Ellen DeGeneresneeds your help.
Four years afterPortia de Rossisurprised her wife with theEllen DeGeneres Fundon her 60th birthday episode ofEllen, DeGeneres' campus is now officially open for visitors.
Starting Tuesday, tourists and activists alike will be able to join the next generation of wildlife conservationists at theEllen DeGeneresCampus of theDian Fossey Gorilla Fundin Rwanda.
“Dian Fossey has always been a hero of mine, and so it’s been the honor of a lifetime to support this project. To see my name alongside hers on the walls of this beautiful campus, and to know I’m doing my part to protect endangered gorillas and continue Dian’s legacy, is simply amazing,” DeGeneres, 64, said in a press release.
Courtesy of The Ellen Fund
Courtesy of Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
“From the outset, the mission of this project has focused on creating a space to engage the many stakeholders in conservation — students, scientists, tourists, conservation partners, community members — to advance our collective goal of saving gorillas and more broadly, the planet. It is our hope that people who visit theEllen DeGeneresCampus will leave inspired to make a difference, just as Dian Fossey did,” said Dr. Tara Stoinski, Fossey Fund president and chief scientific officer.
DeGeneres' campus is just the latest addition to the fund, which remains the world’s largest and longest-running organization dedicated entirely to gorilla conservation.
“The Ellen Campus represents a huge expansion of our teaching and laboratory spaces, enabling us to not just increase but transform our programs to study gorillas and their critical forest habitat and bring educational opportunities to early career African scientists and members of the local community,” said Felix Ndagijimana, Fossey Fund director of Rwanda programs.
Courtesy of MASS Design Group
Located adjacent to Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, MASS Design Group helped craft the multi-acre, eco-friendly facility. Together, they’ve also planted 250,000 native plants, installed green roofs, and engineered equipment specially designed to tackle water harvesting and waste water treatment via wetlands.
But DeGeneres isn’t alone in supporting the fund. Donors such asLeonardo DiCapriohave also helped finish the project, resulting in a 360-degree theater named after his mother Irmelin DiCaprio and a computer lab in honor of his father George DiCaprio.
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“I just want people to care,” de Rossi, 49,previously told PEOPLEabout building the campus. “I guess that is all we want, for people to care, and realize what it means for humanity to have these magnificent creatures alive and well.”
TheEllen Campusis now officially open to the public starting Feb. 1, with private tours available.
source: people.com
