|
The First Intergovernmental Meeting on the Great Apes
Survival Project (GRASP) has adopted a strategy and
work plan for protecting the great apes and their
habitat. Hosted by the Democratic Republic of Congo
from 5 to 9 September and attended by government representatives
from all 23 range states, the Kinshasa meeting also
formalized the GRASP Executive Council, responsible
inter alia for liaison with donors.
In point of fact, the meeting produced not one but
several strategies adapted to the specific circumstances
of each range state or region. Uganda, Indonesia,
Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Angola each outlined
their national and regional great ape survival strategies,
underscoring their awareness of the danger of extinction
of the great apes. They highlighted the importance
of collective action through the GRASP partnership.
Many states emphasized that solutions should take
into account poverty alleviation in the communities
living alongside great apes; others stressed the need
for better law enforcement and
capacity-building.
The Kinshasa Declaration and Strategy reflect these
concerns. In the Kinshasa Declaration, participants
set themselves the target of securing a constant and
significant reduction in the current rate of loss
of great ape populations and their habitats by the
year 2010 and securing the future of all species and
sub-species of great apes in the wild by 2015.
As a means to this end, the signatories undertake
to ensure the integrity of sites supporting the key
wild populations that would conserve the genetic,
ecological and cultural diversity of all great apes
for all time and to protect these from further degradation
and habitat loss. The signatories pledge to ensure
interconnectivity of protected areas, such as by establishing
corridors where necessary, in order to avoid isolation
of protected great ape populations.
The signatories undertake to work with local and indigenous
communities to ensure that any human use of habitats
is ecologically sustainable and consistent with maintaining
healthy, viable great ape populations. This will entail
developing ecologically sustainable local poverty-reduction
strategies.
The signatories also pledge to 'demonstrably improve'
where necessary the quality and enforcement of relevant
laws, as well as the capacity of law-enforcement agencies
to protect individual great apes and their habitats.
Among the signatories of the Kinshasa Declaration
were Ministers from Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Central
African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana,
Guinea-Bissau, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania,
the Ambassador of Côte d'Ivoire and donor countries
like the United Kingdom, as well as representatives
of the European Commission and of the Central African
Forestry Commission (Comifac). Klaus Töpfer and
Walter Erdelen signed the Declaration on behalf of
the GRASP Secretariat run jointly by UNEP and UNESCO.
The meeting was attended by state environment, forestry
or tourism ministries and departments from great ape
range states, national wildlife and parks agencies,
donor government officials and other non-range state
representatives, international and local NGOs and
representatives of local communities and of the private
sector, including eco-tourism and timber companies.
In Kinshasa, Walter Erdelen announced a new initiative
in favour of great apes. UNESCO is to award scholarships
worth a total of US $100 000 per biennium to young
scientists from 16 great ape range states wishing
to devote their studies to the great apes, their habitat
and the relationship between great apes and local
communities. The allocation is administered by UNESCO's
Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme within its Young
Scientists Awards Scheme.
As current funding levels remain insufficient to achieve
the declared targets, one the first tasks of the GRASP
Council will be to negotiate additional donor funding.
In June, the European Union pledged 2.4 million for
UNEP's GRASP activities.
To apply for a scholarship: mab@unesco.org;
Kinshasa Declaration: www.unesco.org/mab/grasp.htm
|
