Story highlights Conservationist Edwin Sabuhoro founded a cultural village in Rwanda

The village provides work for poachers and unemployed youth

(CNN) Working as a warden in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park, home to the endangered mountain gorilla, Edwin Sabuhoro was determined to do whatever was necessary to protect the animals he was committed to defend -- including putting himself in harm's way.

Following a series of incidents in 2004 where wildlife had been lost, Sabuhoro volunteered to infiltrate poachers on their own turf by disguising as a potential buyer for a baby gorilla. The mission was successful and the culprits were put to prison.

"I felt so bad that I had put these people in jail -- but I felt so good that I saved a baby gorilla," recalls Sabuhoro, whose next move was to visit the jailed poachers, as well as their families, to apologize for tricking them and find the reasons behind their actions.

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What he heard was stories of starvation and desperation. Poaching, he found, was the only way for these people to survive.

"That's when I decided that what I was doing was not part of giving a solution to what is wanted outside the park," says Sabuhoro. He quickly decided to quit the job and come up with an idea to help poachers make a living -- a plan that didn't include killing wildlife.

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