![]() ![]() Now we have six labs, and they’re absolutely gorgeous.” “We had one lab, it was a previous kitchen, you could fit about two people in it – one trainer and one student. Tara Stoinski said on a recent trip I took to the center. “We were working out of a rented facility 25 miles away, with one classroom for 400 university students,” Fossey Fund CEO Dr. The labs provide much-needed, state-of-the-art space for researchers to continue their conservation efforts. The buildings are equal parts education and research, beginning with a conservation center for visitors, then expanding back into working labs for Fossey Fund scientists. The intent, according to MASS Design CEO Michael Murphy, is to give guests the feeling of being a gorilla wandering through the mountains. The sprawling space spans a dozen acres, with three buildings connected by meandering pathways lined with jungle vegetation. Click here to subscribe.The new Ellen Degeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund sits on an old potato farm just outside Volcanoes National Park in northwest Rwanda. “We think about getting a house there and spending a lot of time in Rwanda because the people are so beautiful and happy and welcoming.”Ī version of this story first appeared in the May 25 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Just as de Rossi intended, neither the gift nor their presence is finite. “I think about moving there,” says DeGeneres of the country. It became my love for the people of the country.” Though transformed by their intimate, exhilarating peeks into our primate cousins’ lives, DeGeneres says, “it really became more than just about the gorillas. When we’re actually there in the flesh walking around the buildings I think she’s going to be super emotional,” says the actress. Nearby accommodations include the the show-stopping nest-like Bisate Lodge, the uber-private One & Only Gorilla’s Nest, and the ultra-luxe and ultra-sustainable Singita Kwitonda Lodge.)ĭe Rossi attended the 2019 groundbreaking, and they’ll both return for a June 7 opening ceremony. They’re just amazing, beautiful creatures.” (Gorilla trekking permits are $1,500 per person, with operators such as Go2Africa offering enriched experiences, such as gorilla treks with DFGF researchers, silverback sundowner experiences and a private gorilla conservation master class, all while contributing to conservation funds. When they’re next to you, in person, you see their family dynamic. ![]() “People were treating them like monsters when it was the humans that were the monsters, killing and poaching them. “They don’t want to hurt you and yet they could snap you in two, but they’re these gentle creatures and that’s what Dian showed everybody,” continues DeGeneres. Being next to them is life-changing,” she says. So it’s really made a difference, bringing awareness.” Her own firsthand experiences gorilla trekking “reaffirmed everything that I had always wanted to do when I was a kid. “When Portia gave me this gift, there were 800 gorillas,” says DeGeneres, “and today there are around 1,100. The event auctioned off buildings, including the theater named for DiCaprio’s mother, and a computer lab in his father George’s name, raising $5 million. ![]() “We invited all our pals, Leo being one of them, and they were all so incredibly generous,” says de Rossi. The couple’s nonprofit, The Ellen Fund, made the lead gift for the campus, and the duo held a 2019 fundraiser called Gorillapalooza. The hope, says de Rossi, is that the next generation of conservationists in the country are “ rather than folks from other countries.” Adds DeGeneres, “It’s not long before we lose a bunch of other species if we don’t protect their habitats.” The campus so far has seen about 5,000 visitors, two-fifths who have been Rwandan students. When they first visited in 2018, DeGeneres says, “I met people who had worked with Dian, and I sat at her desk and of course wept because it was the most moving thing to sit where she sat and worked.” Visitors also can engage with augmented and virtual reality, artifacts and a reproduction of how Fossey lived in her little hut, complete with original notations and desk. It offers immersive and educational experiences, such as watching mountain gorillas on film in the 360-degree Irmelin DiCaprio Theater, “which is really very overwhelmingly beautiful,” says de Rossi. ![]() Fast-forward to February 2022, when the campus - designed by sustainably minded architecture firm MASS Design Group - opened to the public. ![]()
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