Community-Centered
Conservation Initiatives | Central
African World Heritage Forest Initiative (CAWHFI)
| Chimpanzee Reintroduction
The Jane Goodall Institute’s newest projects in
Africa are linked not only geographically through the
Congo Basin watershed, but also thematically by addressing
the root social and economic factors that frame human
relationships with the environment. Coupling this focus
with direct involvement with governments, industry and
local capacity, our holistic approach creates the opportunity
to establish long-term field conservation and development
programs.
The management of natural resources is often viewed
by local communities as a means to implement authoritarian
policies that go against traditional rights. As local
populations are the immediate custodians of natural
resources, there is little prospect of improved natural
resource management (NRM) if the major users are excluded
from participating in solutions for local resource protection.
Through JGI’s Community-Centered Conservation
(CCC) approach to natural resource management, local
communities ultimately become the advocates and caretakers
of their natural environment.
JGI’s CCC approach empowers local communities
with the tools needed to manage their natural resources
for long-term economic gain and environmental prosperity.
By increasing local capacity, responsibility, and participation
in the sustainable management of natural resources,
communities take pride in the preservation of the natural
environment and wildlife of their area. Incentives at
the local level to conserve natural resources are necessary
if a project is to succeed. Local peoples frequently
have no control over access to natural resources and
are therefore unable to prevent “outsiders”
from exploiting the local resource base. By placing
the responsibility of natural resource management into
the hands of the local community and by increasing community
participation at all levels of our projects, JGI has
been successful in improving livelihoods while concurrently
promoting conservation and the need to preserve biodiversity
for the benefit of all.
JGI’s holistic program structure – public/private
partnerships in support of locally managed education,
socio-economic development and sustainable natural resource
management initiatives – is a model for success
based on our Lake Tanganyika Catchment Reforestation
and Education program (TACARE) in Western Tanzania.
Building upon our eight years of experience with the
TACARE program in Tanzania, JGI has been establishing
relationships with local authorities and neighboring
communities through our field project at the Tchimpounga Reserve in Congo.
At this site, we are currently beginning to implement
CCC initiatives including environmental education programs
and increased access to healthcare. By working with
local people, our CCC programs are tailored to the particular
environmental and social characteristics of each rural
community. In addition to the existing CCC projects
in Tanzania and Congo, JGI is creating a
CCC program for the Democratic Republic of Congo through
funding by the Global Development Alliance (GDA) under
USAID. In future, JGI plans to replicate and expand
our TACARE model further into other biodiversity-rich
regions throughout the Congo Basin, Uganda, and Tanzania.
At all stages of CCC project planning, JGI includes
the local authorities and other stakeholders within
the area. The TACARE approach offers a wide range of
potential interventions which are based on local issues
and needs are mutually selected by JGI project personnel
and community members. This approach ensures the long-term
effectiveness and sustainability of our initiatives
as the local people take “ownership” of
the programs in their villages. By engaging communities
to participate in the conservation process, JGI has
been highly successful in creating local understanding
of the issues while addressing both the social and economic
influences that affect the local people through sustainable
development activities.
Objectives:
Community-Centered
Conservation
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The ultimate goal of CAWHFI is to create a mechanism
to sustainably manage the natural resources, while reinforcing
government and local community capacity to ensure long-term
management of biodiversity. Actions focus on law enforcement,
protected area management, and increased community based
activities targeting sustainable livelihoods and the
commercial bushmeat trade.
Within this initiative, as a partner in CAWHFI, the
Jane Goodall Institute works with local NGOs, regional
governments, and existing NGO infrastructure to create
a regional and community action plan for sustainable
livelihoods and conservation with special emphasis on
the role of women market sellers in the commercial bushmeat
trade in Central Africa.
Project activities highlight the necessary linkage
between the requirements to protect the fauna and flora,
on the one hand, and the full range of economic and
social activities needed to make the local population
enthusiastic stewards in safeguarding their future livelihoods.
Previous research in the region has illustrated the
need to place increased value and attention on the voice
of community stakeholders., When discussing the commercial
bushmeat trade, most conservation groups promote initiatives
based on a common set of identified frameworks for understanding
participation in the industry. These include, but are
not limited to: patterns of association with wildlife,
politics, economics, trade dynamics and causes / solutions
to the crisis. However, when community stakeholders
are invited to formulate activities, greater emphasis
is placed on social factors including community /individual
identity, work issues and solutions, and appropriate
roles of men and women. Therefore, any viable solution
to the illegal bushmeat trade, must include solutions
identified by community stakehold.
For further information please refer to:
Objectives:
Community-Centered
Conservation
Preservation
of Primate Habitat
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Given the threat of great ape extinction, the release
of captive animals into their natural habitat is increasingly
being perceived as valuable conservation tool. Reintroduction
is both a complex and controversial endeavor, especially
when the potential risks are high - as in the case of
great apes. Guidelines for such programs have been outlined
by the Reintroduction Specialist Group of the World
Conservation Union’s Species Survival Commission.
The conservation, health, and genetic status of the
candidates for release, the ecology and behavior of
wild conspecifics as well as the biological, social,
economic and political context of the potential release
site must all be taken into account in the planning
and execution of any reintroduction project. Ultimately,
release programs must make a positive contribution to
the survival of the species in the wild.
Numerous chimpanzee host countries are currently under
pressure due to the massive influx of young orphans
who have been captured illegally from the wild. Although
sanctuaries are a good ‘band aid’ solution
in the short term, they cannot provide the needed conditions
for the orphans to express their whole range of natural
behaviors. While in sanctuary, the orphans often become
highly dependant on humans for food and protection making
future reintroduction programs impossible.
It is has been argued that if the root causes of the
threats to the species’ survival are addressed
at the same time as the welfare of the confiscated orphans,
release projects can be highly successful. Reintroduction
programs can benefit not only the animals that were
released but also the release area, through effective
protection from poaching and deforestation and can even
help the local community tha relies on the natural resources
for their livelihood.
The goal of JGI’s reintroduction research program
is to conduct preliminary studies on the feasibility
of such a project within Congo
and Uganda
where we currently have sanctuaries
housing over 150 chimpanzees. The establishment of the
appropriate facilities (pre-release environment) where
new arrivals to our sanctuaries will be able to learn
how to forage for natural vegetation, build nests, and
develop the social bonds necessary for their survival
in the wild is an important first step in the development
of a release program.
A suitable release site must provide sufficient resources
for the chimpanzees and permit no adverse effects on
the species already present. The release site must also
offer reliable protection from threats such as hunting
and logging and must not expose the released chimpanzees
to conflict with the local community. Potential risks
to the wild chimpanzee population, local community,
and released individuals will be examined by JGI within
the biological and socio-economic framework of the chosen
release sites.
A reintroduction program by JGI would be based on the
experiences and lessons learned from previous chimpanzee
release projects such as H.E.L.P.— Congo’s
chimpanzee reintroduction initiatives in the Conkouati
Reserve— and would adhere to the IUCN/SSC guidelines
for primate reintroduction.
For further information please go to:
http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/rsg/rsgcdrom/PDFs/RNews21.pdf
Objectives:
Chimpanzee
Rescue & Reintroduction
Preservation
of Primate Habitat
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