When actress Portia de Rossi surprised her wife, television host Ellen DeGeneres, with a 60th birthday gift in 2018, she helped fund a major conservation project in Rwanda. The project improved wildlife protection and gave local people more chances to learn about the environment. By September 2023, the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund had welcomed more than 40,000 visitors to its site outside Volcanoes National Park. During the same period, the educational centre hosted more than 7,500 Rwandan schoolchildren, giving them access to practical science lessons and conservation training. The project began as a gift inspired by DeGeneres’ long-standing admiration for pioneering primatologist Dian Fossey. It later grew into a permanent, 12-acre research centre designed to protect endangered mountain gorillas and support nearby communities.
Birthday gift sparks conservation initiative
During a 2018 recording of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, de Rossi announced the creation of The Ellen Fund and a partnership with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. The project promised to build a permanent home for the Fossey Fund, which had worked from rented buildings in Rwanda for decades after Fossey’s death in 1985. In a report about the television appearance, WTVR CBS 6 described how DeGeneres began to cry when she learned about the gift. “I’ve always been passionate about helping animals,” DeGeneres said in a statement released at the time. “Nobody knows this more than my wife, and she knew the exact right gift to give me”. Dr. Tara Stoinski, president and chief executive officer of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, spoke about the importance of the partnership. “It’s impossible to overstate what this news means for us,” Dr. Stoinski told the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund news outlet during the 2018 announcement.
Modern campus opens in Rwanda
Construction of the multi-building centre began in 2019. The project focused on sustainable design, planting native trees and plants, and using environmentally friendly building methods. The Ellen DeGeneres Campus officially opened in February 2022, welcoming scientists, tourists and students. The centre includes modern laboratories, a scientific library, classrooms, interactive public exhibits and accommodation for visiting researchers. More than 250,000 native plants were planted across the grounds to help restore natural habitats around the park boundary. According to figures shared by Discovery Channel and reported by The Futon Critic, about half of all visitors to the campus during its first 18 months were Rwandan citizens and local students. This showed the centre’s importance as an educational resource for the surrounding region.
Documenting the conservation journey
The five-year journey from de Rossi’s original surprise gift to the opening of the centre was recorded in a television special called Saving the Gorillas: Ellen’s Next Adventure. Entertainment Tonight reported that the documentary premiered on Discovery Channel and Animal Planet in September 2023 to mark World Gorilla Day. It showed behind-the-scenes footage of the construction work, close encounters with wild mountain gorilla families and interviews with field biologists. The documentary also explained how continued conservation efforts had helped mountain gorilla numbers grow in the wild. Mountain gorillas are among the few wild ape species whose populations have increased.
Educational reach and community impact
Working with local communities remains a key part of the campus’s mission. The centre offers free conservation programs, computer lab access and science workshops for primary and secondary school students living near gorilla habitats. Beyond school education, the campus also offers research internships for Rwandan university students studying biology and environmental science. The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund confirmed that the campus would continue to expand its community programs. These efforts aim to build local skills and knowledge while supporting ongoing gorilla monitoring and anti-poaching patrols throughout Volcanoes National Park. For a closer look at how the project developed, viewers can watch the trailer for Saving the Gorillas. It offers a preview of the Discovery documentary, including the construction of the Rwanda campus and conservation work in the field.
