Protecting Chimpanzees

Two core pillars of David Shepherd Willdife Foundation's (DSWF) conservation work are education and community. Our work protecting chimpanzees focuses predominatley on these two key aspects which aim to provide a safe environment for chimpanzees to live in the wild alongside local commuitinues. In this update we focus on the recent highlights of the work being carried out by our ground-based conservtion partners in Guinea.

Education

The Chimpanzee Conservation Centre education team, which is funded by DSWF, has continued to grow over the past year and is making a big difference. Three hundred children were engaged in the education program in the last year, and a third educator has joined the team. She is the first women to join the team which will make a significant difference with the education program’s ability to connect with girls.

An evaluation of the education program was carried out at the end of the previous school year and the results were extremely encouraging. The program focuses on conservation issues and on the habitats and wildlife within the student’s local area. Children are visited by the education programme five times a year. The evaluation showed that children who had been through the program have significantly better awareness of environmental and conservation issues and local wildlife.

Our project partners have also been busy with the development of a radio show and the creation of educational billboards. In November 2021, the education team reached an agreement with a local radio station to present a radio show on environmental protection. The twenty-minute show has four episodes a month. In an area where most people listen to the radio given the lack of access to TV, an evaluation suggests these radio shows are being listened to by many local people, who find it interesting and that it is helping them develop an increased awareness of environmental issues.

Two educational billboards have also been designed and erected in the local area, aimed at making people aware of the similarities between humans and chimpanzees and to provoke an emotional reaction to the issue of chimpanzee poaching.

All of these community awareness programs are ultimately aimed at helping local people understand that the decrease of natural resources available in the national park may be a direct consequence of their own actions and encouraging them to reflect on the consequences of a world without wild animals or trees.

Community programmes:

Our partners community programmes are focused on giving local people durable alternatives to livelihoods based on exploiting natural resources. In the past year, 500 women in eight different communities were engaged in community programs. Eight workshops were held –on soap making, apiculture, gardening and bag recycling.

Gardening:

The hiring of a new educator has also had a positive impact on the implementation of the gardening project as her background in agroforestry means she has brought considerable expertise to the community. The garden project is already successfully producing food for the Chimpanzee sanctuary.

Apiculture:

30 Beehives have been installed in a local village and locals are enjoying learning new skills and knowledge in this area. The next steps for the project will be the construction of a honey refinery, and then this will be replicated in other villages.

Bag recycling:

This project provides sewing workshops to women and encourages them to make sustainable items made from used plastic bags as part of a plastic recycling project.

Soap making:

Further development is being organised to develop this project through organising entrepreneurship training for local women this year to help them develop business skills.

Football tournament:

A breakthrough was also made with a community who live very close to the national park who have previously had a negative impact of the environment. Our partners on the ground helped organise a football tournament with the community which was hugely successful in building a positive relationship between the community and the Chimpanzee Conservation Centre which is vital for educational and awareness programmes to be initiated in the community, and for discussions about sustainable livelihoods that do not have a negative impact on the environment.

All of this incredible work being carried out by our ground-based conservation partners is vital to the protection of the local environment, ensuring chimpanzees are protected and continue to have a safe habitat to reside in. The educational initiatives help to reduce the demand and raise awareness about the serious consequences of the illegal wildlife trade, and the education programmes aid in communicating the strict legal repercussions of wildlife crime, and the importance of conservation to aid the protection of this incredible species.

DSWF relies entirely on donations and support from generous individuals like you to continue this vital work to ensure a brighter future for chimpanzees and other wildlife. So, thank you for your continued support.

Find out more about our work with Chimpanzees.