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November 2024

Open job positions 

Cashier, Conakry, Guinea [PDF in French]

Financial manager animal sanctuary component, Mamou, Guinea [PDF in French]

Recruitment of a theatre troupe for an awareness-raising theatre tour of the Badiar Biosphere Reserve, Guinea [PDF in French]

November 2024

Signing of planning and sustainable management agreements for two village territories of the future Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park in Guinea

This action is part of the creation process and participative management of the future Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park (PSS) financed by the European Union and Rainforest Trust. Planning the sustainable management of village land is essential to ensure that a protected area functions properly. It enables each community to develop conservation strategies at village level, while remaining within the local development plan instigated by the commune.

Six months ago, thirteen villages began the process of drawing up their village land management plans in the PSS region. During this period, consultations were held with the communities to identify: the respective boundaries of the villages, the different use of land through participatory mapping, degraded areas and conservation requirements under the law. Thanks to this initial information, the villages of Konkouré Gare and Manika-taa were able to move forward with planning by signing agreements to protect the conservation imperatives (watercourses, river banks, spring heads and the core area of the Park). Participatory actions for sustainable development at village level are integrated into this planning.

Our thanks to our partners and donors: the local communities, the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development (Ministère de l’Environnement et du Développement Durable - MEDD), the Guinean Office of National Parks and Wildlife Reserves (Office Guinéen des Parcs Nationaux et Réserves de Faune - OGPRNF), the European Union and Rainforest Trust.

October 2024

Club P.A.N. (Personnes, Animaux, Nature / People, Animals, Nature) is part of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation's environmental education program operating around the future Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park in Guinea.

Club P.A.N. was active for its 14th year (2023/2024) in six schools with 300 participating children. 12 teachers and principals were trained and evaluated in December 2023 during a three days’ workshop in Mamou. Eleven conservation education sessions in each of the six schools, and pre- and post-evaluations of 60 children were implemented. Evaluation results show that the children increased their knowledge and children want to avoid eating bush-meat in the future. Children changed their attitude towards nature into a more positive view in the post-evaluations. Six parents’ days, prepared by the children at the end of the school year in May 2024 reached 710 villagers.

We would like to thank the sponsors and partners of Club P.A.N. 2023/2024: Ministère de l'Education Nationale Guinée, Ministère de l’Enseignement Pré Universitaire et de l’Alphabétisation (MEPU-A) ; le Ministère de l’Environnement et du Développement Durable (MEDD), l’Office Guinéenne de Parcs Nationaux et Réserves de Faunes (OGPNRF) et les PTF à savoir, European Union and the program PAPFor, EU NaturaGuinée, Serengeti Park Stiftung, Zoo am Meer Bremerhaven, Monde Sauvage Safari Parc, Claudia Borchers and Verena Kummer.

If you want to read the final report of this school year (2023/2024), you can find it here: [PDF]

You can find a video of the parents’ days celebrations on our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddtKNnQGZl8&t=28s

September 2024

WCF Guinea helps the local communities in the future Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park to install improved stoves in 101 households.

The WCF Guinea programme to disseminate improved cookstoves initiated and funded by the EU NaturaGuinée project has met with a remarkable response during its adoption phase. 67 local community members were trained and 8 improved stoves installed as a pilot project. Three months later, already 173 people have been trained by the first beneficiaries of the training. 204 improved stoves were installed in 101 households in 25 villages in the future Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park region.

According to beneficiaries, wood consumption was reduced by 80% compared with cooking directly on wood. The second advantage identified is the ease with which it can be replicated. And the third advantage is that these stoves are built using local materials in a landscape where communities have low incomes. Our sincere thanks to the local communities, the European Union NaturaGuinée project, "Ministère de l’Environnement et du Développement Durable" (MEDD), "Ministère de l’Administration du Territoire et de la Décentralisation", and "Ministère de l’Agriculture".

August 2024

Every year on 12 August, humanity celebrates the World Elephant Day.
Through various conservation initiatives, the WCF Guinea and its technical and financial partners are developing several approaches to save the forest elephants in Guinea. The aim is to promote the conservation of the forest elephants in the future Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park, Guinea.
This critically endangered species is a national symbol of Guinea.

You can find a video of the forest elephants in Guinea on our YouTube channel:
www.youtube.com/watch

We would like to thank our partners: Ministère de l'Environnement et du Développement Durable (MEDD), Office Guinéen des Parcs Nationaux et des Réserves de Faune (OGPNRF), European Union NaturaGuinée, Rainforest Trust, WABiLED / USAID, Zurcher Tierschutz and Arcus Foundation.

July 2024

On 14 July 2024, the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation celebrated the World Chimpanzee Day in Conakry, Koundara and Ouré-Kaba in Guinea. Theme: Let's mobilise for the sustainable management and preservation of natural resources. July 14th is a global celebration of respect for our closest genetic relative. We would like to thank our partners and donors: the European Union, EU NaturaGuinée, the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD), the Guinean Office of National Parks and Wildlife Reserves (OGPNRF), the local communities of the future Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park and the Badiar National Park.

You can find a video of the celebrations in Guinea on our YouTube channel:

www.youtube.com/watch

July 2024

Communication: Wild Chimpanzee Foundation scientific committee, scientific consultants and legal advice [pdf]

June 2024

News from our environmental education project Club P.A.N.

The environmental education program of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation called Club P.A.N. (People, Animals, Nature) has reached since it's creation in 2007 over 13 584 children in Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea.

The new school year 2023/2024 has well started with 300 children participating in eleven Club P.A.N. sessions in their nature class rooms! This year we are working with 300 children from six Club P.A.N. schools in the proposed Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park / Guinea from the villages Soyah, Diandian, Farenta, Ouré-Kaba, Soumanyéréya and Saférin.

We would like to thank the sponsors and partners of Club P.A.N. 2023/2024: Ministère de l'Education Nationale Guinée, Ministère de l’Enseignement Pré Universitaire et de l’Alphabétisation (MEPU-A), Ministère de l’Environnement et du Développement Durable (MEDD), Office Guinéen des Nationaux et Réserves de Faune (OGPNRF), European Union and the program PAPFor, Rainforest Trust, Serengeti Park Stiftung, Zoo am Meer Bremerhaven, Monde Sauvage Safari Parc, Claudia Borchers and Verena Kummer.

May 2024

Communication: New persons in charge for the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation [pdf]

January 2024

Launch of the EU Natura Guinée project

The Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development (MEED) has launched a project to preserve Guinea's flagship areas and species, known as "NaturaGuinée", funded by the European Union.

This project aims to improve (1) the living conditions of local populations (particularly women), the conservation and protection of biodiversity in the two flagship landscapes of Badiar National Park and the future Pinselli Soya Sabouyah National Park, and (2) the conservation and survival of endangered species in Guinea.

Ninety-five participants, including 22 women, took part in the official launch of the 4-year project on 19 January 2024 in Conakry. The meeting was honoured by the presence of the Ambassador of the European Union and various stakeholders, including the MEDD, the EU, the Office Guinéen des Nationaux et Réserves de Faune (OGPNRF), decentralised services, NGOs and local elected representatives. The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation would like to thank its partners and sponsors: MEDD, OGPNRF, Rainforest Trust and EU.

January 2024

It is with profound sorrow that the Board of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) informs you of the passing of our Founder and President, Professor Dr. Christophe Boesch. He succumbed to a brief illness, and his departure leaves a significant void that will be deeply felt. The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation remains committed to the continuation of its exceptional conservation efforts without any disruption. In this challenging time, we express our utmost gratitude for your unwavering support.

January 2024

December 2023

Club P.A.N. (Personnes, Animaux, Nature / People, Animals, Nature) is part of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation's environmental education program operating around the Moyen-Bafing National Park and the future Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park in Guinea.

Club P.A.N. was active for its 13th year (2022/2023) in 16 schools with 1167 participating children. Teachers and principals were trained and evaluated in January 2023 during a three days’ workshop in Mamou and Kollet. Eleven conservation education sessions in each of the 16 schools, and pre- and post-evaluations of 160 children were implemented. Evaluation results show that the children increased their knowledge and children want to avoid eating bush-meat in the future. Children changed their attitude towards nature into a more positive view in the post-evaluations. 16 parents’ days, prepared by the children at the end of the school year reached 1608 villagers.

We would like to thank the sponsors and partners of Club P.A.N. 2022/2023: Ministère de l'Education Nationale Guinée, Ministère de l’Enseignement Pré Universitaire et de l’Alphabétisation (MEPU-A) ; le Ministère de l’Environnement et du Développement Durable (MEDD), l’Office Guinéenne de Parcs Nationaux et Réserves de Faunes (OGPNRF) et les PTF à savoir, European Union and the program PAPFor, Serengeti Park Stiftung, Zoo am Meer Bremerhaven, Guinea Alumina Cooperation (GAC), Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG), Monde Sauvage Safari Parc, Claudia Borchers and Verena Kummer.

If you want to read the final report of this school year, you can find it here: [PDF]

November 2023

New publication from our WCF Guinea team: Benjamin Debetencourt, Mamadou Moussa Barry, Mimi Arandjelovic, Colleen Stephens, Nuria Maldonado and Christophe Boesch in American Journal of Primatology

Camera traps unveil demography, social structure, and home range of six unhabituated Western chimpanzee groups in the Moyen Bafing National Park, Guinea [pdf]

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajp.23578

October 2023

WCF Founder and President Professor Dr. Christophe Boesch was honored as a Finalist at the 2023 Indianapolis Prize Gala - September 30, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBPLA7Na6JI

https://www.indianapoliszoo.com/prize/conservation-heroes/#hero=christophe-boesch-ph-d

Thanks to Indianapolis Prize !

 

 

September 2023

Creation of the Cavally Nature Reserve: A Beacon of Hope for Ivorian Forests

In a monumental move to conserve one of West Africa's last bastions of biodiversity, the Ivorian government announced on 13 September 2023 the official transformation of Cavally Classified Forest into a protected area now known as the Cavally Nature Reserve. The Cavally forest, stretching across a vast expanse of 67,500 hectares, occupies a central position within the Taï-Grebo-Krahn-Sapo forest complex - the largest remaining forest block in West Africa, renowned for its exceptional and endemic wildlife species.

Please read more about Cavally Nature Reserve in our press release [pdf]

May 2023

News from the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation Guinea

Within the framework of the PAPFor programme financed by the European Union in support of the Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park creation and participatory management of the Outamba-Kilimi-Kuru Hills-Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah transboundary landscape (OKKPS) between Guinea and Sierra Leone, a visit to exchange experiences, capacity building and transfer of skills between community development actors in Guinea was organised from 4 to 6 May 2023. 157 people took part in this activity from Guinea and Sierra Leone, including 133 members of market gardening, beekeeping and agricultural economic interest groups and 19 staff of WCF and Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary.

The participants visited (i) the Assisted Natural Regeneration field of Gadha Pinselli, (ii) the market gardening sites of Kouloundala, Balancia and Megnekouré, (iii) the beekeeping site of Soyah where they discussed the technical and agro-ecological itineraries of market gardening, ANR fields, ecological honey production and the efficient functioning of the groupings The participants followed a module on the processing of Néré grains into Soumbara, followed by a practical exercise involving the processing of 100 kg of Néré grains. The positive knowledge acquired during these exchanges and visit to Guinea will serve as a model to be duplicated in the Outamba-Kilimi National Park region in Sierra Leone. At the end of the visit, participants expressed their desire to multiply and strengthen collaborative frameworks and participatory management of transboundary natural resources in the OKKPS landscape.

Many thanks to the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD), Office Guinéen des Parcs Nationaux et Réserves de Faune (OGPNRF), Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, PAPFor funded by the EU.

May 2023

Exciting update on the new national park in Liberia!

The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) is collaborating with the Liberian Forestry Development Authority (FDA) to finalize the draft gazettement package for the future Kwa National Park (currently the Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area). Following extensive community consultations, boundary assessments, and flagging, the proposed park now spans an impressive 236,246 ha, making it Liberia's largest protected area. We're thrilled to announce that 78 forest-fringe communities have given their consent to establish the park, with 72 of them signing a co-management commitment during a workshop attended by national stakeholders. This commitment includes benefit sharing and a grievance redress mechanism. Stay tuned for the public notice announcement next week!

We wish to thank our donors, without whom none of our projects would be possible: European Union, Great Ape Conservation Fund/ US Fish and Wildlife Service, Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund/ UK Government, Biodiversity Challenge Fund, DEFRA, Liberia Forest Sector Project, Rainforest Rescue, Rainforest Trust, and West Africa Biodiversity and Low Emissions Development (WABiLED)/ USAID.

April 2023

News from WCF Liberia - Community consultations around Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area continue as gazettement activities near completion
A hotspot within the Upper Guinean Forest, the Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area is a sanctuary for vulnerable wildlife, including the western chimpanzee, pygmy hippopotamus, and African forest elephant. To support the Liberia Forestry Development Authority (FDA) in the gazettement of the highly bio-diverse Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area (KBPPA), Wild Chimpanzee Foundation engages with forest-fringe communities to ensure that every resident living in the landscape understands the plan to establish a portion of the KBPPA as a national park. Community consultations commenced in 2020, followed by participatory land-use mapping to identify and resolve potential land-use conflicts and identify the protected area boundary. Recently the Forestry Development Authority, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Liberia Land Authority, with support from WCF reported the results from the participatory land-use mapping to the local communities. Many communities were happy to see that enough community forest remains to maintain their traditional livelihoods whilst conserving the forest, including those in Bargblor Town (pictured) after expressing their commitment to support national park creation.
We wish to thank our donors, without whom none of our projects would be possible: European Union, Great Ape Conservation Fund/ US Fish and Wildlife Service, Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund/ UK Government, Liberia Forest Sector Project, Rainforest Rescue, Rainforest Trust, and West Africa Biodiversity and Low Emissions Development (WABiLED)/ USAID.

March 2023

WCF Founder and President Prof. Dr. Christophe Boesch is nominated as a Finalist for the Indianapolis Prize 2023

https://www.indianapoliszoo.com/prize/conservation-heroes/?fbclid=IwAR38f8NWOfLSeBoWw_nj9bX29qLsLDFgJHibbdmBsBX5cimaTuX-00OSVpk

8 March 2023

International Women's Day

The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation celebrated the International Women's Day on March 8, 2023 in Labé, Guinea. On this occasion, the women exchanged on the issue of women's rights in general around the theme ''women's involvement in the management of protected areas''. Through speeches, a conference, debates, slam and theatre, women were able to express themselves and be honoured in a festive atmosphere. The women of the Moyen-Bafing National Park took the opportunity to invite their colleagues, women of the different structures working in nature conservation, but also the Regional Director of Information and Communication and the Ambassador of Peace. In total, 80 participants were registered, including 45 women. This meeting was an opportunity for the women to proudly express their involvement in the activities of the Moyen-Bafing National Park. Many thanks to our partners and donors: Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD), "Office Guinéen des Parcs Nationaux et Réserves de Faune" (OGPNRF), GAC and CBG.

Please find here a video about the celebrations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhSvjL-Yay0

February 2023

News from our environmental education project Club PAN in Guinea

The new school year 2022/2023 has well started with 1167 children participating in eleven Club PAN sessions in their nature class rooms!

This year we are working with 900 children from ten schools in and around the Moyen-Bafing National Park: Fello-Kollet, Kounet, Dara, Laffa, Kouratongo, Kalinko-Centre, Missira Djallonké, Gagnakaly, Beleya and Kela, and 267 children from six new Club PAN schools in the proposed Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park from the villages Soyah, Djandian, Ouré-Kaba Centre, Farenta, Soumanyéréya and Saférin.

Many thanks to our partners and donors: Ministry of Education Guinea, Ministère de l'Environnement et du Développement Durable, Office Guinéen des Parcs Nationaux et Réserves de Faune, PAPFor financed by the EU, Serengeti Park Stiftung, Zoo am Meer Bremerhaven, GAC & CBG for making this conservation education project possible.

January 2023

December 2022

2022 farewelled with sport tournament at Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area in Liberia

A week-long football and kickball tournament was held by the Liberia Forestry Development Authority (FDA) with support from the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) in selected communities around the Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area. The tournament aimed to strengthen the relationship between FDA and four local communities through friendly matches. The local community ecoguard team members battled it out alongside FDA rangers against their (mostly victorious!) home communities. Participating communities were presented with sporting materials, including uniforms, soccer boots, and footballs. The presentation of the sporting materials to the communities was coupled with awareness raising to encourage communities to consider the future of their communities by embracing forest conservation, and to welcome sustainable alternative livelihoods to substitute their traditional practices of wildlife poaching and slash-and-burn agriculture. Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area is one of FDA's most important conservation priority areas, where they are working with the support of WCF to establish a fully protected area within this ecologically important landscape.

November 2022

News from WCF Guinea
A law enforcement capacity building workshop for the management of the future Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park was organized from 1st to 4th November 2022 in Mamou.
The objective of this workshop, financed by the European Union and Zürcher Tierschutz, was to support the "Office Guinéen des Parcs Nationaux et Réserves de Faune" (OGPNRF) and make the agents and actors dedicated to the surveillance of illegal activities of the future park. On this occasion, 26 agents from the OGPNRF, the Water and Forestry Department, the Brigade, the Regional Inspection and the Prefectural Directorate of the Environment of Mamou were trained in the legal provisions on natural resource management. Four themes were addressed during these four days: (i) the wildlife protection code and hunting regulations, (ii) the forestry code, (iii) techniques for drafting reports and procedures for forwarding files and finally (iv) ethics of nature conservationists. The general approach was interactive and participatory. To this end, various facilitation techniques were used, such as presentations followed by a question-and-answer phase, debates on the themes addressed, and group work with a plenary presentation by the rapporteurs. At the end of the workshop, the participants committed themselves to an active involvement in the sustainable management of the natural resources of the future Pinselli, Soyah and Sabouyah National Park, integrated into the European #PAPFor programme under the Outamba-Kilimi, Kuru Hills, Pinselli-Soyah Transboundary Landscape (OKKPS) between Guinea and Sierra Leone and conducted jointly by WCF and its partner Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary.

November 2022

WCF Liberia assigns interns to forest-edge communities of the Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area

Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area is one of the Liberia Forestry Development Authority's foremost conservation priority areas. As one of the largest proposed protected areas in Liberia, the landscape covers a total of 235,222 hectares of forest within three counties and hosts around eighty adjacent communities. The high level of biodiversity of the forest is at risk from poaching and over-exploitation of forest resources. WCF works with the Liberian government in the gazettement of the area, to create a fully protected park, whilst working with local communities to mitigate the threats to the landscape through the implementation of impactful awareness initiatives and alternative livelihood projects, thereby improving the living conditions of the people living around the landscape.

Wild Chimpanzee Foundation proudly supports student graduates from Liberia's Forestry Training Institute in internship training. The interns help in WCF’s community engagement, and carry out awareness raising activities with community members living adjacent to the Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area. Current interns Isiah, Elizabeth, Sam and Abraham work in different clusters of communities around the proposed protected area by organizing awareness raising town hall meetings, monitoring WCF projects, and liaising between WCF and the communities on issues pertinent to biodiversity conservation. Thanks team interns!

October 2022

October 2022

Promotion of agro ecological practices in the Moyen-Bafing National Park in Guinea from 2019 to 2021

Through its agro-ecological programme in the Moyen-Bafing National Park, the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation supports farmers adopting sustainable agricultural practices. The main types of farms are market gardening and food crops. In 2019, 7 pilot villages were targeted and 72 fields were monitored. One year later, in 2020, an extension allowed 387 farmers to be accompanied in 25 villages. In 2021, a total of 35 villages were covered and 426 farmers were assisted. These positive results are possible thanks to the collaboration with our partners to whom we express our sincere thanks: "Office Guinéen des Parcs Nationaux et Réserves de Faune", CBG, GAC, Save Our Species / IUCN and Rainforest Rescue.

September 2022

Club P.A.N. (Personnes, Animaux, Nature / People, Animals, Nature) is part of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation's environmental education program operating around the Moyen-Bafing National Park in Guinea. Club P.A.N. was active for its 12th year (2021/2022) in ten schools with 900 participating children in the Moyen-Bafing region. 

Teachers and principals were trained and evaluated in November 2021 during a three days’ workshop in Dinguiraye. Eleven conservation education sessions in each of the ten schools, and pre- and post-evaluations of 100 children were implemented. Evaluation results show that the children increased their knowledge by 43% on average and 98% of the children want to avoid eating bush-meat in the future. Children changed their attitude towards nature into a more positive view in the post-evaluations. Nine parents’ days, prepared by the children at the end of the school year reached 1375 villagers.

We would like to thank the Ministère de l'Education Nationale Guinée, Office Guinéen des Parcs Nationaux et Réserves de Faune, Zoo Leipzig, Zoo am Meer Bremerhaven, Serengeti Park Stiftung, Monde Sauvage Safari Parc, GAC, CBG, Christophe Boesch, Indianapolis Prize and Verena Kummer for making this conservation education project possible.

If you want to read the final report of this school year, you can find it here: [PDF]

14th July 2022

July 2022

News from WCF Liberia

Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) maintains a long-term commitment to support ecotourism activities at Sapo National Park by supporting local communities, in particular women. In collaboration with the Liberian local NGO Self-Help Initiative for Sustainable Development (SHIFSD), WCF has enabled literacy, numeracy, leadership, and entrepreneurship skills training for ten women living on the edge of Sapo National Park. The women are preparing to establish a local women-led conservation enterprise that will engage in the management of the newly opened Sapo Ecolodge, the creation of a community entertainment centre, and agriculture projects for the production of fruit and vegetables for tourists and other clients. Four of the women are already providing catering and cleaning services to the Sapo Ecolodge, and one local woman who was trained by SHIFSD as training facilitator for the other ten women is also a trained tourist guide for activities as Sapo National Park. With support from Rainforest Rescue, the adult education program is part of the WCF’s commitment to support the local communities unlock the tourism potential of Sapo National Park by building their capacity to work as staff members at the Sapo Ecolodge. Prior to the six-month intensive course, most of the women had little or no literacy or numeracy skills, but have now graduated with the ability to read, write simple sentences, and perform basic calculations. The participants were also instructed in understanding the needs of tourists, developing leadership, and health and sanitation standards. The Sapo Ecolodge provides attractive tourist accommodation near Sapo National Park and is co-managed by the Forestry Development Authority, WCF and the local communities.

June 2022

First honey harvest from Krahn-Bassa landscape community beekeepers

After initial training in hive construction, colonisation, and honey bee care in 2020, the first honey has been harvested by community beekeepers in forest fringe communities around Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area in south-eastern Liberia.

In partnership with Universal Outreach Foundation (UOF), and funding from Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, Wild Chimpanzee Foundation Liberia has engaged forest fringe community members in beekeeping to enhance incomes and provide livelihood alternatives to wildlife poaching and to reduce the impacts of forest-destroying shifting cultivation.

The community beekeepers act as stewards for the forest by educating their fellow community members on the importance of forest biodiversity for now and for future generations. Community beekeepers from seven communities were trained in harvesting honey from their hives, and the first batch was sold to UOF, under an agreement to pay premium market price. The honey will be packaged and sold in supermarkets and to upscale restaurants and hotels in Monrovia.

With nearly half of the beekeepers being women, the success was celebrated as there had been prior doubts to the productivity of the bees. Numerous beneficiaries pointed out that they would like to use their supplemented income to send their children to school, start a small enterprise, and even to build more hives to increase their yield.

June 2022

Participants at the workshop in Conakry
Participants of the community consultations in Madina Oula

News from the WCF OKKPS project in Guinea

A workshop was organised by the "Agence Guinéenne d'Évaluations Environnementales" (AGEE) in collaboration with the "Office Guinéen des Parcs Nationaux et Réserves de Faune" (OGPRF) and the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) on 31 May 2022 at the "Ministère de l'Environnement et du Développement Durable" (MEDD) to discuss the cohabitation strategy between development and conservation projects in the Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah (PSS) landscape. The founding president of the WCF, Prof. Christophe Boesch, presented the guidelines for a plan to mitigate negative impacts on biodiversity and the possibilities of cohabitation of projects. All stakeholders of the PSS area were present with a total of 43 people including 21 people from the MEDD (from the different services: Direction Générale, OGPRF, AGEE, Division Forêts et Faune and the deconcentrated services such as the Directions Préfectorale and Régionale de l'Environnement de Mamou et Kindia), 3 people from WCF, 8 people from the mining company Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) and 4 people from the mining company Rio Tinto. The discussions resulted in a list of relevant recommendations that will enable effective mitigation measures and environmental compliance in the area of the future Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park.

As part of the process of creating the future Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park financed by the European Union. A first community consultation framework was organised from 28 March to 02 April 2022 in the communes of Soyah, Oure Kaba and Madina Oula. A total of 92 participants from 10 districts participated. The overall objective of this consultation framework was to inform and sensitise communities on the inclusive process of creating the future Penselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park. Opinions on the fears and opportunities of the various stakeholders were collected. The following took part in these consultations: regional, prefectoral and sub-prefectoral authorities, local elected officials and representatives of socio-professional organisations. These activities are implemented within the framework of the OKKPS integrated landscape management project (Guinea, Sierra Leone). The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation along with its partners: Office Guinée des Parcs et Réserves de Faune, NPAA thank the participants for their active participation in this process.

June 2022

Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, Liberia helps to break down communication barriers by supporting the installation of the Lonestar Cell/MTN GSM mobile network in Gboe-Geewon Town, Grand Gedeh County, Liberia.

The town of Gboe-Geewon is a forest fringe community of the Krahn-Bassa Proposed Protected Area (KBPPA) and has existed since its founding without basic social services including telecommunications.

The Liberia Forestry Development Authority, with support from the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation is working within and around the KBPPA on activities leading to the gazettement and passage into law of the proposed protected area as a national park. The installation of the mobile network followed persistent appeals from community dwellers around the KBPPA for communication and alternative livelihoods. The mobile network receiver was installed on the 23rd of May 2022. The initiative was implemented by the Africa Mobile Network, Liberia and the Lonestar Cell/MTN a telecommunications company, with logistical and financial support from the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation.

Speaking on behalf of the community, Gboe Township commissioner Felecia Zabaye thanked the WCF for the support and ensuring the people of the township have access to communications. While the youth president of Gboe-Geewon, Doe Queeh extended heartfelt gratitude to the WCF and the Africa Mobile Network including Lonestar Cell/MTN for ending years of living in a communication black spot.

April 2022

Evaluation of WCF-Guinea's activities in the first quarter of 2022

As part of the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of activities in the first quarter of 2022, the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation Guinea (WCF) and the Office Guinéen des Parcs et Réserves (OGPR), organised a workshop on 13 and 14 April 2022 at its office in Conakry.

The objective of this workshop was to present the results of the first quarter obtained in the Moyen-Bafing National Park (MBNP) and the Outamba-Kilimi and Kuru-Hills Landscape in Sierra Leone and Penselli, Soyah and Sabouyah in Guinea (OKKPSS), and to highlight the difficulties encountered in order to formulate palliative recommendations.

The meeting was attended by the Director of the OGPR, the Prefectural Director of the Environment and the Regional Manager of the Mamou Brigade, the WCF Country Director, the Manager of the MBNP accompanied by the heads of the departments, making a total of 17 people. Four heads of sites of other protected areas were invited, namely the sites of Badiar National Park, Upper Niger National Park, Fölöningbè Wildlife Reserve of Kankan and Sincery Oursa.

During this meeting, each protected area presented the activities carried out during the first quarter of 2022, the perspectives and the difficulties encountered in these different protected areas were discussed. This meeting accentuates the spirit of networking of protected areas so much advocated by the OGPR and WCF through regular exchanges of experiences in order to improve conservation in Guinea. We thank our partners and donors, especially OGPR, GAC, CBG, EU, IUCN « Save Our Species » and Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary.

April 2022

Pygmy hippo encounter in Taї National Park, Côte d’Ivoire

Field notes by Maxime Schmitt

Sunday, 13 February 2022 at around 14:30

I was 3 km from the Taї ecotourism camp in the middle of the forest during a chimpanzee search mission when I came across a ravine. I descended into it to discover that it was part of a meandering canyon which I decided to follow. Upon arriving at the end, I spotted a pond in which a wet, grey head dipped under the water on my approach! To my delight, I immediately recognised that it was a pygmy hippo. I took out the GPS to record the location and took a photo from a distance of five meters. When its head popped up again, it exhaled a long, threatening snort, at which point I decided to leave it alone. As I was turning to leave, it lunged out of the water and chased me for twenty meters. After the short chase, I managed to get a clear sight of its whole body before it headed back to the canyon and disappeared in the depths the Taï forest.

It was one of the most beautiful encounters I have had in this forest. Max

April 2022

GOOD NEWS FOR THE WILD CHIMPANZEE FOUNDATION - GUINEA

Roger DELAMOU, thematic coordinator for sustainable value chains at the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation-Guinea, who was nominated at the 10th Regional Coastal and Marine Forum in Senegal, has won the award for the best innovative project in the field of mangrove ecosystem conservation.

Roger, who has been a WCF employee since 2020, is working to promote the development of sustainable value chains, including shea butter, honey and market gardening, with women's groups in the Moyen-Bafing National Park in Guinea.

March 2022

IUCN Save Our Species EU / WCF leopard project activities

The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) biomonitoring project "Enhanced conservation of leopard (Panthera pardus) populations in the Bafing River Basin, Republic of Guinea", supported by IUCN - Save Our Species and the European Union, has been extended to areas outside of the Moyen-Bafing National Park, notably in Woundou and the Sincery, Tinkisso and Souarela areas. With the help of 400 camera traps, 259 observations of cat species, namely the leopard, the African Golden Cat, the Golden Cat, and the Serval were recorded. Regarding flora, the IUCN-SOS project has so far supported the ecological natural regeneration of 661.48 hectares of land. The teams of community eco-guards have benefited from the purchase of motorbikes financed by IUCN-SOS. Thus, they have conducted 50 patrols and collected observations on the presence of animals and illegal human activities in the park and the connected classified forests.

A video clip from a camera trap filming an encounter of a leopard and a warthog can be seen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhvsfUCNFx8

March 2022

The elephants of the Outamba Kilimi Kuru Pensilli Soyah Sabouyah landscape

Good news for the Outamba-Kilimi and Kuru-Hills Integrated Landscape Management Project in Sierra Leone and Penselli, Soyah and Sabouyah in Guinea (OKKPSS). Under funding from the European Union, the WCF biomonitoring program observed a herd of elephants in the videos of camera traps placed in the Sabouya forest. Several other mammals including leopards have been observed in this area. This fact confirms the choice of this landscape for the creation of the future national park by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) and its state partner, the Guinean Office of Parks and Reserves (OGPR).

A video clip about the elephants can be seen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl9La8a-iZQ

8 March 2022

Celebration of International Women's Rights Day in Labé, Guinea
Officially recognised by the United Nations in 1977, International Women's Rights Day is celebrated every year on 08 March. This year, the celebration is placed under the theme: "Equality today for a sustainable future". The WCF Moyen-Bafing National Park (MBPN) team celebrates its women on this day, which is an opportunity for them to get together to talk about the achievements and challenges of gender equality. There are 38 women working in our WCF Labé team in the administration, the legal and compliance unit as well as the communcation unit and the cartography and database unit.
Furthermore, the MBNP has two teams of 100% women eco-guards, made up of eight women. And it is in a festive atmosphere that these brave women dressed in their uniforms ended this day through a parade, exchanges and a speech held in the presence of the MBNP Manager and collaborators.

Celebration of International Women's Day in Liberia
Happy International Women’s Day, and welcome to the first episode of the West Africa Biodiversity and Low Emissions Development (WABiLED) program podcast series featuring the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation work in Liberia !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKrcUVpH-zg

Furthermore, we would like to introduce you to our theater project with former WOMEN bushmeat sellers in Liberia:

https://www.fda.gov.lr/media/press-releases/wild-chimpanzee-foundation-trains-former-women-bush-meat-sellers?fbclid=IwAR3seOpdkOgwgEtI3IxOoQkJ45cxOLJW9rQoWu_2wqKklL3VliAx5B699oQ

February 2022

WCF Guinea welcomed the WCF Founder and President Professor Christophe BOESCH, for a three week supervision mission in February 2022. It was an opportunity to evaluate the progress of the WCF activities in the Moyen-Bafing National Park (MBNP) and the new Outamba Kilimi Kuru Pensilli Soyah Sabouyah (OKKPSS) integrated landscape project, implemented with the financial support of two mining companies and the European Union. Accompanied by the WCF teams and the "Office Guinéen des Parcs et Réserves" (OGPR), he visited the different sites where various activities have been implemented.

In the OKKPSS landscape, the delegation visited the new Guinean and Sierra Leonean teams undergoing training on biomonitoring and the use of data collection tools in Sierra Leone.

On his return to Guinea, he reviewed the agro-ecological activities, natural forest regeneration sites and community support in the MBNP. The communities, through the local authorities, were delighted with the support provided by the project.

A video clip about this mission to the MBNP can be seen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAa2_bImh60&t=335s

February 2022

News from WCF Guinea

The WCF organized from 03 to 04 February 2022, at the Governorate of Mamou, a workshop for the presentation of the activities of the Moyen Bafing National Park (MBNP) and the launch of the creation of the Pencely-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park under financing of the European Union.

This meeting brought together 73 participants, including the Governor of Mamou, executives from the MEEF, the Guinean Office of Parks and Reserves, the DNEF, the 5 prefects of the MBNPzone (Dabola, Dinguiraye, Koubia, Mamou and Tougué), the prefect of Kindia, the technical partners, the regional environmental inspectorates, and the brigades of Labé and Mamou. The prefectural directors of the environment and sustainable development, the sub-prefect of Téguereya, the 15 mayors of the MBNP zone and the president of the umbrella organisation, all came from the prefectures of Mamou, Faranah, Labé, Tougué, Dinguiraye, Dabola, Koubia and Kalinko.

During these two days, the work focused on the stages of the MBNP creation as a reference model and the implementation of management activities, and the official launch for the creation of the Penselli, Soyah, Sabouyah National Park.

January 2022

News from the project Outamba-Kilimi and Kuru-Hills (Sierra Leone) and Penselli, Soyah and Sabouyah (Guinea) (OKKPSS) funded by the European Union

With funding from the European Union, the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation and its partner the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Sierra Leone have been implementing the OKKPSS project since its launch in June 2021.

From 14 to 23 December 2021, a mission visited the three rural communes in the project area to recruit ecoguards and community leaders. These future ecoguards will ensure surveillance in the Classified Forests of Soyah, Penselli and the Sabouyah Reserve on the Guinea side. The same process is taking place in Sierra Leone. By January 2022, the first monitoring patrols will be organised to collect data on wildlife, human activities and areas of high conservation value. Thus, 25 candidates, including 4 women, were selected in Fareinta, Soyah, Madina Oula, Ourékaba and Mamou for the 9-day training on the following topics: surveillance techniques, community mobilisation and animation techniques, the use of GPS, and the Smart mobile (Cyber traker). In addition, a physical fitness test was carried out on each candidate by walking 40 grids of 2.5 km each. The training took place in the sub-prefecture of Soyah, located 15 km from Mamou. We wish the new recruits good luck in this important cross-border project.

January 2022

December 2021

The new school year 2021/2022 of the Club P.A.N. has started in Guinea with the teacher training workshop in Dinguiraye from 25. to 27. November 2021!

This year we are working with about 900 children from 10 schools in and around the Moyen-Bafing National Park: Fello-Kollet, Kounet, Dara, Laffa and Kouratongo for the Prefecture of Tougué and Kalinko-Centre, Missira Djallonké, Gagnakaly, Beleya and Kela for the Prefecture of Dinguiraye.

The training was opened by the speech of the Prefect of Dinguiraye, Mr Mamady TOURE, followed by the representative of the Prefectural Director of Education of Dinguiraye, Mr DANSOKO and the representative of the Prefectural Director of Education of Tougué, Mr Ousmane CISSE.

We would like to thank our P.A.N. Club coordinators Sylvain Daavo, Djeinabou Bah, Mamadou Bobo Balde and Mamady Tounkara, the school principals, the teachers and the authorities for their participation in this three-day workshop. Many thanks to our partners and donors: Ministry of Education Guinea, Office Guinéen de Parcs et Réserves, Indianapolis Price, Serengeti Park Stiftung, Zoo am Meer Bremerhaven, Zoo Leipzig, Zürcher Tierschutz, GAC&CBG for making this conservation education project possible.

November 2021

Elephant signs in the region of Sabouyah, Guinea
Beautiful landscape in the region of Sabouyah, Guinea

Since the launch of the OKKPSS project (Outamba-Kilimi and Kuru-Hills in Sierra Leone and Penselli, Soyah and Sabouyah in Guinea) funded by the European Union in June 2021, several surveillance patrols were conducted in the zone of Penselli, Soyah, and Sabouyah to carry out the first assessments of the fauna, flora and illegal human activities.
Signs of elephants were notably recorded in the area!
Prof. Dr. Christophe Boesch, WCF founder and president, conducted a supervision visit from October 13th to 17th 2021.
As the OKKPSS project is a transboundary project in close collaboration with Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary and the National Protected Area Authority in Sierra Leone, many discussions and exchanges are ongoing to harmonize the operational plan and coordination of the project. The WCF and OGPR’s executives (Guinean Office of Parks and Reserves) visited Freetown and Outamba-Kilimi National Park from November 3rd to 7th 2021. In parallel, two meetings were organized in Conakry between WCF and OGPR to elaborate and agree on the creation process of a new national park in the zone of Penselli – Soyah – Sabouyah. A project note is being prepared following the same process as for the Moyen-Bafing National Park. The document will be transmitted to the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development in November for signature of a ministerial mandate formalizing the process of creating a national park. Exchanges with the different actors present in the zone of Penselli – Soyah – Sabouyah are ongoing to facilitate the sustainable and respectful development of the environment, especially regarding the railway construction connecting the Simandou Iron Ore mines with a harbor on the coast South of Conakry.

November 2021

On the 20th of October 2021 the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation team in Monrovia, Liberia welcomed the Assistant Minister for Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism Mr. Hon. Lance K. Gbagonyon and the Miss Tourism Globe Africa Miss Princess Strother at the WCF office.

Miss Tourism Globe Africa Miss Princess Strother is interested in promoting the WCF conservation and awareness activities.

October 2021

Club P.A.N. (Personnes, Animaux, Nature / People, Animals, Nature) is part of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation's environmental education program operating around the Moyen-Bafing National Park in Guinea.

Club P.A.N. was active for its 11th year  (2020/2021) in ten schools with 896 participating children in the Moyen-Bafing region. In comparison to last school year, we were able to increase the number of children from 814 to 896.

Teachers and principals were trained and evaluated in February 2021 during a three days’ workshop in Gagnakaly. Eleven conservation education sessions in each of the ten schools, and pre- and post-evaluations of 100 children were implemented. During the conservation action session, 437 trees have been planted by the children, their families and villagers in their schoolyards to create green fences around their schools.

Evaluation results show that the children increased their knowledge by 39% on average and 96% of the children want to avoid eating bush-meat in the future. Children changed their attitude towards nature into a more positive view in the post-evaluations. Ten parents’ days, prepared by the children at the end of the school year reached 1061 villagers.

We would like to thank the Ministère de l'Education Nationale Guinée, Zürcher Tierschutz, Zoo Leipzig, Zoo am Meer Bremerhaven, Serengeti Park Stiftung, Monde Sauvage Safari Parc and Verena Kummer for making this conservation education project possible.

If you want to read the final report of this school year, you can find it here: [PDF]

October 2021

WCF Guinea update

Under the project led by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, funded by SOS – Save Our Species and co-funded by the European Comission – Development & Cooperation – EuropeAid, 355 ha of critical habitat for the African leopard (Panthera pardus) are benefitting from forest regeneration efforts, while 6767 km2 are now benefitting from the protection of the newly-created Moyen-Bafing National Park in Guinea. Over the course of the project, as more wildlife monitoring data are collected, the network of movement corridors in-and-out of the park will become increasingly apparent. Identification of these essential corridors will allow for the development of a national, and even regional, conservation strategy.

As of 2016, the extant leopard range in Guinea was estimated to be equivalent to 28700 km2, with only 3% (891 km2) within a protected area. The new Moyen-Bafing National Park covers 6767 km2 of the extant range with the Foutah-Djallon area of Guinea, representing a dramatic increase in leopard range benefitting from protected status, from 3% to 26.7%.

With the support of @SpeciesSavers, co-funded by @europeaid, we monitor not only the chimpanzee as flagship species of the region, but also wild felid populations, particularly leopards, and identify habitat corridors, while working with communities in promoting reforestation and sustainable natural resource management.

October 2021

WCF Liberia update

In October 2021, the ex-bushmeat sellers drama team in Liberia, supported by the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) and Eddie Theater Production, performed at three major bushmeat markets in Monrovia and Paynesville. The team was met with great enthusiasm and several women traders in the markets stopped the bushmeat trade because of this intense awareness activity.

The Liberian Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and WCF are continuously working with 30 women ex-bushmeat sellers who serve as community volunteers by raising awareness about protected species and the wildlife law in the various market areas. These women have abandoned the bushmeat business.

We wish to thank our donors, without whom none of our projects would be possible: European Union, Great Ape Conservation Fund/ US Fish and Wildlife Service, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, Rainforest Rescue, Ape TAG, and Zoo Leipzig.

September 2021

WCF Founder and President Prof. Dr. Christophe Boesch is an Indianapolis Prize Finalist:

https://www.indianapoliszoo.com/prize/conservation-heroes/#hero=christophe-boesch-ph-d

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4UbZDP5lLY&list=PLwaVBFxs82XldxRNgiFNaVdfXNnekZqqX&index=9

September 2021

WCF Liberia update

On September 25, 2021 the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation Liberia team participated in the big parade and festival for the World Tourism Day in Monrovia, Liberia.
The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation is a member of LINTA , the Liberia National Tourism Association. The event was organized by LINTA and the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism.
We organized the group for wildlife and nature tourism / ecotourism during the parade and festival.
We enjoyed the celebrations in Monrovia and would like to thank all our partners and donors: LINTA, Rettet den Regenwald, Liberian Forestry Development Authority (FDA), Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection, Arcus Foundation, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, European Union, Liberia Forest Sector Project, and Great Ape Conservation Fund of USFWS.

1. September 2021

Happy International Primate Day !

June 2021

Harvest festival in Bellakouré, Guinea

Created by presidential decree N°: DECRET D/2021/123/PRG/DGG of May 4, 2021, the Moyen-Bafing National Park organized on May 29 and 30, 2021 the first edition of the harvest festival and sale of agricultural products in Bellakouré. This initiative was the idea of the WCF President and Founder Professor Christophe Boesch to promote sustainable sectors and value chains based on environmentally friendly agro-ecological production techniques. The Bellakouré market, which is an endowment of the Moyen-Bafing National Park to the community, served as the setting for this first edition. Various authorities took part, including the prefects of Tougué and Dinguiraye, the mayors of Kollet and Kouratongo, several district presidents, notably those of Bellakouré, Lallabara and Lagi, and the technical services of the town halls in charge of agriculture. Various partners were also represented, notably the PNUD through the Bafing Falémé project, Agrifarm, ANAFIC and OMVS. 11 economic interest groups were present with different products such as onions, honey, watermelon, chilli, avocado, okra, aubergines, mangoes, bananas, néré, shea butter, to name a few. These two days of festivities were an opportunity to introduce the market administrator, who was appointed by order of the mayor's office and who set the market's day every Wednesday. Within the framework of this event, 14 tons of onions, i.e. 633 bags of 25 kg, were transported from the production sites to Béllakouré. As a result of this first edition, 19 bags were sold during the exhibition and 431 bags were transported to Labé for resale to the great satisfaction of all. Finally, the guests, buyers and sellers did not fail to warmly thank President Alpha Condé for the decree creating the park, as well as the management team of the Moyen-Bafing National Park, namely the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation and the Office Guinéen de Parcs et Réserves.

4 May 2021 - Creation of the Moyen-Bafing National Park

Today the President of the Republic of Guinea, Professor Alpha Conde, signed the decree of the Moyen-Bafing National Park !
This large protected area is home to over 5000 critically endangered western chimpanzees and other endangered wildlife. Together with the Office Guinéen de Parcs et Réserves the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation has worked for years to create this unique park. We would like to thank our partners and donors: Office Guinéen de Parcs et Réserves, Darwin Initiative, Rainforest Rescue, Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée, Ministère de Environnement des Eaux et Forêts et du Développement Durable, Great Ape Conservation Fund of US Fish and Wildlife Service, Zoo Leipzig, Zürcher Tierschutz, St Andrews Price for the Environment, Serengeti Park Stiftung, ARCUS, IUCN Save Our Species and European Union.

Press release [pdf]

1 May 2021 - Re-opening of the Taï Ecotourism project

After more than a year of closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Taï ecotourism site reopens its doors!
We are looking forward to welcoming you again, from May 1st 2021!
Please note that a health protocol has been established to ensure the protection of the primates, guides and local people at the park.

Please find the updated health protocol here:

www.ecotourismetai.com/sejours/protocole-sanitaire/

For more information on the stays offered, visit:

www.ecotourismetai.com/sejours/sejours-tai/

or contact us by email at reservation@wildchimps.org
or by phone/WhatsApp at +225 07 49 28 12 16

April 2021

Update from the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation Liberia

We have so many activities going on right now to better protect Liberia`s wildlife and nature:
- Ecotourism projects for Sapo National Park with the new Sapo cultural troop, which developed a music and dance program for the tourists that visit this beautiful region of Liberia
- Theater tour around Proposed Krahn-Bassa Protected Area
- Mapping of Proposed Krahn-Bassa Protected Area
- Community eco-guards in Grebo-Krahn National Park and Proposed Krahn-Bassa Protected Area
- Community Watch Teams in Sapo National Park

We would like to thank our partners: Liberian Forestry Development Authority, Environmental Protection Agency, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Liberia National Police/Transnational Organized Crime Unit, Interpol, Forestry Training Institute, University of Liberia, Paynesville and Monrovia City Cooperations, Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, CENFOR, Multi Agrisystems Promoters, Universal Outreach Foundation, FIFES-ACDI/VOCA, Born Free Foundation, Zoological Society of London.

We wish to thank our donors, without whom none of our projects would be possible: European Union, Great Ape Conservation Fund US Fish and Wildlife Service, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, Rainforest Rescue, Ape TAG, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Zoo Leipzig, Zoo Furuviksparken and the German Embassy in Liberia

April 2021

News about the Moyen-Bafing National Park creation in Guinea:
mosaiqueguinee.com/gouvernement-voici-les-grandes-annonces-du-conseil-des-ministres-de-ce-jeudi-1er-avril-2021-compte-rendu/

New video about the fauna of the Moyen-Bafing National Park:
Beautiful wildlife filmed during a camera-trap biomonitoring study of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation in the Moyen-Bafing National Park in Guinea. Filmed were for example the critically endangered western chimpanzee, the endangered colobus polykomos, the vulnerable lion, the vulnerable leopard and many more.
www.youtube.com/watch

March 2021

The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation celebrates its females employees on this International Women's Rights Day, 8 March 2021.

February 2021

The new Club P.A.N. school year 2020/2021 has started in Guinea with the teacher training workshop at Gagnakaly from 24.-27. February 2021!

This year, we work with 896 children from 10 schools in and around the Moyen-Bafing National Park: Laffa Boubhé, Fello Kollet, Kounet, Kouratongo, Dara, Kalinko-Centre, Missira Djallonké, Gagnakaly, and Béleya.

We would like to thank our three Club P.A.N. coordinators, the school directors, teachers, and authorities for participating at the three days workshop.

Many thanks to our partners and donors: Ministère de l'Education Nationale Guinée, Office Guinéen de Parcs et Réserves, Serengeti Park Stiftung, Zoo am Meer Bremerhaven, Zoo Leipzig, Zürcher Tierschutz, Guinea Alumina Cooporation for making this conservation education project possible.

January 2021

December 2020

Club P.A.N. (Personnes, Animaux, Nature / People, Animals, Nature) is part of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation's environmental education program operating around the Moyen-Bafing National Park in Guinea. Club P.A.N. was active for its tenth year in Guinea (2019/2020), which has been interrupted from March to August 2020 because of the COVID-19 crisis. The schools in Guinea were closed for this time period.

Club P.A.N. was active in ten schools this year (Kalinko Centre, Kalinko Konkéro, Keyla, Gagnakaly, Fello-Kollet, Kounet, Daara, Laffa-Boubé, Kouratongo and Louffa-Missidé) in the Moyen-Bafing region with 814 participating children. In comparison to last school year, we were able to increase the number of schools from eight to ten and the number of children from 608 to 814.

Five teachers and ten principals were trained and evaluated in November 2019 during a three days’ workshop in Kollet. Eleven conservation education sessions in each of the ten schools, and pre- and post-evaluations of 90 children were implemented. During the conservation action session, 563 trees have been planted by the children, their families and villagers in their schoolyards to create green fences around their schools, and 1 hectare has been planted in the village of Kalinko Centre.

Evaluation results show that the children increased their knowledge by 34% on average and 94% of the children want to avoid eating bush-meat in the future. Children changed their attitude towards nature into a more positive view in the post-evaluations. Nine parents’ days, prepared by the children at the end of the school year reached 1035 villagers. This school year was supervised by Sylvain Daavo, Mamadou Bobo Balde and Gabriel Maoumy.

We would like to thank the Ministère de l'Education Nationale Guinée, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Zürcher Tierschutz, Zoo Leipzig, Zoo am Meer Bremerhaven, Guinea Alumina Cooperation, Serengeti Park Stiftung, Anita Lesqueureux Keel and Verena Kummer for making this conservation education project possible.

If you want to read the final report of this school year, you can find it here:
https://www.wildchimps.org/projects/club-pan.html

September 2020

Law enforcement raining for the protection of the Moyen-Bafing National Park in Guinea

For the creation of the Moyen-Bafing National Park (MBNP), a series of training sessions took place in Labé from 22 to 24 /09/2020. 11 agents of the wildlife crime brigade from Labé, Tougué and Koubia, strengthen their capacities on the existing laws and procedures. The national wildlife crime brigade was created in 2019 by the Guinean government and placed under the supervision of the Ministry in charge of the environment, water and forests in order to honour its commitments to its international partners, notably CITES. The brigade's agents are empowered to investigate, record violations of forest and wildlife legislation and draw up official reports. The project for the creation of the Moyen-Bafing National Park hopes, through its capacity building programme for the agents of the brigade to fight against wildlife and floristic crime, to support their mandate to achieve common conservation objectives in the park and its surroundings. Thus, through participatory question-and-answer techniques, practical cases and group work; the participants are familiar with the legal provisions on environmental protection; the ethics; and the techniques for writing a report. These training sessions are the first in a series aimed at strengthening the operational capacities of the services dedicated to conservation. They are part of the partnership between the WCF and the Ministry of the Environment through the Guinean Office of Parks and Reserves.

Working group of officers during the law enforcement training in Labé

September 2020

The communities approve the boundaries of the new Moyen-Bafing National Park in Guinea

As part of the Moyen-Bafing National Park (MBNP) creation, a constant dialogue with all stakeholders is a concern for the team in charge of this process, made up of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) and the Guinean Office of Parks and Reserves (OGPR). Indeed, in compliance with the performance standards of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a series of community consultation frameworks, four in total, were organised in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020.

These community consultation frameworks, carried out successively in different governorates, prefectures, municipalities, districts and sectors covered by the park, in the presence of administrative authorities, local elected officials, decentralised technical structures and above all the local population, had the following objectives:
- Inform and sensitize the parties concerned on the activities of support to the communities of the MBNP;
- Present and discuss the external boundaries of the park, particularly those relating to each commune;
- Establish acts of approval of the external limits of the MBNP by each Commune at the end of the workshops.

Thus, this fourth framework of community consultations held from 19 to 29 August 2020, mobilised all 15 Communes of the MBNP: Tougué Centre, Kollet, Kouratongo, Fello Koundoua, Gadha woumdou, Kansangui, Koin, Kollangui, Teguereya, Dogomet, Kalinko, Arfamoussaya, Gagnakaly, Lansanaya and Diatiféré. At the end of this framework of consultations, after presentations and discussions, we can retain the unanimous community approval of the external limits of the MBNP in a free and enlightened way through the signature of 15 acts of approval, one act per Commune. These results of the fourth framework of community consultations thus reinforce the legitimacy of this park and suggest good prospects for the official creation of the Moyen-Bafing National Park by presidential decree.

Signing of agreements on the outer limits of the Moyen-Bafing National Park by Commander Saydou CONDE from the "’Office Guinéen des Parcs et Réserves"
Signing of agreements on the outer limits of the Moyen-Bafing National Park by the Mayor of Kollet
Signing of agreements on the external boundaries of the park by the community representative

July 2020

Develop value added chains in the villages of the Moyen-Bafing National Park: market gardening, honey and shea butter

In addition to its conservation activities for preservation of the biodiversity in the Moyen-Bafing National Park (MBNP), the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) in collaboration with the Guinean Office of Parks and Reserves (OGPR) supports the local population in their socio-economic development. This support includes the improvement of agricultural practices, and the development of sustainable honey production techniques in order to increase community income by protecting the park at the same time.

In 2020, support was provided for the production, packaging, transport and marketing of onions in the villages of Sangan, Idia and Ley kimbeli in the MBNP, known for their market gardening production. A total of 10.2 tons of onions were transported from these villages for sale on the main markets of Labé. 46 million GNF is the total income from this sale.

WCF also supports beekeeping and honey producers in the villages of Sangan, Lallabara, Koulifakara, Kalinko Konkero, Kalinko Missira, Foungani and Laffa Boubhé in the MBNP. Five partnership contracts have been signed between honey producers and traders for the honey that is produced in the NMBP. More than 100 litres of MBNP honey are already sold on the markets of Labé.

The communities welcome these initiatives with great enthusiasm, confirming the park management's desire to combine environmental protection with community development. WCF will support shea butter production for which the equipment has already been acquired and a contract is being signed with COPRACAM for the sustainability of the shea butter production in the MBNP.

Thanks to Darwin Initiative, Rainforest Rescue, Guinea Alumina Cooperation, Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée, l'Office Guinéen de Parcs et Réserves, Ministère de Environnement des Eaux et Forêts et du Développement Durable, USFWS !

July 2020

On the occasion of the third World Chimpanzee Day (14. July 2020), the project for the creation of the Moyen-Bafing National Park (MBNP) in Guinea donated framed photographs of the chimpanzees in the park to the administrative authorities of Labé.

This meeting was also used to present the recent activities in the park and to exchange on the state of conservation and protection of this species classified as critically endangered by the IUCN.

The authorities, namely the Governor and the Prefect of Labé, were very pleased with the initiative, reiterated their unconditional commitment to support the project in achieving its objectives.

July 2020

New project announcemnent

The future Moyen-Bafing National Park (MBNP) encompasses an area of approximately 6,500 km2 of the Fouta-Djallon region in Guinea, providing habitat for some of the largest population of the critically endangered western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus).

The conservation value of the MBNP is further enhanced by the presence of numerous species of high conservation value: African lion (Panthera leo; vulnerable), leopard (Panthera pardus; vulnerable), African golden cat (Caracal aurata; vulnerable), hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius; vulnerable), and the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer; vulunerable).

While the wide spatial distributions of these species aid in mitigating the threat of extinction, large-bodied mammals of West Africa are becoming exceptionally rare, as they experience elevated levels of risk as a result of their greater resource and spatial needs. Resource and spatial requirements of these iconic species often conflict with those of the rapidly increasing human population in the region, with habitat loss due to unsustainable timber harvest and agriculture practices representing the principle threats.

Given the elevated risks experienced by West African wildlife species, the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation is currently implementing project activities designed to identify, monitor, and enhance the habitat corridors needed to connect existing protected areas across the landscape into a functional conservation network.

Specifically, project objectives include:
• To monitor and study the movements of wildlife populations, particularly wild felids and their prey, within the MBNP and the neighbouring classified forests of Wondou, Tinkisso and Souarela to identify potential wildlife corridors;
• To counter-act deforestation in the project area through the application of wildfire controls, natural forest regeneration techniques, alternative livelihood projects, and training in agroecological farming practices;
• To work with communities to improve the acceptance and adoption of natural resource management processes and approaches through the creation of village-based natural resource management plans; • To reduce poaching and the trafficking of wildlife products, e.g. leopard skins, through education, outreach, and enhanced enforcement approaches.

With funding support from SOS – Save Our Species and co-funded by the European Commission – Development & Cooperation – EuropeAid, this new project led by WCF will build upon existing programs in the MBNP, expanding activities into the new territories of neighbouring classified forests that will form the building blocks of a nascent system of networked protected areas. While at a regional scale, the protected area network will form the heart of the conservation landscape strategy, at the local scale, WCF activities will remain firmly rooted in community-based natural resource planning and management, habitat conservation, and forest restoration.

This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union through IUCN Save Our Species. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation and do not necessarily reflect the views of IUCN or the European Union.

Pan troglodytes verus
Panthera leo
Panthera pardus
Leptailurus serval
Caracal aurata
MBNP agent helps a woman with producing maraichère

July 2020

We are excited to announce that our project, “Enhanced conservation of Leopard populations of the Bafing River watershed, Republic of Guinea” (Conservation renforcée des populations de Léopards (Panthera pardus) en République de Guinée, et principalement celles du bassin du fleuve Bafing) is now supported by SOS – Save Our Species and co-funded by the European Comission – Development & Cooperation – EuropeAid.

With the support of @SpeciesSavers, co-funded by @europeaid, we hope to be able to monitor wild felid populations, particularly leopards (Panthera pardus), and identify habitat corridors, while working with communities in promoting reforestation and sustainable natural resource management.

With the support of IUCN Save Our Species, co-funded by the European Union

June 2020

Please visit our YouTube channel to find out more about our activities in Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea!
www.youtube.com/channel/UCYGmGFQlW4LLz5UdU3N6cHQ

April 2020

Professor Dr. Christophe Boesch, the Founder and President of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation was nominated as one of six finalists for the World's Top Animal Conservation Award: the Indianapolis Prize.
The Indianapolis Prize recognizes and rewards conservationists who have made significant progress in saving an animal species, or multiple species, from extinction. Every other year, the prize awards $250,000 to one Winner, while five Finalists receive $10,000 each.
Thank you so much!

Find out more here:
https://www.indianapoliszoo.com/prize/six-finalists-announced-for-worlds-top-animal-conservation-award/

March 2020

Hello!
Your health, that of our team, and of the primates at the ecotourism site in the Taï National Park is a priority for us. We decided to close the ecotourism site until further notice, following the recommendations of the Ivorian Government.
We thank you for your understanding and will keep you informed of the reopening of the site. Please check regularly our webpage.
We can be reached via the contact form on the site www.ecotourismetai.com or the messaging service on our Facebook page to answer all your questions.
Take care of yourself and your loved ones!
The Taï Ecotourism team

January 2020

December 2019

Opening of the Club P.A.N. teacher training workshop at the town hall of Fello-Kollet by the local authorities.

The new Club P.A.N. school year 2019/2020 has started in Guinea with the teacher training workshop at the town hall of Fello-Kollet from 27.-29. November 2019! This year, we have increased our environmental education project to 10 schools in and around the Moyen-Bafing National Park. We would like to thank our three Club P.A.N. coordinators, the school directors, teachers, and authorities for participating at the three days workshop. Many thanks to our partners and donors: Ministère de l'Education Nationale Guinée, Office Guinéen de Parcs et Réserves, Mairie de Fello-Kollet, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Serengeti Park Stiftung, Zoo am Meer Bremerhaven, Zoo Leipzig, Zürcher Tierschutz, Guinea Alumina Cooporation for making this conservation education project possible.

October 2019

What a surprise: Lions in the Moyen-Bafing National Park (MBNP), Guinea!
From our large camera trap biomonitoring in this park, we can confirm the presence of a West African Adult Lion (Panthera leo). With the western chimpanzee, it is the second critically endangered mammal species living in this park. And for the Republic of Guinea, these are great news because the species was considered extinct. We can confirm 45 mammal species in this park, including five other vulnerable classifications, namely the Leopard (Panthera pardus), the Caracal (Caracal aurata), the Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), the Colobus (Colobus polykomos), and the Giant Pangolin (Smutsia gigantea).

More details here: PDF

October 2019

Congratulations to our WCF-Liberia Director Dr. Annika Hillers for receiving an award for the outstanding work in the Forestry Sector by the West Africa Media Network. The award ceremony took place on Friday, 25 October 2019 in Liberia. Thanks for your great work Annika!

August 2019

Club P.A.N. (Personnes, Animaux, Nature / People, Animals, Nature) is part of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation's environmental education program operating around the Moyen-Bafing National Park in Guinea. Club P.A.N. was active for its ninth school year in Guinea (2018/2019) working with 8 schools (Kalinko, Keyla, Gagnakaly, Fello-Kollet, Kounet, Daara, Laffa- Boubé and Kouratongo) in the Moyen-Bafing region with 608 participating children. The parents’ day, prepared by the children at the end of the school year reached 3298 villagers. This school year was supervised by Sylvain Daavo, Dylan Deffaux, Mamadou Bobo Balde and Djaka Mady Kaba.

We would like to thank the Ministère de l'Education Nationale Guinée, Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Zürcher Tierschutz, Zoo Leipzig, Zoo am Meer Bremerhaven, The Biodiversity Company (TBC), Guinea Alumina Cooperation, Serengeti Park Stiftung, Anita Lesqueureux Keel and Verena Kummer for making this conservation education project possible.

If you want to read the final report of this school year, you can find it here: www.wildchimps.org/projects/club-pan.html

June 2019

New WCF independent observation report on logging in the Cavally Forest, Côte d'Ivoire

The new independent forest monitoring report number 8 presents the results of timber harvesting in the Cavally Classified Forest in 2018 . It also includes recommendations to the forest administration and the operator, aimed at ensuring sustainable management of this forest for the conservation of chimpanzees and biodiversity. [pdf in French]

May 2019

Involvement of the local human populations for the creation of the Moyen-Bafing National Park in Guinea
New report about the participation of the local human populations in the creation of the Moyen-Bafing National Park which hosts about 5,000 chimpanzees in an area of 6,426 sq km, the largest protected area for West African chimpanzees in Guinea. [PDF in French]

May 2019

Capacity building in monitoring and evaluation, towards better management of protected areas in Guinea
From the 1.-5. of April 2019, the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation in collaboration with the "Office Guinéen des Parcs et Réserves" organized this workshop in Labé for the park authorities of the Haut Niger National Park, Badiar National Park, and the Ziama Classified Forest in Guinea. These three sites are listed as UNESCO biosphere reserves and their good management and evaluation is essential.

More details about the workshop can be found in this report [PDF in French].

February 2019

Exchange of experiences on the functioning of ecological compensation mechanisms and the sustainable financing of protected areas

From 23 to 24 January 2019, WCF-Guinea took part in a workshop organized by the National Committee for the compensation of negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems. The WCF-Guinea Director, Arnaud Gotanegre, presented the innovative initiative for the creation of the Moyen-Bafing National Park (MBNP). The creation of this park is based on a principle of ecological compensation for the negative impacts caused by mining activities that affect chimpanzee populations outside the park. This process, called "Offset", represents a model for the management of protected areas around the world.

The WCF and the Ministry of the Environment, Water and Forests of the Republic of Guinea are working hand in hand to ensure that the MBNP and Guinea are leading examples in the management and sustainable financing of protected areas at the international level. All participants at the meeting also expressed their willingness to collaborate with the WCF and the Guinean Government to achieve the goals of compensation and conservation of biodiversity through the creation of the MBNP.

January 2019

Meeting on the development of Cavally Classified Forest
On December 13, 2018, an information meeting on the Independent Observations and management of the Cavally Classified Forest took place in Zagné, with WCF, SODEFOR, and the representatives of the local population. During the meeting, the representatives of the populations decided to set-up a Forestry Commissions till the end of 2019. They asked SODEFOR to intensify their law enforcement work in the forest against increasing human illegal activities such as plantations. Finally, they wanted more wood from Cavally Classified Forest to be sold locally in Zagné, in order to facilitate local supply and not national or international.
We thank NOFNA for the organization of this meeting, the village chiefs of Zagné, Vodélobly, Tienkoula, Gouledji Béoué, Djidoubaye, Keibly, Zaipobly, Gahably, Ponan and Daobly, the cantons chiefs of Gneo and Dao, the President of the Youth, SODEFOR for participation, and the Sustainable Trade Initiative for financing this meeting.

January 2019

Training and mission for Independent Observations (IO) organized by WCF in Côte d’Ivoire
From November, 26th to December, 21th, 2018, a total of 18 persons from 12 different Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) participated in a WCF-organized training on Independent Observations (IO). The objective is that Ivorian CSOs carry out IO autonomously. The NGOs Gaya, APFNP, Vie et environnement, Aya, IDEF, JVE, Volet Vert, MIDH, Klowa Awlorie (Duékoué), UFEM-CI, AOE and OI-REN were present.
The IO mission took place from December 5th to 12th 2018 in Cavally Classified Forest with WCF, SODEFOR, members of the CSOs and communities bordering the forest. For 6 days a part of the forest was surveyed to collect information on the deforestation. A detailed report will be available soon. We want to thank the French Embassy, FAO, IDH and FSPI for financing this training and mission. We thank SODEFOR for the collaboration and the mandate to lead the IO in Cavally Classified Forest, and all the participating CSOs!

January 2019

November 2018

The new Club P.A.N. school year (2018/2019) started with the teacher training in Labé from 1.-4.11.2018. This year we are working with 8 primary schools: Daara, Laafa-Boube, Kalinko, Gagnakaly, Keyla, Fello-Kollet, Kounet and Kouratongo. We will reach more than 700 children and their families. This school year is supervised by Dylan Deffaux, Mamadou Bobo Balde and Djakamady Kaba.

We would like to thank the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Tierschutz Zürich, Serengeti Park Stiftung, Zoo Leipzig, Zoo am Meer Bremerhafen, Guinea Alumina Cooperation and several private donors for making this conservation education project possible.

October 2018

WCF-Guinea Director Arnaud Gotanegre with his team and Colonel Mamadi Sayba Keita, Director General of OGuiPaR, and Commander Condé.

Assessment meeting of WCF and the Guinean Office of Parks and Reserves

From 17 to 19/09/2018, WCF and the Guinean Office of Parks and Reserves (OGuiPaR) organized a workshop in Labé to evaluate the first year of activities from the Action Plan (2018-2020), for the creation of the Moyen-Bafing National Park (MBNP). Since the beginning of the year, WCF and OGuiPaR have implemented environmental and community activities in several villages of the future park. In the 3rd quarter of 2018, more than 70% of the actions have been realized and the work will continue since some of the results foreseen in the Action Plan remain to be achieved by the end of the year. The meeting between OGuiPaR and the WCF thus made it possible to establish a detailed planning of activities to be undertaken for the last quarter of 2018, and the beginning of 2019. This workshop also allowed to estimate that 90% of the capacity building process for WCF and OGuiPaR teams will be completed by the end of 2018. At the end of the 3 days, an interview of the Director General of OGuiPaR was broadcast on community radio to inform the local population on the progress of park creation. We want to thank OGuiPaR and the Guinean Government for the trust they place in us in the success of this project.

October 2018

Club P.A.N. (Personnes, Animaux, Nature / People, Animals, Nature) is part of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation's environmental education program operating around the Moyen-Bafing National Park in Guinea. Club P.A.N. was active for its eight school year in Guinea (2017/2018) working with 6 schools (Kalinko, Keyla, Gagnakaly, Fello-Kollet, Kounet and Kouratongo) in the Moyen-Bafing region with 503 participating children. The parents’ day, prepared by the children at the end of the school year reached 1059 villagers.

This school year was supervised by Moussa Kaba, Dylan Deffaux, Mamadou Bobo Balde and Tidiane Nabe. We would like to thank the Ministère de l'Education Nationale Guinée, Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Zürcher Tierschutz, Zoo Leipzig, Zoo am Meer Bremerhaven, The Biodiversity Company (TBC), Guinea Alumina Cooperation, Serengeti Park Stiftung, Anita Lesqueureux Keel and Verena Kummer for making this conservation education project possible.

If you want to read the final report of this school year, you can find it here: www.wildchimps.org/projects/club-pan.html

August 2018

In June and July 2018, the WCF Guinea team participated in several crucial meetings for the creation of the Moyen-Bafing National Park (MBNP). After presenting our work to one of the main financial partners, the Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG), in the WCF Labé office, we were able to exchange with various government representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests, the Ministry of Mines and Geology, and the Ministry of Energy and Hydraulics.
The objective of these meetings, for Professor Christophe Boesch and his teams, was to undertake consultations on the potential environmental and socio-economic impacts of mining and hydraulic projects in the area of ​​the future park. In addition, these various meetings made it possible to update on the progress of park creation and to involve the authorities in the process of local community development. We would like to thank CBG and the Guinean Government for their involvement.

22/06/2018 Visit of the Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée at the WCF Labé office
24/06/2018 Meeting with the community of Tougué
05/07/2018 Inter-ministerial commission meeting in Conakry
06/07/2018 Meeting in Conakry

August 2018

The WCF Liberia team around the WCF country director Dr. Annika Hillers is growing! Warm welcome to Clement Tweh, Frédérique Chateau, Chris Kpan Oscar, Rufus Dweh, Christian Flomo, Lindsy Rue, Amos Krayou and Victoria Tailey!

14 July 2018

In honor of humans’ closest cousin, World Chimpanzee Day is a celebration of chimpanzees and an opportunity to raise awareness about the vital need for worldwide participation in their care, protection, and conservation in the wild and in captivity. To galvanize both wild and captive chimpanzee care and conservation communities, as well as engage our collective audiences and networks, a group of organizations is leading the charge in launching the first ever World Chimpanzee Day to be held on July 14, 2018.

July 14, 1960 is the day Dr. Jane Goodall first stepped foot in what is now Gombe Stream National Park to study wild chimpanzees. Dr. Goodall called attention to the remarkable chimpanzee and to this day, six decades later, advocates on their behalf.

https://www.worldchimpanzeeday.org/
https://www.facebook.com/pg/WorldChimpanzeeDay

June 2018

Third community consultations in Guinea

In April and May 2018 the WCF Guinea team undertook a third mission of community consultations as part of the Moyen-Bafing National Park creation. Two teams, composed of members from the Guinean Office of Parks and Reserves (OGuiPaR) and the WCF, traveled for 6 weeks to the area of the future park and held 48 meetings attended by representatives from 262 villages. This sensitization and information campaign allowed villagers, locals, regionals, customary and administrative authorities to meet again, to present the progress of the park creation and to continue to involve them in this process. These consultations were a forum for discussion and reflection on the creation of natural resource management committees and the launch of pilot activities. After each meeting, an open debate session allowed to discuss all themes and participants could raise their concerns.

May 2018

Assisted Natural Regeneration project in Guinea

WCF and the "Office Guinéen de Parcs et Réserves" (OGUIPAR) started to work together on the rural development projects in the Moyen-Bafing National Park (MBNP), in particular the re-greening project also called the Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR). ANR programs are relatively new in Guinea, so it was important to include OGUIPAR from the beginning to this activity. In March 2017, WCF developed a collaboration with World Vision Sénégal to obtain more information about their projects, and the first step has been to visit their project in Kaffrine (Senegal). The project aims to provide the Moyen-Bafing communities with an environmentally friendly agriculture for the sustainable management of natural resources. Community awareness workshops, led by OGUIPAR and WCF, have identified 12 farmers to implement an ANR project in six villages: Lallabara, Sangan, Koulifakara , Kalinko-Konkero, Fougnani and Kalinko Missira. With this rural development project, the WCF involves the local community in the process of park creation by implementing innovative and sustainable agricultural systems that fight against soil degradation and that preserve the biodiversity.

We would like to thank the Darwin Initiative which is funding this important regeneration project!

April 2018

Congrats to Liberia!
Two new national parks were launched the 26. April 2018 in Monrovia!

Grebo-Krahn National Park (970 sq km, 300 chimpanzees)
Gola Forest National Park (88000 ha, 100 chimpanzees)

The creation of protected areas contributes to the national goal of Liberia to protect 30% of their remaining tropical forest by 2030.

Thank you Liberia, this is a huge contribution to protect our planet!

Many thanks to our partners and donors: Liberian Forestry Development Authority, Local Auhtorities Grand Gedeh and River Gee Counties, Grebo-Krahn Communities, Liberian Ministries, Multi-Agrisystems Promoters, Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia, Eddie Theater Production, Ambero/GIZ, AHT Group/KfW, Rainforest Rescue, GACF from US Fish and Wildlife Services, BENGO/WWF Germany, Zoo Leipzig and WABiCC/US AID.

April 2018

The regional launch of the new Grebo-Krahn National Park in Zwedru/ Liberia was celebrated the 14. April 2018.

Many thanks to our partners and donors:
Liberian Forestry Development Authority, Local Auhtorities Grand Gedeh and River Gee Counties, Grebo-Krahn Communities, Liberian Ministries, Multi-Agrisystems Promoters, Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia, Eddie Theater Production, Ambero/GIZ, AHT Group/KfW, Rainforest Rescue, GACF from US Fish and Wildlife Services, BENGO/WWF Germany, Zoo Leipzig and WABiCC/US AID.

April 2018

Club P.A.N. (Personnes, Animaux, Nature / People, Animals, Nature) is part of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation's environmental education program operating around the Moyen-Bafing National Park in Guinea.

This school year (2017/2018) we are working with six primary schools: Kalinko, Gagnakaly, Keyla, Fello-Kollet, Kounet and Kouratongo. We will reach more than 600 children and their families.

In January 2018 we had a successful teacher training in Dinguiraye.

This school year is supervised by Moussa Kaba, Dylan Deffaux, Mamadou Bobo Balde and Tidiane Nabe.

We would like to thank the Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, Tierschutz Zürich, Serengeti Park Stiftung, Zoo Leipzig, Zoo am Meer Bremerhafen, Guinea Alumina Cooperation and several private donors for making this conservation education project possible.

If you want to find out more, please visit our blog and website:
http://www.wildchimps.org/projects/club-pan.html
http://clubpan.blogspot.de/

 

 

February 2018

Visit of the Ambassador of Great Britain in Guinea at the WCF Labé office

On Thursday the 22 of February 2018, Professor Christophe Boesch and his team had the honor to welcome the Ambassador of Great Britain in Guinea, Mrs Catherine Inglehearn, and the Regional Director of the Environment in Labé, Mr Alpha Oumar Barry. This visit to the WCF Labé office allowed Christophe Boesch to talk about his work and his experience with chimpanzees but also to present the various ongoing activities of his NGO and the creation of the Moyen-Bafing National Park (MBNP). The visit was an opportunity to consolidate the partnerships between WCF and UK biodiversity conservation organizations such as the Darwin Foundation and the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens. Two local media (RTG and Espace FM) helped to cover this event. Thus, the WCF hopes that this meeting will contribute to the creation of the MBNP by 2020 and respond to the ambitions of the Guinean government that wants to place 15% of these land surfaces under protection within 2 years.

February 2018

The new WCF Guinea team

2018 starts as a year with several changes to the Guinean representation of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF). Since several weeks the NGO has undertaken a big recruitment plan to create a team of specialists from all areas of expertise (accounting, sociology, agronomy, biology, etc.). Our new staff members reinforce our team already in place to continue and facilitate the strategy of the Moyen-Bafing National Park creation.  

On the 15th of February 2018, a part of the current WCF team took a new team photo at the WCF Labé office. A warm welcome to all new team members! This moment was also an opportunity to thank Dr. Céline Devos for her work since she is leaving our team. We wish her all the best for her future!

February 2018

The presence of leopards is confirmed in the new Moyen-Bafing National Park, Guinea

The new Moyen-Bafing National Park in Guinea hosts between 4 - 5,000 western chimpanzees in an area of 6,426 sq km, the largest protected area for chimpanzees in Guinea and the largest chimpanzee population in West Africa.

The new park provides also habitat for several vulnerable large mammal species including the leopard (Panthera pardus), the golden cat (Caracal aurata), the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibious) and near threatened species, such as the bay duiker  (Cephalophus dorsalis), the yellow-back duiker (Cephalophus sylvicultur) and the Guinean baboon (Papio papio).   Recently, the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) has managed to film rare images of a leopard family (Panthera pardus) in this conservation area.

Classified as Vulnerable by IUCN, listed in Annex 1 of the International Convention on the Marketing of Species (CITES), the leopard is one of the priority species protected inside the new Moyen-Bafing National Park. Leopards are mainly threatened by fragmentation of forest habitats, bush fires and poaching. A network of camera traps set up by WCF has captured this female and her two youngsters.

January 2018

October 2017

The Government of Guinea approves creation of largest sanctuary for the West African chimpanzee!

On 28th September 2017, the Minister of Environment, Water and Forests signed a ministerial order for the creation of the Moyen-Bafing National Park of which hosts about 4,000 chimpanzees in an area of 6,426 sq km, the largest protected area for West African chimpanzees in Guinea. The area of the Moyen-Bafing, overlapping with the prefectures of Tougué, Koubia, Dinguiraye, Dabola and Mamou, encompasses seven classified forests with what now constitutes the largest continuous population of this critically endangered sub-species in West Africa, and one of the largest on the African continent.

More information can be found on the press release (PDF).

September 2017

We want to thank all the donors and partners that supported Club P.A.N. during the school year 2016-2017!

Club P.A.N. was active in six schools in Guinea with 500 children attending 12 nature club sessions and two evaluations. Children were included in the preparation of a parents’ day at the end of their school year reaching 3280 villagers and parents with their presentations. Evaluation results show that Club P.A.N. children increased their knowledge by 40% on average, and 91% of the children want to avoid eating bush-meat in the future.

Final report Club P.A.N. 2016/2017

August 2017

Wonderful news from Liberia to the world!
The new Grebo-Krahn National Park passed into law!

This new park protects around 970 km2 of primary tropical rainforest and is the heart of the transboundary Taï-Grebo-Sapo Forest Complex between Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia.

The new park provides habitat for several threatened large mammal species including the critically endangered western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus), the endangered and endemic pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis), Jentink’s duiker (Cephalophus jentinki) and western red colobus monkey (Piliocolobus badius), as well as the vulnerable forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), Zebra duiker (Cephalophus zebra) and Diana monkey (Cercopithecus diana).

The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation would like to thank all partners and donors for making this happen: The Liberian Forestry Development Authority (especially Hon. Darlington S. Tuagben, Borwen L. Sayon, Theo Freeman, Jerry G. Yonmah, Blamah Goll, Abednego Gbarway, and Joseph Greene), the Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia (especially Michael F. Garbo), the President Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and the Parliament of the Republic of Liberia, the Environmental Protection Agency, all conservation partners in Liberia, all the local communities, Rainforest Rescue, Wientjes/World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), Global Giving, Furuviksparken, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) through the Great Ape Conservation Fund, GIZ/Ambero, KfW/AHT and all other donors.

August 2017

The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation is leading Independent Observation Monitoring projects (FAO-EU FLEGT) to control logging in Côte d'Ivoire. In Cavally Classified Forest since 2014 and since June 2017 also in Besso Classified Forest and Yaya Classified Forest.

 

 

July 2017

Two new collaborative publications of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany:

Kouassi, J. A. K., Normand, E., Koné, I., Boesch, C. (2017). Bushmeat consumption and environmental awareness in rural households: a case study around Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire. Oryx. [pdf]

Kühl, H. S., Sop, T., Williamson, E. A., Mundry, R., Brugière, D., Campbell, G., Cohen, H., Danquah, E., Ginn, L., Herbinger, I., Jones, S., Junker, J., Kormos, R., Kouakou, C. Y., N'Goran, P. K., Normand, E., Shutt-Phillips, K., Tickle, A., Vendras, E., Welsh, A., Wessling, E. G., & Boesch, C. (2017). The Critically Endangered western chimpanzee declines by 80%. American Journal of Primatology. [pdf]

April 2017

The WCF Guinea team is happy to announce that the second round of community consultations for the Proposed Moyen-Bafing National Park in Guinea has just begun in April 2017. Two teams, composed of members from the Office Guinéen de Parcs et Réserves (OGUIPAR) and the WCF, will travel for 6 weeks in the region of the Proposed Moyen-Bafing National Park to meet the villagers in order to continue the awareness raising for nature conservation and to present the progress of the project. After each meeting, a debate session is opened to all participants so that they can express their views on the different themes of the park creation, proposed park boundaries and to raise their concerns.

April 2017

The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation is leading an awareness campaign with theater plays and discussion rounds around the Cavally Classified Forest in Côte d'Ivoire. This forest is home to the critically endangered western chimpanzees and in huge danger of deforestation for illegal cocoa plantations.
Here is a link to a press article in French by Eburnie Today from 24.April 2017.
www.eburnietoday.com/2017/04/24/foret-classee-cavally-wcf-sensibilise-populations

And a radio show by RFI in French from 21.April 2017 about Cavally Classified Forest:
http://www.rfi.fr/emission/20170421-cote-ivoire-foret-cavally-menacee-disparition

April 2017

In April 2017, we had a team meeting at our West African office in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire with WCF President Christophe Boesch, WCF West Africa Director Emmanuelle Normand, and WCF Liberia Director Dervla Dowd. Warm welcome to our new team members Annika Hillers and Céline Devos!

March 2017

Interview with Professor Christophe Boesch from the Max Planck Institute for evolutionary Anthropology and Dr. Fabian Leendertz from the Robert Koch Institute in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung from 12.03.2017 about the "Dangerous Proximity" (Gefährliche Nähe") between great apes and humans for disease transmissions. (PDF in German)

February 2017

Participants of the Club P.A.N. teacher training, it was held from 03 to 09/11/2016 in Tougue, Guinea.

February 2017

Our team in Guinea just finished the capacity building of sociologists for the socio-economic study in the area of the proposed Moyen-Bafing National Park, Guinea. The training was conducted at the beginning of February 2017 in Labé. The training was opened by Colonel Sow, a member of the Guinean Office of Parks and Reserves (OGUIPAR), representing the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests, with whom WCF collaborates in the creation of the Protected Area. The trained sociologists will leave now for 3 months of field work with interviews of the local communities living in and around the proposed Moyen-Bafing National Park.

January 2017

New Ecotourism Webpage in French!
www.ecotourismetai.com
Plan your trip to the unique Taï National Park in Côte d'Ivoire!

January 2017

September 2016

Club P.A.N. parent's day at the end of the school year 2015/2016

We want to thank all the donors that supported Club P.A.N. during the school year 2015-2016!

Club P.A.N. was fully active during this school year; reaching five schools in Côte d’Ivoire with more than 260 children and four schools in Guinea with more than 480 children. All participating children attended two evaluations and 12 sessions. Children were included in the preparation of a parents’ day at the end of their school year reaching more than 4300 villagers and parents with their presentations.

Final report Club P.A.N. 2015/2016

September 2016

In September 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the Western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) as critically endangered in their Red List of threatened species.

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/15935/0

The total population estimate for the Western chimpanzee is 18,000–65,000 individuals (Sop et al. in prep).

High levels of bush-meat hunting, the loss of habitat and habitat fragmentation resulting from human activities, the Western chimpanzee is estimated to have experienced a significant population reduction in the past 50 years, and it is suspected that this reduction will persist in coming years. The extent of overlap between chimpanzee occurrence and areas suitable for oil-palm development is likely to exacerbate population declines in coming years (Wich et al. 2014), especially in Liberia (94.3% overlap) and Sierra Leone (84.2% overlap), which along with Guinea are the strongholds for the Western chimpanzees (Kormos, Humle et al. 2003, Brncic et al. 2010, Tweh et al. 2015).

Citation: Humle, T., Boesch, C., Campbell, G., Junker, J., Koops, K., Kuehl, H. & Sop, T. 2016. Pan troglodytes ssp. verus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T15935A17989872.

September 2016

The Rainforest Report 03/2016, a magazine from Rainforest Rescue /Rettet den Regenwald e.V., presents an article of our WCF work in Liberia (article is in German):

www.regenwald.org/regenwaldreport

February 2016

We want to thank all the donors that supported Club P.A.N. during the new school year 2015-2016!

Club P.A.N. started in 5 schools in Côte d'Ivoire, reaching 260 children and their families this year!

In November 2015, Club P.A.N. started in 3 schools in the west of Taï National Park: Gouléako 2, Sakré and Ziriglo. In total, we reach in these schools 141 children.

Thanks to the donations from their German partner-schools (Kepler Gymnasium Leipzig, Alexander von Humboldt Gymnasium Werdau), the Club P.A.N. program also started now in February 2016, in 2 schools in the east of Taï National Park, in Petit Tiémé and Adamakro, reaching 119 children there.

Instead of the former 15 Club P.A.N. schools, unfortunately, due to lack of funding, we were able to keep up this activity in 5 schools during the current year. We are most grateful to all donors who helped us to make this happen! We also wish to express our gratitude to our local coordinators Ouattara Dabila, Hilaire Guilahoux, Gbla Georges Gnolou and Andrien Kouadio Kouakou from "Cellule des Projets Environnementaux", without whom this project would not exist!

January 2016

New Current Biology Magazine Feature published "Chimpanzees, our cultured cousins"! (PDF)

January 2016

The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation wishes you a happy new year 2016!

December 2015

New WCF report for "Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée" (CBG-Halco concession)
Complementary primates study, CBG expansion project

December 2015

New SPIEGEL article about the chimpanzees in Taï National Park (Côte d'Ivoire) and the work of the WCF from journalist Philip Bethge (article and video are both in German): (PDF in German)

https://magazin.spiegel.de/SP/2015/53/140604376/index.html

http://video.spiegel.de/flash/17/07/1637071_1024x576_H264_HQ.mp4

 

 

August 1, 2015

S.O.S. for Club P.A.N. in Côte d’Ivoire! Please Help!!!

Thank you for visiting and taking the time to hear our appeal!

Normally, Club P.A.N. would start its 9th school year this October 2015 in Côte d'Ivoire. Unfortunately, we were unable to secure funding this year despite the amazing results we have achieved with the program and all the children we have reached.

This means that 15 schools with more than 1000 children will not learn about environmental issues, endangered species, local flora and fauna, biodiversity, conflicts between animals and humans and good hygienic practices this year and perhaps not ever again in the foreseeable future around the Taï National Park.

We have been making progress to incorporate Club P.A.N. into the national school curriculum but that has not happened yet and we really do not want to lose the momentum we have been developing over the last 8 years. The first meetings with the Ministry of Education happened earlier this year and stopping Club P.A.N. now may be the end of the entire national initiative as well.

We are now asking for crowd funding and for you to support us in our 9th year on Global Giving!

As little as 10 dollars will pay for a Club P.A.N. T-Shirt and book for one child with 12 sessions in it and have them included in the program. If you are able to donate more here is how your money will contribute to running Club P.A.N. in 2014-2015:

Even if you can only donate a few dollars every little bit counts, please consider helping us reach our goal to fund Club P.A.N. this year.

Please spread the word on twitter, facebook and any other way you can - Thank you et Merci!

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/sos-club-pan/

If you prefer to donate directly to the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation please donate here and earmark your donation "for Club P.A.N.": http://www.wildchimps.org/wcf/english/files/donation.htm

July 1, 2015

End of the Club P.A.N. school year 2014-2015

Club P.A.N. has now been active for its 8th consecutive year in Côte d’Ivoire, around the Taï National Park, and for its 5th year in the regions of Sangaredi and Dabola in Guinea. The number of schools we managed to work in increased again, with 7 schools in Guinea and 15 schools in Côte d’Ivoire! It was a wonderful school year with great activities and outcomes from the parents days and conservation activities. During lesson 11 we had some great conservation projects including a big tree planting project and the construction of a new goat farm as a school micro-project. In cooperation with the partner school project WCF runs with German schools such as the Humboldt Gymnasium in Werdau and the Kepler Gymnasium in Leipzig, the school in Adamakro received a new building with new class rooms. Thanks to the money German pupils donated to the project to cover school fees and study materials, 6 girls were able to attend school this year. A big thank you to the German schools!

The highlight of this school year was the creation of a new Club P.A.N. session (Number 12!!!) by researchers from the Robert Koch-Institute in Berlin. This lesson was a response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014 and concentrated on good hygienic practices and the prevention of disease transmission. The children received new posters, lesson materials, soap and buckets. The Club P.A.N. teacher training in October 2014 was conducted this time at the research station in Taï National Park with support of OIPR, CPE, TMP and TCP. The teachers and principals were able to see the primary tropical rainforest and parts of the training were conducted in the forest during nature walks. This was our most enjoyed and successful teacher training to date!

June 1, 2015

Outstanding contribution institution of the year 2014

WCF is honored for its outstanding contribution to conservation in Liberia!

April 1, 2015

2015 Winner of the St Andrews Prize for the Environment

A multi-level conservation project, which aims to protect the largest remaining population of wild chimpanzees in the Foutah Djallon-Bafing river region in Guinea, West Africa has won this year’s St Andrews Prize for the Environment. At a ceremony at the University of St Andrews, Christophe Boesch from the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, and director at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, was presented with the winning prize of $100,000 USD.

Download press release (pdf)

The St Andrews Prize

January 1, 2015

Taï-Grebo-Sapo Forest Complex between Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia

  • Biomonitoring phase 1 in the Proposed Grebo National Park, Liberia (2014) [pdf]
  • Community Eco-Guard: Report of the activities undertaken in and around the proposed Grebo National Park, Liberia (2014) [pdf]
  • Report on the second steering committee meeting for the trans-boundary collaboration for the Taï-Grebo-Sapo Forest Complex between Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia (June 2014) [pdf]
  • Report on the first steering committee meeting for the trans-boundary collaboration for the Taï-Sapo Forest Complex between Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia (March 2013) [pdf]
  • Étude des terroirs et couloirs écologiques entre le Parc National de Taï et le Parc National de Grebo (par Frédéric Varlet, Avril 2013) [pdf in French]
  • Conflict prevention and resolution in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire (by Alec Crawford, March 2013) [pdf]

December 1, 2014

International Green Apple Environment Award

The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation received the International Green Apple Environment Award for environmental best practice around the world, WCF is the Europe: Silver Winner! We want to thank the green organisation for this honor!
http://www.thegreenorganisation.info/green-apple-awards

green_apple_award.pdf

August 1, 2014

Steering committee meeting

The WCF organized the second steering committee meeting for the trans-boundary collaboration for the Taï-Grebo-Sapo Forest Complex between Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia in June 2014.

Report [pdf]

August 1, 2014

Club P.A.N.

Club P.A.N. has now been active for its seventh consecutive year in Côte d’Ivoire around the Taï National Park and for its fourth year in Guinea.The final report provides an overview of what has been done during this school year of the program (2013/2014).

Final report Club P.A.N. 2013/2014 [PDF]

The highlight of this school year is the honoring of our Club P.A.N. coordinator Mr. HilaireGuilahoux from the CPE with the “Charles Southwick Conservation Education Commitment Award 2014” from the International Primatological Society. Furthermore, the Club P.A.N. project received the “Educating Africa Pan-African Awards for Entrepreneurship in Education 2013” from the “Teach A Man To Fish” organization.

Club P.A.N. was fully active during this school year; reaching fifteen schools in Côte d’Ivoire with 729 children and 4 schools in Guinea with 400 children – a total of 1129 children in both countries. All these children joined two evaluations and 11 sessions. All children prepared a parents day at the end of their school year and teachers where trained in the beginning of the school year, the WCF achieved all Club P.A.N. objectives set out.

We would like to thank our collaborators and partners from the school systems in Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire (Ministère de l’EducationNationale) and particularly the Inspection de l’EnseignementPrimaire de Soubré1 - Cellule des ProjetsEnvironnementaux (CPE) to plan and organize the activities of the education program. We would like to thank the sponsors of the 2013-2014 Club P.A.N. school year: Guinea Alumina Corporation, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, International Primatological Society, Teach a Man to Fish, Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund, Fonds Social de Developpement, Auckland Zoo Conservation Grant, ZüricherTierschutz, Paul Schiller Stiftung, Brevard Zoo, Leipzig Zoo and Zoo am Meer Bremerhafen! Without you, nothing would be possible, thanks!

April 15, 2014

Partnership: WCF and SODEFOR

WCF and SODEFOR signed a 1 year partnership agreement in April, 22 2014 mandating WCF to perform Independent Monitoring missions with members of the communities in forest managed by the logging company (STBC) and its government controller SODEFOR. This is the first pilot study of this nature in the, EU-FAO FLEGT program, Côte d’Ivoire.

April 1, 2014

Winner of the 2013 Saville Foundation Pan-African Awards for Entrepreneurship in Education

The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation wins the competition for promoting entrepreneurship and innovation in education and confronting youth unemployment in Africa. UK-based charity Teach A Man To Fish has announced the WCF as Country Winner of the 2013 Saville Foundation Pan-African Awards for Entrepreneurship in Education. The competition has awarded organizations from 40 different countries with a total of $57,000 in prizes. The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation will be awarded $1000 as the winning organisation in Côte d'Ivoire. The WCF are leading the way in entrepreneurship in education in Côte d'Ivoire with their innovative and sustainable approach that impacts the people in their community. WCF thanks the Teach A Man To Fish team for the award!

April 1, 2014

Ebola outbreak in Guinea

WCF participates in a joint mission with the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and other partners to search for the Ebola impact on wildlife, to know more visit the webpage of the RKI: http://www.rki.de/EN/Home/homepage_node.html

January 1, 2014

Happy new year!

December 1, 2013

WCF Team in Liberia

This is our new WCF Team in Liberia with the main office in Monrovia created in October 2013. The team director is Dervla Dowd (second from left) on her left is Clement Tweh (biomonitoring officer), on her right is Samuel Cooper (field officer), followed by Daniel Arranaga (assistant to the director) and Victor Davies (driver).

September 12, 2013

HELP US TO: Save 2000 chimpanzees in West Africa!

The WCF is participating in a fundraising competition and needs your help! Global Giving is a fundraising charity website that helps to support non profit organizations. We have one month (Starting September 1st) to raise $5,000 with a minimum 40 donors so that we can have a permanent spot on Global Giving’s site. This is a unique chance to have access to a large pool of resources to use towards the conservation of chimpanzees and be a part of the Global Giving community. Just follow the link. Even a small amount can make a huge impact. Please like and if you can share, so that this post may stay on top of peoples news feeds.

http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/save-2000-chimpanzees-in-west-africa/

Watch the interview with Sir David Attenborough!

September 10, 2013

Great Ape Orphan Campaign

Great Ape Orphan Campaign of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation and the Conservation Group of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology [pdf].

September 10, 2013

Report on the celebrations of "33 years of research and conservation of chimpanzees in Côte d’Ivoire"

Report on the celebrations of "33 years of research and conservation of chimpanzees in Côte d’Ivoire" [pdf in French]

August 31, 2013

Meeting: Christophe Boesch and president of Côte d'Ivoire

Christophe Boesch has met the president of Côte d'Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, in February 2013 and was honoured with the medal "Officier de l'Ordre National" for his long-year investment for the conservation and research of the natural heritage in Côte d'Ivoire.

June 1, 2013

Environmental Education in Côte d'Ivoire/West Africa

The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation created in 2007 nature clubs called “Club P.A.N.” (Personnes, Animaux et Nature / People, Animals, & Nature) for primary schools in West Africa. Claudia Borchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology / Leipzig has joined the Club P.A.N. for several years and analyzed during her current dissertation the evaluation results of this great environmental education program. Claudia Borchers and colleges found that the participation of children in the Club P.A.N. program increased their environmental knowledge and positively influenced their attitudes towards nature.

Borchers C., Boesch C., Riedel J., Guilahoux H., Ouattara D., Randler R. (2013). Environmental Education in Côte d'Ivoire/West Africa: Extra-Curricular Primary School Teaching Shows Positive Impact on Environmental Knowledge and Attitudes. International Journal of Science Education, Part B.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21548455.2013.803632

April 19, 2013

Meeting: Christophe Boesch and Sir David Attenborough

On the 19.04.2013 Christophe Boesch met Sir David Attenborough to discuss the crisis facing the survival of wild chimpanzees in general and especially the chimpanzees of the Taï Forest. David Attenborough, realising the seriousness of the situation, has offered his direct support by giving voice to this issue in public during the launch of the Disneynature “Chimpanzee” film to be released in the UK on 3 May 2013.

More about the Taï chimpanzees and the film can be found here:
http://www.eva.mpg.de/primat
http://www.disney.co.uk/disneynature/films/chimpanzee

 

 

April 1, 2013

First steering committee for the Tai-Sapo Corridor project

The WCF organized the first steering committee for the Tai-Sapo Corridor project.

Press release: Workshop for the Taï-Sapo Forest Complex [pdf]

October 1, 2012

33 years of the Taï Chimpanzee Project

February 1, 2012

New book published!

Boesch, C., Grundmann, E., Mulhauser, B. 2011: Manifeste pour les Grands Singes. Le Savoir Suisse, Presses Polytechniques et Universitaires Romandes.

Trophée de femmes

On February 28th 2007, the Yves Rocher Foundation attributed its "Trophée de femmes" for the first time also in Switzerland. Hedwige Boesch, with her project for increased protection of the last remaining chimpanzee populations and the tropical rain forest, received the second prize. She offered the 5'000.00 FCH for projects of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation.

The "Zürcher Tierschutz" celebrated its 150the anniversary in October 2006!

On Friday 27th of October, after the performance of Janacek's "Das schlaue Füchslein" at the Zurich Opera, the "Zürcher Tierschutz" has invited to a Charity-Dinner on stage in favour of the declining populations of wild chimpanzees in tropical Africa.

Primatologists and founding members of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation Christophe and Hedwige Boesch were invited guests to this event.

"We are thrilled about this fabulous Charity-Dinner in favor of chimpanzees and honored to be able to speak on the dramatic situation of Great Apes during the dinner and again on Saturday October 28th at 7h30 pm, in a tent in front of the Opera House" said Hedwige Boesch (photo on top), managing director of the WCF.

In February 2007, the fabulous result of SFR 30'000 has been credited to the WCF and the whole WCF directory board sends heartful thanks to the Zürcher Tierschutz.

October 18, 2006: In Germany the "Wild Chimpanzee Foundation-Germany e.V." has been founded.

The association is supporting all the WCF projects to increase protection for the last wild chimpanzee populations and their habitat.

The association is registered under no: VA 4362:07.09.2006. Tax number is 230/141/03600 K06. It is a non-profit organisation and your donations can be tax deduced.

To support the WCF projects please send your donations to:
Commerzbank Leipzig
Wild Chimpanzee Foundation-Germany-e.V.
IBAN: DE44 8604 0000 0113 7272 00
BIC: COBADEFFXXX

Thank you!