional framework for the conservation of afromontane and medium altitude forests. The forests are protected as four national parks, divided into two forest blocks and shared by three countries.
Prior to the development of the regional program, the threats to the forests were being addressed at the national level by the protected area management authorities in each country with little or no coordination between them. Incursions from one side of the park across the border were not communicated to the respective park authorities on the other side of the border. Movements of key species, such as gorillas, were not followed once they crossed the borders, and not communicated to the authorities on the other side. Antipoaching and surveillance activities were limited to each park, and not coordinated with similar activities across the border. The regional framewo for collaborative management of the contiguous parks, developed by IGCP, has effectively changed these trends. Although much still has to be done to realize the full potential in the region and to institutionalize the informal mechanisms now established in the field, a great deal has changed in the past 10 years. The park authorities meet each other on a regular basis; collect data on the gorillas; monitor ecological processes in the forest, as well as human use and key species activity, as part of a coordinated, regional program (ranger-based monitoring); coordinate surveillance activities in border areas as well as conduct joint patrols along borders; and implement joint training and assist each other in specific activities wherever and whenever possible (census, training, control of people passing through the park, and antipoaching). Formalization of these processes—and of this regional approach itself—is one of the main issues still to be addressed by the program. This crucial phase of the program, however, has been affected, and delayed, by the political crisis in the region and the difficult diplomatic relations among the countries concerned. Some level of regional stability is required to enable the signing of political agreements establishing regional collaboration.
Collaboration and coordination enhance conservation and management of natural resources shared across borders. This requires, however, a great deal of investment and trust by the authorities responsible for the management of the resources. Working together, sharing the costs and human resources required, will contribute to building trust, and in so doing strengthen the regional collaboration. Yet the initial process is difficult for a nationally based organization to initiate. It is therefore generally facilitated by an outside, neutral agency, supporting each of the authorities and bringing them together to work at a regional level. The effectiveness of the facilitation depends on the prior establishment of a long-term, and technically strong relationship between the outside agency and the national authority in each of the countries.
The regional framework can initially be established on the ground, informally among the park authorities. Mechanisms for communication, the development of a partnership and common objectives and planning among the authorities will enable regional mechanisms to be established. Concurrently, or at a later phase, the informal mechanisms can be formalized, and institutionalized, to become sustainable. This requires political agreements among the countries, and a high-level recognition of the value of the natural resources, and the need for their conservation at a regional level. The political agreements are generally contingent on political stability and good diplomatic relations between the countries concerned. Given that the political climate in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa is currently tense, and that political agreements between countries sharing resources are not always possible, the approach focusing on the establishment of field-based mechanisms for regional collaboration often precedes the formalization phase. In addition, a formalized agreement, in absence of the mechanisms on the ground to implement it, is of very little value with respect to protected area and natural resource management. An emphasis on field-level mechanisms for regional collaboration, slowly evolving into a higher-level formalized agreement for collaboration is the strategy that was applied by the International Gorilla Conservation Programme in the Virunga-Bwindi region.