Save Endangered Bonobos in the Congo Rainforest

We are thrilled to report that, after two years away due to COVID-19 restrictions, BCI President Sally Jewell Coxe made a return trip to Kinshasa! As grateful as we are for all the technologies that keep our global team connected, there's nothing quite like being together in person.

All of our Bonobo Peace Forest programs require the commitment and collaboration of many different people and organizations. While in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sally met with many of BCI's friends and partners, including representatives of Vie Sauvage and Amis de Faune et Flore de Lomela (AFFL)--one of our Sankuru partners--and the ICCN (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature). Sally and BCI's Dieudonné Mushagalusa had the opportunity to meet with Eve Bazaiba Masudi, DRC's new Vice Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment (pictured above) to discuss the Bonobo Peace Forest and new carbon funding mechanisms. Sally also worked on strategic planning with the BCI Kinshasa staff and field partners, all of whom have been working diligently to keep our conservation efforts going throughout the pandemic.

Big goals like species conservation and rainforest protection are only achieved step by step, conversation by conversation. BCI is founded on the belief that Congolese voices and perspectives must have priority in determining how we protect the Congo Basin and all who live there. The relationships we've built over the last 20+ years have been the key to all we've accomplished, and we're honored to have so many incredible collaborators by our side as we forge the path ahead.

As always, thank you for standing with us!