A
ll of the world's great apes, with the exception
of the orangutan, live exclusively in Africa.
Unfortunately, all of Africa's great apes--from the
bonobo and the chimpanzee to the gorilla--are
endangered or critically endangered. To address their
deteriorating conservation status, AWF is launching
an initiative that targets great ape populations.
Through the African Apes Initiative, AWF will partner
with primatologists and other stakeholders to support
their great ape conservation efforts, with the objective
of crafting comprehensive conservation plans. "There
are a number of dedicated scientists doing great ape
research in Africa. More and more, they find themselves
fighting to protect populations that they originally went
in just to study," explains Jef Dupain, technical director
for West and Central Africa for AWF. "AWF seeks to
partner with them and take on activities that augment
their work, such as protected-area planning or capacity
building for wildlife authorities."
Congo, Senegal, and Cameroon
Using AWF's bonobo and mountain gorilla conservation
work as a model, the African Apes Initiative aims to
protect representative populations of all the African ape
subspecies. In the near term, AWF will focus on three
sites. Bili-Uélé in the Democratic Republic of Congo
is a 35,000-sq.-km complex of hunting domains and
nature reserves that is home to the largest remaining
continuous population of the eastern chimpanzee.
Support from a corporate partner, Endangered Species
Chocolate, has allowed AWF to support a faunal survey
to determine the chimpanzee population. In Senegal,
AWF seeks to protect a chimpanzee population on
the border of Mali and Guinea in what is probably
the largest intact savannawoodland habitat in West
Africa. Finally, both the western lowland gorilla and
the chimpanzee are found in Dja Biosphere Reserve
in Cameroon. AWF intends to direct support to the
protected area authorities to help save the estimated
5,000-plus gorillas and chimpanzees in this rainforest,
which--like many other critical ape habitats--is under
growing threat from mining, industrial agriculture,
logging, and more.
"This effort can make an immediate impact in conserving
great apes and their key habitats," says Dupain. "Longer
term, it will provide a model for how larger conservation
NGOs can work with in-situ partners to support the
conservation of all of Africa's apes."
AccoUntinG For ALL the GreAt Apes
q
All of Africa's great apes, including the chimpanzee,
are endangered or critically endangered.