West African chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus)

Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 13257627

Mission: The mission of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) is to enhance the survival of the remaining wild chimpanzee populations and their habitat, the tropical rainforest, throughout tropical Africa. We hope to reach this goal for 20-25’000 chimpanzees in the 17 countries in which they still exist in fairly intact habitat and to cover thereby the behavioral diversity of the species, still widely unknown today. WCF has always set its priorities where wild chimpanzee populations and their forested habitat are being threatened. WCF combines environmental education and sensitization of the local human population with improved law enforcement through strategic bio-monitoring, regular evaluation of conservation activities, and strong capacity building of local forces. All WCF’s conservation activities are based on knowledge gained by decades of scientific research on great apes by the WCF-president and many of his collaborators. Historically, WCF was created by Prof Christophe Boesch after having spent 20 years studying chimpanzees and witnessing their decline in numbers and the degradation of their habitat. Activities were first carried out in Côte d’Ivoire and since then conservation efforts have been brought to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Objectives: The WCF has two main objectives, one being the establishment of a "Pan-African Forest network for chimpanzees" to increase the protection of viable populations, and the other being the "Pan-African monitoring program" to guarantee their long-term survival. By basing their work on a three-fold philosophy of “Education-Conservation-Research” and involving the local human populations around the protected key sites, school children from developed and sub-Saharan countries and scientists, WCF aims to protect the last remaining wild chimpanzee populations in Africa with particular emphasis on enhancing the protection of the dramatically declining chimpanzee populations of West Africa (Campbell et al. 2008). WCF seeks to reinforce the protection of key chimpanzee populations by reducing bushmeat consumption and improving human/chimpanzee co-existence. The WCF’s strength lies in their scientific approach based on a clear monitoring and evaluation program, to be able to adjust conservation programs in response to potentially changing situations in the field. The WCF has worked closely with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) in Germany to develop monitoring techniques of chimpanzees, large mammals and anthropogenic activities, which follow the IUCN guidelines (Kuehl et al., 2008). Date it was established: The WCF is a non-profit tax-exempt organization, registered in Geneva Switzerland in October 2000 under CH-660-2177000-7; donations can be deduced from income tax in Switzerland. Geographical area of the project: schools around the Taï National Park in Côte d’Ivoire and schools in the region of Boké / Sangaredi in Guinea Target species: West African chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes verus) Habitats: tropical rainforest and gallery forest