Grant Recipients Look to Community Engagement as Key Part of Great Ape Conservation Efforts

The work of the organizations that are recipients of grants this funding cycle looks at great ape conservation in tandem with the engagement of local human communities and development of economic opportunities compatible with conservation outcomes.

Working in the Northern Republic of the Congo, World Wildlife Fund will use its grant to focus on the zoning and gazettement of a new protected area, as well as on community engagement and the reduction of the trade in hunted meat. In addition, working with relevant communities and companies in the area will allow the organization to provide increased protection for the apes, and support the local people who rely on the land for their livelihoods.

Global Greengrants Fund will use its funding to promote great ape conservation by providing support to grassroots organizations in ape-range states and expanding its support across regions inhabited by great apes and gibbons. It also highlights the social aspect of conservation, noting that supporting local communities in the protection of their access to land can also be a tool for the protection of apes and other wildlife.

The Wildlife Conservation Society will use its funding for the Myanmar Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary Hoolock Gibbon Conservation project. The Society will work to support park management, as well as strengthen community participation in conservation and park protection, as well as deepen understanding of the illegal wildlife trade of gibbons. To that end, it plans to expand its engagement to further include local community members in the management of the park.

The Lincoln Park Zoological Society will work to improve chimpanzee welfare and increase sanctuary sustainability, in collaboration with the organization Chimp Haven. The Regents of the University of Minnesota, meanwhile, is using its funding to support an evidence-based approach to health management for Pan African Sanctuaries Alliance (PASA) member sanctuaries.

Also receiving grants in this funding cycle are Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue, Global Greengrants Fund UK, and Viet Nature Conservation Centre.